Spree headlight and starter problems

[Bossshelby]

Hi I have a 85 honda spree. When you connect the battery the red cable sparks upon touching the terminal. When cables are connected the headlight is on very dimly. Why would it does this? Also when I pushed the starter button nothing happened. any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

[mousewheels]

When you connect the battery the red cable sparks upon touching the terminal.

That should not happen *if* the igntion switch is 'off'.
No current should flow while your scooter is idle.

Sparks might be seen if the red cable is connected with the ignition "on" as the tail light is powered by the battery

When cables are connected the headlight is on very dimly. Why would it does this?

The headlight should only come on when the engine is running, as it is powered via AC generated by the stator. Voltage to light the head lamp is present only when the engine spins the flywheel mounted magnets past the stator.

Try unplugging the Rectifier/Regulator, when failed, the regulator has caused discharged batteries, blown fuses, melted wires and even a plume of smoke for members. If unplugging eliminates the headlight on condition, your regulator is bad.

Also when I pushed the starter button nothing happened. any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

You may have more than one issue. If the regulator is bad it can discharge your battery past the point of starting, and will drain the battery with the ignition switch off.

With a multimeter/DMM in hand, you can make progress on this issue. Given the above issues, I'd place the meter across the battery, and monitor DC voltage. If its under 10.5v or so when you press the start button, the starter relay may not pull in.
Recharge your battery, unplug the regulator, then troubleshoot your starter circuit.

- Starter still not working?
If you can hear the relay click, it's pulling in, next step is to check for bad starter relay contacts, bad connections between the starter relay -> starter or starter ground.

The starter may be failed, you can pull the starter and connect across a battery to check.

Lastly, regarding simple things that go wrong, make sure you have the brakes on when activating the start button. It is a safety interlock Honda designed in. The brake light must be 'on', to supply power to the starter relay coil.

[Bossshelby]

Ok thank you so much.

[Bossshelby]

Ok the regulator ended up being bad. After replacing that I connected the test light to the ground on battery. The put the point end of test light in the starter wire (yellow with orange striped wire) and it started turning over. Why would I have to jump it like this, a bad ground?

[mousewheels]

Could be a bad ground for the start switch. Check out the start switch with a multimeter or dmm.

The most common issue is the start switch contacts need cleaning - Link to pics of teardown/cleaning

[Bossshelby]

Ok I did everything you told me and now it all works.the regulator was bad and the starter button was really rusty. Now onto last problem. The compression goes up to 60 lbs and then slowly starts to go down. I Will have to order gasket kit, but don't know what the engine is. It's says afo5e and the exhaust angle is different. the intake is four bolt and it has a longer shock than a spree.

[mousewheels]

4 bolt intake and angled exhaust as pictured is a happy find in a Spree. It's got a variated powertrain, a surprise on a Spree deal. Better take off, more speed and upgrade options.

If your cyl matches that in the pic you posted, the powertrain has been swapped for a 1986 and up Aero 50, Elite SE50 or SA50 88-93. Look to those models for engine components and gaskets.

[Bossshelby]

Ok I bought an aero gasket set a while back and the gaskets are all correct except the base gasket. So I ended up finding the right base gasket on ebay under elite se50 and just ordered it. Thanks so much for all the help mouse. Hopefully this will be the last major speed bump