Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

So as some of you may remember, I just recently got a new Spree for my wife that was in less than mint condition. We started tearing her down and prepping for paint while waiting on some parts to arrive. Since it's so cool for me to watch people's projects unfold, I thought I'd share some pictures. I'm trying to get before and afters, but sometimes I forget

Here she is, awaiting some decent treatment




The first thing I wanted to do was fix up the wheels which were pretty heavily rusted.


So I sanded the rust off and hit them with some new paint

You can still see some imperfections, but I thought it turned out nicely considering I've ever spray painted one thing (a dresser) in my life.

Rear tire was bald as a gummyworm, so I got new tires, here's how they'll look with the new shiny rims


Sanding down plastics:

Pieces that just need to be washed and they're ready to go I think


I went ahead and hit some of the other rusty metal parts with the silver paint to match the rims




I'm going to go get some primer tomorrow. The previous owner decided to paint the bike red (again for some reason) without taking the plastics off, so I'm hoping that between sanding and priming, I can smooth out the difference between old/newer paint and make the final product as beautiful as possible. I'm purposefully leaving out the color scheme, because I want everyone's reaction to the finished product.

Only problem is, once this is done, I'm going to want to paint my Aero soooo bad.

As always, comments and advice are welcome.

SWEET! I will be following this thread, I am getting ready to do the same to my Aero. I had bought the Krylon Fusion paint in black, then my wife voted blue and she has a majority vote (all you married guys can back me up on that one), so back to the hardware store for me to try and pick out a nice DARK blue. I am thinking the wheels will be painted black to set off the white wall tires.

Wasn't one of the rusty bits you painted the shock forks? It seems that those would travel up and down wearing off the paint pretty quick. I honestly have no idea so could be way off base.

Keep up with the updates... I'll be watching.

"Man who killed self held bible"?

good pics. keep on posting

Fishman43 wrote: she has a majority vote

Fishman43 wrote:to set off the white wall tires.

Fishman43 wrote:Wasn't one of the rusty bits you painted the shock forks? It seems that those would travel up and down wearing off the paint pretty quick. I honestly have no idea so could be way off base.

Every wife has a majority vote. You got whitewalls? Or did you paint them yourself? If you've got pics I would love to see them because I want whitewalls really bad and that would help me determine what colors to paint my Aero. You know, on that last part, I didn't even think about it, I just saw it was rusty and wanted to make it look better. The part I painted was below the black rubber on the front forks, is that the part that moves? If it does you're right and the paint will be gone in one ride around town because we've got a lot of brick paved roads

Ordered the white wall paint and new tires I posted about here

http://www.hondaspree.net/phpBB3/viewto ... f=1&t=9886

I am expecting both by the end of this week. I will document the project as soon as I get to it (out of town company coming for Holiday weekend and next week)

Looks good! Unfortunately most 25 year old Hondas have rust on them You should see my 77 CVCC!
Anyways, keep up the good work! And let me know when those parts get to you. I sent them out on Saturday.

I will let you know Bradthreee. I'm gonna be out of town when they arrive probably but my Dad is going to check for the package for me.

Today's update: getting rattle can off of the legshield is the biggest PITA. I got everything except for the front fender and speedo area prepped. I think that fender is going to be the last thing I do because I don't feel like taking apart everything to do it. Samantha is trying to decide whether she wants to paint the horn cover the same as her fairings, or the same as the inside of the legshield/footboard.

Here are the side panels with primer on them. Doing an impromptu test: is more primer really necessary? The wife spent a lot of time painting one and ran out when trying to finish the other one. It doesn't seem to make a difference so far.


First layer of color, very subtle. We hit this with 3-5 layers. It got too dark to take good pics so I left the pics of the side panels with their new color out of this post. We'll probably be back at it tomorrow.


I was having a hard time getting the old spray paint off the leg shield. I used sandpaper, goo gone and even blasted it with a hose (which worked really well on the loose stuff) but eventually resigned to scraping with my thumb nail. The wife came up with a solution only a woman could invent, I call it "bikini waxing the Spree"

Step one: apply packaging tape to old paint
Step two: rub with fingernails
Step three: yank


It works great on the old paint and you can get the stuff on the edges and in corners where sandpaper was hard to use and my fingernail was too fat. I recommend that for anyone who wants to get rid of old paint. I'm assuming that method would work in most situations.

That's it for today, only spent a couple hours on it. We need to finish this up and get it out of my father in law's garage before they get back form Hawaii. My stuff is spread all over the place. I told them to snap pictures if they see any sweet Hawaii scoots. If any of you locals have advice on a good place to visit or grab some food let me know, I'm sure they'd like to see something besides all the touristy stuff.

More updates as soon as we get back to it!

adark248 wrote:The wife came up with a solution only a woman could invent, I call it "bikini waxing the Spree"
Step one: apply packaging tape to old paint
Step two: rub with fingernails
Step three: yank

What? Your wife waxed your Spree? In that case, I got a recommendation for you. Instead of packaging tape (which is good) go to the hospital and get that stuff they use. GADS, I hate it when that Army sargaent nurse YANKS the tape off. Like that band-aid commercial, "It's stuck on you".

Thanks for the update. What brand, type, etc. paint and primer are you using?

I don't have a lot of time/access/money to get really good paint, so we're just using rostoleum. i wantedto use the krylon fusion for plastics, but they didn't have the colors we wanted and they don't make primer that i could find. all of the cans say "no primer necessary"

I am running into the same problem for colors. I was thinking I might use the Krylon Fusion flat black as a primer type coat with Rustoleum over it for color.

I just came from Walmart and their Fusion color selection is expanding. Try again, or go to a larger store. They even have 4-5 "hammered" paints. Wish they had metalic. Looks like I may settle for the hammered on my junkbasket project.

I'm looking forward to seeing the final paint job. Post them pics!