Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

So today, I was riding my spree just like normal at 25mph, because my engine has been acting weird, on a flat road. I wanted to pass by a biker so I gave a little gas to see if I would accelerate past the biker faster. After I had passed the biker, I looked down to see that I was going 28mph. I gave it a bit more gas because I had never seen it go this fast ever since the oil went low and I couldnt' get a hold of any till 2 days later.

Anyway, I was going 28mph and then I slowly went to WOT. At WOT, it sounded beautiful and I went to 35mph and then 40mph. After about 10seconds of 40mph+ speed, it suddenly gave a pop, fire shot out my exhaust and then my engine lost power like the gas was giving out. I had a 3/4 tank so it shouldn't have been doing that. I was giving it WOT and trying to rev it but it would only accelerate in small bursts and the gaps between those got longer and longer until half a block later, my engine shut off and I pulled over.

I couldn't get the engine to start again and then I called my friend and he said he had the same problem before and that sucking on the vacuum line to the petcock should get it to start again. I did this for 15 seconds and started it. It ran normal again, maybe a bit nicer actually, but it was running normal in 2 minutes again, not getting past 25mph.

It did this 3 times over the course of the day but I just cranked it for a good 5 seconds straight and it would start right up.

Anybody know if my petcock is broken or something?

It is leaning out and will soon seize for good it you don't quit doing it.

Your motor is runnig lean AND TAKING INTERNAL DAMAGE BECAUSE OF IT!!! Lean is mean.

Well, on the way back home I hit 40mph but it didn't cut out this time. and it was downhill so I guess that was part of it. I think it might be my petcock giving out.

Can anybody recommend me a good guide to making a vacuum shut off? getting a new petcock is 60 bucks.

THIS IS NOT THE PETCOCK!!!! Clean your carb and check you airfilter. Check for intake leaks, replace vacuum line and DO A PLUG READING!

The vacuum lines are brand new, I already ran a plug check and it's cocoa-brown. my airfilter is clean and is oiled like it should be. I have yet to clean my carb again but this is the 7th time in the past 3 months.

The petcock is work/dont work thing. You probbly have piece of trash in the bowl, add an in line lawnmower fuel filter to the fuel line.

got an in-line filter already.

kenny, are you mad because someone has a faster spree then you???


honestly dude, do another plug chop. if your plugs are coming out the right color, and you are able to pull 40mph everywhere, i got to say, that's going to be the first i have heard of this.

It only pulls to 40mph if I hold the throttle in the exact same place and slowly give it more gas.

Man I am not an expert on engines but it does not sound healthy what you are doing!

Does it have a stock standard exhaust? An expansion chamber would cause a powerband kick in at a certain amount of revs I imagine, also has there ever been any work done on your engine e.g. cylinder rebore and larger piston?

I read somewhere on this forum that running a '85 piston in an '84 spree will give you more power?

Trust me you don't want to seize it, I did that and it's costly to repair!

yeah, something is clearly up. i would start with your carb. its the biggest point of error for these sprees.

Besides drilling out one baffle in my exhaust, it's stock.

I want to rebuild the engine soon just because it's never been looked at and there's probably tons of carbon inside. Anybody know of a guide?

Something tells me it's the petcock cause it's been slowly getting worse. The beginning of summer, it was getting 31mph, and then 27, and then 25, 28-29mph again, and now it's at 25mph.

Well if I ever buy a spree, one of the first things I will do is pull off the top end just to check the condition of it. That would then give me a good idea as to how badly I can treat it. It's probably a good idea to do that I guess, provided you know what you're doing. Maybe there is such a huge buildup of carbon that you are getting more compression from that haha

How should I clean off carbon from the head if I do take off the head?