Just did some maintenance ...
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:34 pm
Not really a question - more of an observation.
I bought my '86 Spree a month and a half ago with 3400 miles on the clock. Since my intention was to use it for commuting to work and school (~35 miles per day, 5 days per week), my goal was to keep it stock and reliable.
Other than a new brake line, a pair of rear covers I bought off of eBay and new rear-end oil, I didn't do a single thing to it - it ran well and only seemed to need oil and gas. I put 700 miles on it in August and decided to do a "tune-up" this past week when I cracked 4000 miles on the odometer.
What a difference a new spark plug and air filter made! Virtually all of my riding I do is "wide-open throttle", and I could always count on it being able to hold 30 mph on all but the steepest hills ... those two minor maintenance items alone have raised my average top speed to almost 35 mph. Takeoff from a standing stop is still glacially slow, but I've learned to "anticipate" when traffic will start moving and I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping with the pace of traffic now.
This winter I'm going to strip the bike down and do a partial rebuild - but for now I'm amazed what those two small things did. I'll also be curious to see how that helps my mileage; I was averaging about 85 to 90 mpg before the new plug and filter ... we'll see what happens on my next few fill-ups.
It's funny ... the more I drive the Spree, the more I find myself choosing to drive it. I wonder if I can get a license plate rim for my Ducati that says "My other bike is a Honda Spree"?
-- Mike
I bought my '86 Spree a month and a half ago with 3400 miles on the clock. Since my intention was to use it for commuting to work and school (~35 miles per day, 5 days per week), my goal was to keep it stock and reliable.
Other than a new brake line, a pair of rear covers I bought off of eBay and new rear-end oil, I didn't do a single thing to it - it ran well and only seemed to need oil and gas. I put 700 miles on it in August and decided to do a "tune-up" this past week when I cracked 4000 miles on the odometer.
What a difference a new spark plug and air filter made! Virtually all of my riding I do is "wide-open throttle", and I could always count on it being able to hold 30 mph on all but the steepest hills ... those two minor maintenance items alone have raised my average top speed to almost 35 mph. Takeoff from a standing stop is still glacially slow, but I've learned to "anticipate" when traffic will start moving and I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping with the pace of traffic now.
This winter I'm going to strip the bike down and do a partial rebuild - but for now I'm amazed what those two small things did. I'll also be curious to see how that helps my mileage; I was averaging about 85 to 90 mpg before the new plug and filter ... we'll see what happens on my next few fill-ups.
It's funny ... the more I drive the Spree, the more I find myself choosing to drive it. I wonder if I can get a license plate rim for my Ducati that says "My other bike is a Honda Spree"?
-- Mike