Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Im thinking my bystarter is bad on the 85' Spree. On cold starts, it wont idle unless I hold the throttle but when it warms up after a minute its fine. I have the plastics off since Im working on other things so when I cold start it I just crank up the idle screw till its happy. That way I don't have to hold the throttle. Then after a couple minutes the motor warms up and the RPM's go into orbit and I turn it back down to normal. I checked the bystarter with an ohm meter and the resistance is within spec. Since I wont be buying a new carb with a manual choke any time soon or spending $50 on Ebay for a used OEM bystarter, Im wondering if anyone has had success with the cheap $8 replacement ones?

Was having the exact same trouble on mine. Since I WILL be upgrading the carb on it later on, decided as a temp fix to get a cheapy one off of eBay. Seems to be working just fine now.

Yes mine works. I got it.off Amazon. Just make sure.you check the years of bystarter. One has different plug wires than the other. I bought.the wrong one and.had to strip wires to make.it work

I edited this post on 11/17/2017 as it has bad info in it. The following paragraph is not correct. The step in the 1985 carb I was looking at was cause by somebody screwing in too long a carb mounting bolt. .. thanks to mousewheels for the correction. read all the way to the end of this topic for more info... vintagegarage

This post reminded me to ask a question that has been bugging me for a couple of months.. Besides the 1985 Spree bystarters having two bullet connectors and the 1986 bystarters having a two prong plastic plug, I think I found that the 1985 carbs and 1986 carbs have different bystarter chambers. The carbs that I have that I think are 1985 carbs have a "step" cast into the side of the bystarter chamber that limits the downward travel of the bystarter's brass piston, while the carbs I think are from a 1986 or 1987 have no such "step". I also think that the brass piston in 1985 bystarters have a different "cold" position than the 1986 or 1987 bystarters and if you try to force a 1986 bystarter into a 1985 carb, the brass piston will hang up on the "step". In other words, using a 1986 bystarter in a 1985 carb won't work even if you cut off the two prong plug and replace it with bullet connecters, and likewise if you use a 1985 bystarter in a 1986 carb, the brass piston will be in the wrong position when cold.. Am I all wet, or is any of this true? I don't think I have ever seen mention of this in this forum, so I assume I am probably wrong?

I have an 85' and my buddy has an 86' I'll make my best attempt at a mythbusters comparison when I have ample time. However, I did notice that while shopping FEEbay for a bystarter for my 85' (which DOES have the bullet connectors) there were 20-30 available with the plastic plug end for around $8. However there was only 1-2 for sale with the bullet connectors and those were $26.99! There got to be more difference there other than the connector.

Hmm now that i think about it. Mine gives a short sputter after warming up and WOT on the stock motor maybe vintagegarage is right about the differences. Ill buy one for the 85 and swap it out and let you know.

Should.be in Saturday. Would the 86-87 bystarter flood the.85 carb ?? Even when I'm warmed up all the way it'll sputter like if it were trying to.warm up. I can tell it's my bystarter

I Ebay'd the one for my 85' today. Whenever it gets here I'll chime in on the results too. I have a new float needle coming from Partzilla as well. Hoping these two things get this stock carb to actually work like its supposed to....Or I could just buy this one below that just popped up for sale a few miles from me.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/mcy/5656317126.html

I wouldn't pay $650 for it. For that price you can get a brand new TaoTao ATM50-A1 with free shipping.

https://www.provenpowersports.com/colle ... 8715289799

It would seem the prices for tidy examples of these little beasts are climbing... Saw one sell over here a week or so ago for $810!

Yeah, but how often does one with 100mi on it come around? Sure, you could find Sprees that look tired for $100-$200 with thousands of miles on them but youd spend much more getting them to run and look decent. I have more than $650 into my Spree but , for me, its not about finding the cheapest 50cc on the road.

Getting the right bystarter made a huge difference on acceleration. It fixed my issue:)

Greetings:

Quoth eClarK:

I wouldn't pay $650 for it. For that price you can get a brand new TaoTao ATM50-A1 with free shipping.

And he appears to be correct. You can get a brand-new GY6-equipped 4-stroke with a 6 month power-train-only (you pay all shipping) warranty for $650. But then you'd have to ride it.

The Chinese machines must be getting better, but methinks they still have a long way to go.

New bystarter arrived. Looks exactly the same as OEM except the wires are about 6" longer. Installed it with no significant difference/improvement. Oh well, at least ive eliminated one possible reason why the bike isn't healthy.

Unless you performed the bystarter test on page 4-4 in the Spree workshop manual, and the test reveals that your bystater is working correctly, I don't agree that you have eliminated one reason that your bike isn't healthy. I still think a 1985 Spree carb has a step in the bystarter chamber that keeps a later bystarter from working properly in it. Not saying I am right, as it still doesn't sound right to me, but until you perform the bystarter test, you won't really know if the bystarter is closing the enriching circuit properly.