Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

In spite of it being the dead of Winter here in Michigan (-5 this morning!, I purchased a nice condition '86 Spree and am interested in finding-out what routine maintenance/checks I should do prior to Spring. I should say that it is running really well right now - it generally starts on the first or second kick and the electric start works as well. It's pretty quick (okay Spree-quick anyway) and seems to have no issues getting to 28ish miles an hour and holding that speed for as long as I want it to.

The previous owner indicated he was using a good 2 cycle synthetic oil it and the oil tank is nice an full.

The electrical system is working nicely. All lights and turn signals work as they should and so does the horn.

The brakes feel a little light - the rear probably being the worse of the two and they probably need some attention.

So my question is what should I be doing now to get it ready to ride? Should I flush both tanks and clean the lines? Do I adjust the brakes or do I replace the drums? If I'm able to reach and maintain what generally is considered top speed do I worry about things like carb adjustments or decarboning the muffler? How about safety checks? Belts? Bolts? Other things that should be inspected??

I can't wait to ride this thing! Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

We needed a winterize post in tech docs anyway:

http://www.hondaspree.net/phpBB2/viewto ... 8248#68248

There's a whole checklist in the owner's manual on this site. Check your milage and run the checks.

For a new bike running well, check the compression and belt width in addition to whatever comes up above. Low compression should be dealt with sooner than later, belt will help with top speed if it's worn.

Main thing is winterize the bike if you won't be riding it, per the above post.

Thanks for the info. In spite of the cold weather I definitely plan on riding it when I can, so it won't be sitting the garage for several months until Spring so I won't likely be Winterizing it.

I'll check the Owner's manual in the Tech docs for other recommendations on other 'keep it running' maintenance areas.

thats a good thing to do riding them is the best thing for them it seems the more you ride them the better they run. If you can't ride it just start it and let it run for a while they love to run but be careful rode mine around my court today in the snow and took 2 spills you would of thought I would learn after the first one

funny how that works, my sb50 just fixed its own bystarter today! it used to start like s***, and need some encouragement to get going, today it starts up and runs like a champ! i think some debris got dislodged from the bystarter passageways...ride more, i supose!

Adjust brkes, there is a nut on the lever.