Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Hey Squar - I,too, wander about in here as well as ADV. I have a 1985 Gyro Road Fox, another somewhat unique form of the engine, mostly because the casting for the crankcase is completely different. Also, because of the way the cylinder is placed horizontally the cylinder casting is unique as well. Some parts are interchangeable with other Hondas as has been described here already. Mostly I have found that the Honda parts are sturdy and will last a long time unless they have been abused. They are so simple problem solving is straight forward.

For me the biggest problem I have is that the engine isn't powerful enough to get up the 12%, .7 mile grade to get to my house. Either I keep it at home and limit myself to short joy rides or I keep it elsewhere and have to go to it to use it. It is silly fun to ride - minimal transportation.

Best of luck with your Canopy. I've never seen one in the US.

Hi ya Wentwest, Bob, I wondered how long it would be before we met again, yes I remember you mentioning your gyro in ADV a while ago, your gyro could definitely do with a makeover for more power but in doing so sometimes reliability is lost in the doing.
We have a few hills in this ‘flat land’ area but none so steep as 12% I think.... iceni cam mag http://www.icenicam.org.uk/index.html have done several interesting articles on gyros and their history - right back to their inventor George Wallis in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1960’s, strangely the authors have not yet done a write up on the Canopy so I’ve offered them mine to ride and test to complete their story!

Yes it seems that gyros had several engine types which doesn’t make it easy either to get parts or do maintenance/repairs, but like I said mine is going well at moment and won’t get thrashed or heavy mileage on it, it already has 14,791 miles mostly in Japan of course so it will get a peaceful life over here and certainly from dear wife & I, I’ve just been in for a waterworks op where they found cancer of the bladder, it was all removed but I have to go back in for a repeat of same op for them to check if re-growth has begun and if so to treat it with chemo, so all that doesn’t do my riding prospects any good, not ridden much for ages now - especially with this Covid 19 pandemic where we have been house bound for three months -except for ESSENTIAL food shopping where ‘ social distancing’ of at least 6’ is a bind.

Regarding the Canopy though I’m fairly sure it’s gearing must be lower - mainly because it’s much heavier than normal gyros, but it still seems to do ok reaching somewhere near 30mph but I have to mess with my speedo to sort out why it gives me a zero reading for the first 300 yards then creeps up slowly, I’ve got a new speedo cable to install hoping that cures it otherwise I’ll have to locate the plastic drive gear to see if that’s damaged.

Canopies by the score....
To find out more about Canopy parts and spares DON’t go straight to cmsnl, instead enter only: ‘cmsnl Honda Canopy’. !
Enter anything else and you’ll get Now’t!

All the best Bob,

Jim

That speedometer issue seems like it could be a dry bushing on the shaft of the needle itself. It only moves at all because of a spinning magnetic disc very close to a metal disc inducing movement, and it's damped by a clock spring. I've had to do a bit of internal work on speedometers and it's really tiny. Use a jeweler's magnifier.

Good thinking Bob, I can’t think of anything more inaccessible than the speedo head....one needs to remove all of the front covering, mudguard, wheel and all of the front apron to get anywhere near the speedo head, definitely a job for the future....
Thanks for your observation.

Jim

Correspondence on gyros has generally ‘gone quiet’ maybe everyone’s given up on them? It’s always inspiring to see what others are up to.......

Jim

Very much handicapped by the Canopy not having an English maintenance manual, in the absence of teardown - only being able to surmise technicalities from cmsnl parts fiches, it appears that this TA01 2 stroke engine has a geared drive system instead of the more familiar CVT variable drive, also the drive is transmitted through two clutches that appear to replace a cvt.

Wouldn’t it be great for a little bit of HONDA’s Consumer Cooperation by producing a decent English shop manual?


Jim

I am interested in the format of the VIN number on your Canopy. Is it the International standard 17 character VIN, and if so, what are the first three letters? Is there anything else interesting in VIN about where it was made and so on.. see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_i ... identifier

Were Canopys sold new in the UK, or was yours imported as a one-off? Does it have a kick starter on the left side as the ones I have seen in Japan?

Hi, the VIN of my Canopy consists of 12 digits including hyphen, the first four of which are TA02.... no indication is given of its mfg location or any other data - except eng no. Which is TA01E; 1993 is the recorded date of manufacture.

Honda never officially exported the Canopy into UK so perhaps less was recorded than otherwise might have been.

I’ve read all the Wikipedia data and some of it is misleading, probably because Japan is reluctant to or restricted from passing out information therefore it has to be ‘gleaned’ in other ways.

The Canopy does have a kick start on the left side which I believe they all do, the bike was individually imported in 2002 as are all here because for whatever reason Honda decided against it (THANK YOU HONDA!)

Sorry, can’t help more than that.....I’m learning all the time too....

Jim

My new tailor-made rain/storm cover is being made as I write and is specially designed to fit the Canopy.

Jim

66SIX wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2011 7:52 pm GYRO PETCOCK VS. CHINA PETCOCK
Ordered a China petcock on Thrs. arrived Sat. not bad 3 days .
Finally found a petcock for a Chinese go-cart that looked like it will fit the GYRO .
As you will see in the photos looks close and it does fit the 16mm honda size tank .
1. It has no bowl at the bottom (no biggie )
2. Has a plastic tube for the filter Honda has brass .
3. The outside bolt is smaller than Honda but it is 16mm ID.
4. I was going to replace the China knob w/ the honda but it just a c-hair bigger ( I guess I could try to grind it down )
5. Looking forward to many hours / min. of use w/China petcock (I am sure it will not last 25 years like a honda one )

So if your really stuck for a petcock I hope this might help you out . I ordered it from BuyATVsOnline.com ph.618-529-80000
Cost $9.95 plus $7.95 shipping $17.90 total .

Is it 1mm or 1.5mm thread pitch for an TG50 fuel tank? Both are made in 16mm.

66SIX has not posted since 2014.

motormike wrote: ↑Mon Jul 06, 2020 10:30 am 66SIX has not posted since 2014.

Darn. Well maybe someone else will speak up who knows. Mine is both leaky and heavily varnished so I don't think it can be saved. I might just have to try buying a $7 16mm x 1.5mm one from ebay hoping it's right. If not, then $7 down the drain. When measuring with with a caliper, it looks more like 14 or 15mm though, so I dunno.

What’s $7? Yeah bite the bullet and go for it..."

Jim

Squar wrote: ↑Mon Jul 06, 2020 11:01 am What’s $7? Yeah bite the bullet and go for it..."

Jim

I already wasted almost $100 on new bearings, seals, piston/rings, etc for the old trashed motor before I realized it was too far gone, so $7 matters a lot to me.

And if that's wrong and I buy a 16mm x 1mm and that's wrong too, more money wasted.
Then if I buy a 14mm and that's wrong too, more money wasted.
Then if I buy a 15mm and that's wrong too, more money wasted.

I'd do better to buy one of the rebuilt $40 Gyro ones someone on ebay is selling and be done with it, rather than trying to guess what it might be, if no one can tell me for sure what it is. Might be cheaper than trying to guess.

Sorry - it’s your throw of course.

Jim