Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Just picked up a 1985 spree in decent condition not running was told it ran last season , ha father carb apart and it’s not clogged , and not getting fuel , removed the petcock hoses to find no flow threw the petcock I know
It’s a vacuum setup but is it common for them to gum up ? And another question is the 86-87 petcock compatible with 84-85 ? Or is there another common fix for this issue or a manual petcock mod ?

Greetings:

Gumming up depends on the scooter's history. The Aero that a friend sold me to go down this Path of Madness in 2008 was purchased at an estate auction. Apparently it was in a shed from the early 1990s until then. The full tank of gasoline had over the Eons boiled down to a 1/2" thick sheet of Epoxy, taking the petcock with it. Search for "The BEAST! " thread from that era, can it be over 10 years ago??

If yours wasn't quite that bad, and you have succeeded in removing the petcock, see if you can run some carb cleaner or Methyl Ethyl Ketone through the fuel passage somehow. It might be necessary to let it soak in for several days to nibble away the solids. There is a risk of eating the synthetic diaphragm, but what've you got to lose?

For some reason, Honda changed the diameter of ALL their scooter tank nipples in '86 or '87, such that a 1987 petcock definitely won't fit your tank. You might be able to cobble up an adaptor with plumbing fittings from your local Home store, but the best bet is to find a NOS or used petcock that's known good.

Wheelman speaks truth! I had petcock issues on an 85’ Spree and it was a bear finding a replacement to fit. I bought 3 different ones from Ebay that claimed they fit the 85’ but NONE of them did. I lucked out and found a used one FROM an 85’.

A manual fuel valve is certainly a viable alternative but, again, if you can find one thats threads onto your tank bung.

I'm having the same challenge finding a petcock replacement for an '85. Ordered one from Amazon that was the larger diameter as it turns out. Second from eBay was correct diameter, but the nut was not freely turning on the petcock the way it should and so it was impossible to attach to tank. Hints on where to find one?