Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

i just picked up a 87 elite 50 S from a friend who has not run it since 2005. nothing was done to it before storage. so far, i have cleaned the carb twice using the procedure from this site and after several hours got it to start and run. it now idles perfect but when i open it up it will run well for 30 seconds to maybe 2 minutes and then start sputtering as if running out of gas, it won't die, but won't run much over idle speed. the float moves freely and the valve looks clear, i am at a loss as to what to check next. it will idle and run at part throtle with no load forever sounding normal. also, when i apply vacuum to the valve thing on the bottom of the tank, fuel comes out very readily. any help would be greatly appreciated.

You are on the right track. It is either the needle valve in the carb or the petcock. If you have taken the needle out of the carb and cleaned both it and the valve seat then I would be the petcock is the problem.

Rig up a fuel bottle to the carb to bypass the petcock and see how it does then.

Might be too rich and getting cold after extended running, do a plug chop while your in there.

i did a plug chop with a brand new plug and got a plug that was a dark black and dry on one side of the insulator and a very light tan on the other side. there was no oily or wet residue at all. it would only run wide open for about 45 seconds before it started to die out so i shut it down. also, before i hook up my external fuel source to check to petcock am i correct in assuming that the vacuum line on the carb should be plugged? thanks again for all the help!

i seem to have this exact problem, i have a 1984 lead s (lead is the european version of the aero) as i go along the road reaching about 40 kmph at full throttle the carburettor seems to make a spluttering sound as if the carburettor is not setup correctly, i think its most likely just all down to tweaking the carburettor slightly and taking it for a test drive and just keep doing this process for a number of times untill you can get it as best as you can get it.