Honda Elite SA50PV has no power

[wagonburnerek]

Hello All,

I just picked up a Yellow Honda Elite SA50PV. Not sure what year it is but I'm thinking a 97 from what I have read. It would not start and the battery was dead. I pulled off the carb and completely cleaned it and reassembled it. It is missing the air cleaner but I was able to get it to start with the kick start. It idles really good and has great throttle response as I set the Air mixture screw to 1.5 turns. Problem I have is it will not reach high rpm's and I can not get it to go over 15 MPH. Will the missing air box making it powerless?. I also need to get a better understanding of the clutch setup on these things.

Would anyone suggest that if the Kick start works but the push button doesn't then I probably have a bad electric starter?

I'm fixing this up for a Lady friend to ride around the campground but not looking to do major mods. Just want it stock and to do the 35mph the speedo says it should.

Any help would be appreciated as I'm clueless

[kuromi]

Hi!
Have you sorted the battery and is it holding charge?
Also, try getting hold of an airbox and filter and seeing how it runs then (there's probably someone selling one on the 'for sale' board) as Honda set it up to run that way.

It may be likely that a previous owner has made mods which could be causing issues or air leaks in the intake.

[wagonburnerek]

I have a battery ordered and a air box. Everything looks stock. Once I get everything on I will check to see how it runs then post back

[kuromi]

Cool,
I had a duff battery on my melody deluxe 2 and it wouldn't start on the electric starter.
Don't do what I did and check for a spark without cleaning the top of the cylinder head first.
Knocked a load of rust from the cowl down the plug hole and into the bore.
Now it needs a full engine rebuild.

[maddog]

carb is jetted for the airbox, without it= now you post.

[wagonburnerek]

Thanks maddog, that's what I was thinking myself just wanted some clarification.

[wagonburnerek]

well, I got the air box on and it runs better but still gutless. So I did a couple of mods to the variator and drilled out the exhaust and woke up the beast.....LOL...that's all I can say. Im 300lbs and this thing gets up and goes.