Aero 50 back to life thread

[StephenG]

When I was a kid, long ago, all of the cool kids were rolling around on 4-wheelers (before they were called quads) and 3-wheelers (now affectionately death on wheels). Thinking myself cooler than all of these kids, I asked for a 50cc Honda scooter and one fine sunny day my * self was gifted just such a beast. She was brand-new, straight from the local Honda motorcycle dealer, and in a period of 3 years I put almost 1,000 miles on her.

And then she sat for many, many, many, many years getting loaded into moving trucks and pushed from house to house. She last ran in 2012 and that was only to idle in a garage.

Now, with kids of my own who are approaching the same age I was when the scooter was gifted to me, it's time to try and bring her back to life.

Pulled her out of the storage building, dusted her off, and started taking body panels off. Drained all of the fuel, took the carb off and cleaned it, put in a new NGK plug, fueled her up....and the kick start was seized. Drive belt gasket had turned into epoxy so took some effort to get it pried off to inspect the gears and add some white lithium grease to the works. Put it back together without the gasket (need to replace one I get her going) and she was still seized about 3 of every 5 kicks.

Did some Googling and afraid driveshaft may be seized. Took the fan cover off and it spins freely, so (whew) that wasn't the issue. Additional reading and sounded like compression may be seizing it up and forum post recommended kicking without the plug in to get everything lubed up. Pulled the plug, kicked it 20 of 30 times, and it's now kicking freely but my garage floor is full of oil that was blown out of the plug hole and all over my scoot. Cleaned all of that up and got the plug put back in.

Kicked it a whole bunch more and, maybe I'm dreaming, but it sounded like it tried to run just before I called it a night. Ordered a new 3rd party carb, battery, plug, air filter, gas lines and clamps and went to sleep.

Will pick it back up when parts start coming in or anyone has some words of wisdom on something I may have failed to try.

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[motormike]

Sounds like your scoot has been filling with oil that has found its way through the oil pump.
This is common. The muffler has likely filled too.
Some people report using a suction device to remove the oil from crankcase through the intake.
Remove the reed cage, use a turkey-baster with a hose attached, and give it a go.
New spark plug is highly suggested.
The seized piston is a direct result of oil in the cylinder.
You cannot compress oil...it just wont turn over.
CAUTION !....that new carburetor you ordered is a waste of money.
NO clone carb is ever as good as the OEM...imho
Meticulous cleaning of the carb is worth every effort.
Sometimes it takes multiple cleanings.
The most important step is to VERIFY the passages and jets are open by spraying carb-cleaner through them and observing the spray
is being directed to its intended place.WEAR SAFETY GLASSES during this procedure.
Persistence will give you a win...good luck sir, report back your findings, and please update your info to show your location.

[StephenG]

Thanks for the response and did some quick wrenching....

Remove the reed cage, use a turkey-baster with a hose attached, and give it a go.
New spark plug is highly suggested.

Pulled the carb and reed cage (going to need new gaskets) but when I attempted to suck oil from the cylinder I got nothing except a light coating on the end of the tube.

CAUTION !....that new carburetor you ordered is a waste of money.
NO clone carb is ever as good as the OEM...imho
Meticulous cleaning of the carb is worth every effort.
Sometimes it takes multiple cleanings.
The most important step is to VERIFY the passages and jets are open by spraying carb-cleaner through them and observing the spray
is being directed to its intended place.WEAR SAFETY GLASSES during this procedure.

So apparently back in 2012 I vaguely remember replacing the carburetor and the one on it now is a 3rd party one....so I'm in the same boat getting a new one. I'll begin a search for a gently used OEM one.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE

Pulled the muffler and air filter and sprayed a little bit of card cleaner in the intake and it fired and ran...

BUT

the throttle was completely unresponsive and the engine sounded like it was near max RPM so I hit the kill switch not wanting to damage it.

Without the muffler it blew smoke and a light layer of oil everywhere. Not really sure what my next moves are at this point, my gut says shop for an OEM Carb and clean the muffler but any sage advice is appreciated.

[StephenG]

Digging into the stuck throttle issue, I came across this thread:

http://hondaspree.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=25665

and specifically this statement "When the throttle is released, the spring should push the slide down (view from airbox side down venturi):"

So I pulled the airbox and shined a light into the intake and, sure enough, no visible sleeve/slide. Unscrewed the throttle assembly and oriented it the proper direction and got it and the airbox reassembled. After 5 or so failed kickstart attempts, she fired and ran at idle.

Video proof:
https://youtu.be/aRmtVYVy8vA

This forum is awesome!

Next up for the Aero 50:

• New tires and tubes

• New battery

• New Air filter

• Begin reassembling the body panels and buying missing hardware (bolts screws I know are missing)

• Finding an OEM Carb

[StephenG]

With the Aero 50 back to running, I thought it was time to get it to the point that I felt safe for my pre-teen daughter to ride around the subdivision on. Using much reading on this list, along with a lot of inspiration from members who have brought their scooters back to life, I created my punch list:

• Pull wheels, inspect, replace tires/tubes

• Pull muffler. Clean and paint it

• Drain fuel and oil.

• Clean engine and frame thoroughly

• Drain gear oil and refill

• Polish body panels

• Install new fuel and oil lines

• Install new drive belt

• Install new gasket kit w/ lithium grease

• Install new air filter

• Install new battery

• Put it all back together

• Fill oil and fuel and ride

Step 1, take it apart:

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[chuper.duper]

Thanks for bringing us along on the ride!
I just picked up an '86 Aero 50 as well (same color scheme, too) and I'm about to dig into it in a similar fashion.
Any updates on this project?

[motormike]

Kudos for digging right in and showing some initiative and research. Good luck sir, you are well on the way.