Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Hey everybody greeting from the lone star state. So I got the spree/moped bug and its hitting hard lol. Im trying to bring my 85 spree back to life. Its has the usual sitting for 10+ years rusty gas tank, bad battery, dirty carb, & the fuel petcock was gunked up too.


Any way here is my 1985 Spree NQ50.



I purchased a set of KENDA tires off amazon, a mighty max battery, generic EBAY Coil & C.D.I, OEM Honda air filter, Honda Injector Oil. So far I see a little progress.



I would like to build a spree that is some what reliable, a little bit faster for safety reasons and to cruise around and have some fun. So far I have not been able to get it to start. It turns over but will not stay running. Im going threw the service manual troubleshooting guides and feel Im getting closer.I was having trouble getting gas from the tank to the carb after the fuel issue was resolved I thought the spark be a little weak, when I did the spark test I could feel the current threw the coil wire (almost felt like I was gonna be shocked) but I was not to visually impressed by the spark. Ive drained the gas and used another spree tank. Soaking the carb in some diesel overnight not looks like my next move.





I just wanted to introduce myself. Please excuse me if I ask noob questions. Yes I am utilizing the search feature as well as the PDF spree manual . If any old school spree heads have any suggetions for a spree noob Im all ears.

Welcome to the addiction. Looks like you got a good start going!

Soaking the carb in Diesel does nothing to the varnish that old gas leaves behind. You need an aerosol-type carb cleaner or a can of actual carb dip. Carb should be cleaned VERY thoroughly and shot with compressed air in all the ports. Sometimes old carbs need to be cleaned a couple times.

Also, having a proper air filter in place (and oiled) is vital. These bikes are very dependent on that filter for proper flow and back pressure to run right. Be sure theres no possible air leaks in the entire system from airbox, carb seals and intake gaskets, etc. Be sure youre getting fuel flowing through the fuel line when vacuum is applied to the vac hose.

New sparkplugs are cheap, get one and gap it to spec from the manual.

The CDI is responsible for the strength of spark. People have known to have issues with generic "replacement" CDI's even when brand new. If spark is weak, try your OEM CDI and see if its better.

Be sure your air/fuel mixture screw is in the proper position via the manual. The setting is different for 84-85 and 86-87 Sprees. You claim your bike is an 85' but the kickstart wasn't introduced until 86'. Its possible someone added a kickstart to an 85' motor. Try both settings and see which is better. Good luck.

I can tell from the old decals, the kick-start, muffler, and kick-stand you have a 1986 Spree.

Your Spree isn't in too bad of shape, so this will be a easy turnaround. For your Gas tank, I would find a solution to soak it in for about a day. I recommend using "Metal Rescue" Rust Remover Bath. I've used it on 3 Spree gas tanks so far and the results are amazing!

jerz40 wrote: For your Gas tank, I would find a solution to soak it in for about a day. I recommend using "Metal Rescue" Rust Remover Bath. I've used it on 3 Spree gas tanks so far and the results are amazing!

I had a tank from an 87 SE50 that was rusted so bad it was beyond rescue. I used Red Kote and its good as new. However you decide to skin a cat is up to you, as long as it gets skinned!

You'll find that these bikes are as basic as they come. Not many moving parts to make them not run. Just start by eliminating all the easy ones and go from there.

Get fuel to flow - tank, petcock, fuel/vac line, etc
Get air unrestricted - new oiled filter, clean air box and air hose, etc
Get decent spark - new sparkplug, good battery, a working CDI, coil wire, etc
COMPLETELY clean the carb with a full disassembly, proper carb cleaner and compressed air. Check that float needle is making a positive seal during this process. Set air/fuel mixture screw properly.
Adjust idle screw as needed for bike to be happy once running.
Test bystarter with the process provided by wikispreedia

Theres also an in-tank fuel filter pressed into the bung where the petcock mounts. They are nearly impossible to remove without destroying them. They can be had on ebay for a few bucks. Theres also a screen oil filter in the rubber boot that attaches to the bottom of oil tank. That one is easily removed and cleaned/re-used.

First of all, thanks for all the positive responses.

Jerz40 you are absolutely correct I did mis identify the 86. I found the sticker on the fork.

I had the airbox just kinda of sitting there not all bolted down. I got a buddy coming over today and were gonna go threw the spree and check out all the things you guys have mentioned. Probaly why it would not turn over and run. It was so close last night to running

So I found an 85 locally for really cheap. Could not pass it up. It the one in the back, sorry for the * pic.
The gas tank was immaculate inside, going to reuse it if I can.




Thanks for the help guys it means a lot.

Dio swap one of them.

Status Update: Going to wally world to pick up some carb soak. I really dont like shopping at walmart becasue there evil etc...but in this case the carb soak was almost $10 Cheaper.

As far as a Dio swap its not out of the question the scooter swap shop post a pic on thier instagram of spree dio motormount kit but it was only a protoype. I know the scooter swap shop has an account on here. I was curios to see if it was on here as well. Found this.

https://www.instagram.com/p/sGMtdxw9rc/

thats the link if your interested you might have to copy and paste in to your browser

That's a stretch kit. Not a "dio-to-spree" mount.

If your talking about that pic Brandon posted a couple days ago. I think he was asking $199 for them. I don't see it listed on his website so you'll probably have to message him.

Alternately, you can modify one of these to work as well:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/282236964781

That is... if you can find one. I picked up one a couple months back for my variated AF05E.

Check out this wiki if you haven't already: http://hondaspree.net/wiki/index.php5?t ... _Swap_Info

I think this is the post you are referring to: https://www.facebook.com/brandon.saylor ... 0395411819

Yea I think I got confused as well but it looks like there will be a spree dio mount swap whatever exactly you would like to call it in the near future

So I got another scoot and it was a lot closer to running then mine. I switched over the parts I has bought from the 1st spree and got this one going.








Here is a start up video. I rode it around for about 45 minutes didnt miss a lick. It did struggle to get past 25, the throttle had a sweet spot, to much gas it would bog down but just the right amount and she would get it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7dnaSvIYLs

Clean that carb , new air filter and spark plug. Set mixture screw to factory settings of 1-1/2 turns. I bet she'll purr.

I bought a Spree that would bog at anything over half throttle and would top out at 20. The lady had the mixture screw all the way in. She said that's how she "fixed" it every time it would progressively run worse was turn the screw a bit. There was no filter in it at all. Over the years, she turned the screw so many times it was finally bottomed out. Then once it finally ran even worse and she didn't have a screw to turn anymore....she sold it!

FYI: that Spree looks to be an 84-85' since it has no kickstart. Those years topped out at 25-27mph in stock form. It wasn't until the 86' that their top speed was 30.

I noticed in the video the starter didn't catch right away. You can fix that by just tearing it apart, clean it out, then re-grease it. It will give that 30+ year old starter a new lease on life without having to spend a ridiculous amount replacing it.