Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

I read the manual. Said to check if brakelight works, check. Then said to see if turnsignals work, check. Then it said try and start, no go! I first got it two weeks ago and turned over almost started off my truck then slowly got sluggish to the point that the starter relay just clicks. I used three other good starter relays and did same thing just clicked, tried another good starter, same thing. It said if all that works than must be a faulty starter switch. I have no clue why it would do this when it was working perfect before, kinda like a battery going dead, just clicks. PLEASE HELP ME!

Sounds like a dead battery. Drive the scooter for about 20 minutes or so, and then turn it off and try to restart. That should be long enough to allow the alternator to charge. If it starts or at least tries to turn over then you know it is just a battery.

NickKimosabe wrote:Sounds like a dead battery. Drive the scooter for about 20 minutes or so, and then turn it off and try to restart. That should be long enough to allow the alternator to charge. If it starts or at least tries to turn over then you know it is just a battery.

Nick, you have no clue as to how little a charge the scooter charging system puts out, 20 minutes will not get the job done, this ain't a car.

Killin, you need to charge that battery but you can not fast charge these batteries or you will kill it. You need a charger that will charge at .3 amps or less and that will take several hours if not overnight. A fully charged battery should show 12.6 to 13 volts preferably the higher number. When cranking the engine the voltage should not drop below 10.5 volts. I would suspect the PO charged the battery for your acceptance of the scooter and now it is back to it's normal condition, bad and you will need to replace that battery.

Bear45-70 wrote:

NickKimosabe wrote:Sounds like a dead battery. Drive the scooter for about 20 minutes or so, and then turn it off and try to restart. That should be long enough to allow the alternator to charge. If it starts or at least tries to turn over then you know it is just a battery.

Nick, you have no clue as to how little a charge the scooter charging system puts out, 20 minutes will not get the job done, this ain't a car.

Killin, you need to charge that battery but you can not fast charge these batteries or you will kill it. You need a charger that will charge at .3 amps or less and that will take several hours if not overnight. A fully charged battery should show 12.6 to 13 volts preferably the higher number. When cranking the engine the voltage should not drop below 10.5 volts. I would suspect the PO charged the battery for your acceptance of the scooter and now it is back to it's normal condition, bad and you will need to replace that battery.

Agreed, although your bike may not be charging as well. check the connections first after charging and if it reoccurs. Start looking for a power drain and test the output of the charging system.

The battery is a brand new duralast as of 7-28-10. ???

OK - just to check I understand what you have tried:

Tried jumping from a good car battery and no go
Swapped out original starter motor for a different one that is known to work

The sound of the relay clicking is normal and just indicates that the relay is making a connection at the terminal. I suspect you either have a jammed starter gear or you have a bad electrical connection to the starter. If you have a multimeter check that there is a good ground connection from the starter casing to some bare metal part of the frame. Then check that you get 12V to the starter terminals when the starter switch is depressed. Don't keep the starter switch depressed for more than a second or two when you do this test.

If the electrical continuity tests check out, I think you need to pull off the CVT cover and make sure that the Bendix gear is not jammed.

I dont have a way to check to make sure the starter is getting current put to it but i took off my clutch cover and no jammed parts anywhere. Then i took out the starter, pluged it into the harness, gave it a good ground and still just the click. Even ran all my wires to make sure nothing is fried or coroded. Good battery, good starter relays, good starters, what next?

Without at least a minimum of a test light you don't know that the starter relay is good. They can click and still not pass current.

You need a minimum of one of these;

http://www.harborfreight.com/extra-long ... 43700.html

and better yet get one of these too.

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-function ... 92020.html

Then by process of elimination I would say its probably the +ve wire between the relay and the starter. Maybe it got melted somewhere along its length. If you have a spare scooter bulb laying around you could rig up a test lamp to see if it lights when the starter switch is engaged.

You can also double-check the starter relay by shorting the two wires that are red and red/white that run into the relay connector.

EDIT - and like Bear said while I was penning this reply: a multi-meter would be a good investment.

Ill make sure to pick those two up tommorow after work. I just want to know why this darn spree turns over at first then slowly gets to the point of not turning ovet to the clicking. Has anyone else ever had this problem? And the relays are all good due to he fact i tested them all on my other running spree. I want to say f*** it and just use my kickstart but im determined to figure out this issue

KillinSpree wrote:Ill make sure to pick those two up tommorow after work. I just want to know why this darn spree turns over at first then slowly gets to the point of not turning ovet to the clicking. Has anyone else ever had this problem? And the relays are all good due to he fact i tested them all on my other running spree. I want to say f*** it and just use my kickstart but im determined to figure out this issue

It's called a weak battery usually. With a meter you can put it on the battery and watch the voltage. If it drops below 10.5 volts quit cranking right now. Also you are not suppose to crank anymore than 10 seconds at a time with about 20 seconds between cranks, This is in the service manual. If you do crank to long you overheat the wires, the starter solenoid and starter and wear the battery out.

KillinSpree wrote:I just want to know why this darn spree turns over at first then slowly gets to the point of not turning ovet to the clicking.

So does it do this with both starters or only the once with the original starter and then nothing since then?

It turned over fine when i first got it then did nothing. Found out the solid red wire going to the starter relay was corroded. So i spliced the wires and installed new connectors. Turned over great and started after doing that. Remember this is all with the original starter, then it died. I cleaned the carb, sucked on the vacumm line to get some gas flowing, sprayed some eather and she started right up then died. Cranked it over again and almost started on its own. Turned key off and tried it again, turned over great then got sluggish to nothing but the click. I switched out three relays and another starter with the same results.

First off using ether on a 2 stroke is a good way to blow your reeds. I don't recommend using the stuff anywhere around a 2 stroke. Second, you obviously still have fuel issues. Try putting you finger over the air inlet on the air box and see if that eases the starting issue.

I thought you said earlier that you tried to start it with a truck battery too and got the same result?

If that's not true, then everything points to a run down/bad battery.

Your description of the problem is confusing because I don't think you're using the term "got the same result" with the generally accepted definition.