Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

My 87 Spree sat for about 1.5 years without running. It was running well prior to it being put in dry storage. I installed a new battery and it started, warmed up and idled well. Initially it accelerated to full speed but then quickly started to falter at the high throttle settings. It would smooth out as the throttle was reduced to a lower setting. I limped back to the garage. This condition continued to deteriorate to where it wouldn't take hardly any throttle at all without dying. Now it won't even fire up. All these events transpired within the first 2 short test runs.
Where should I start?

Remove carburetor and thoroughly clean per instructions found in here.... http://hondaspree.net/wiki/index.php5?title=Main_Page
Then check air filter and if needed, replace w/correct filter found here.... https://www.ebay.com/str/noiseguysstore
Also inspect the spark plug and if needed, replace with a correct one also found here.... https://www.ebay.com/str/noiseguysstore
Next, be sure of good, leak free connections of air intake system and vacuum/fuel lines. Set carburetor air/fuel screw per manual initial settings and adjust as necessary. The Spree motor is very sensitive and should not be modified from original condition. If you can’t get it running properly then something else is amiss.

I would suspect deteriorated hoses...replace.
Clean gas tank and screen...if it has one.
Gonna have to clean the carb and check all jets for flow.
I bet the bystarter never closed the enrichment circuit and caused the rich condition
to make it run poorly until you got it back home. Test bystarter..is easy.

Cleaned everything, carb, bystarter and fuel valve. Repeated starts produced a good idle and a fair amount of blue smoke but was able to take a little more throttle each time before dying out. A fresh tank of premium gas and multiple plug cleanings after each die out eventually resulted in smooth running and an ability to accelerate with no more blue smoke. My suspicion is a balky bystarter along with old low octane fuel.
Thanks for everybody's help!

Greetings:

I suspect you finally got it to run long enough and warm up enough to burn off the half-crankcase full of oil resulting from 547 days of a slowly-leaking oil pump o-ring. This might be the reason why your plug fouled out. It should be fine if you run it frequently, or you can look into replacing the o-ring or the entire oil pump.

Thanks Wheelman. That makes a lot of sense. I'm impressed with the depth of knowledge on this forum and appreciate the willingness to help out. This scooter is a new item in the "fleet" and I need to get educated on it's workings. Like most everything else with a motor, I guess they to don't like to sit idle for any length of time. Lesson learned...... again

Now come fix mine

Wheelman-111 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 16, 2019 11:05 am Greetings:

I suspect you finally got it to run long enough and warm up enough to burn off the half-crankcase full of oil resulting from 547 days of a slowly-leaking oil pump o-ring. This might be the reason why your plug fouled out. It should be fine if you run it frequently, or you can look into replacing the o-ring or the entire oil pump.

Hi all, long time no post - just curious about the o-ring mentioned. I'm not seeing how the o-ring that seals the pump in its orifice could cause a leak unless the oil is flowing over the outside of the pump and down into the hole. I've always been under the impression that there is a check valve inside that weakens over time and allows oil to leak into the crankcase. I believe you will need another pump but please correct me if I'm missing something. Nothing worse than filling the neighborhood with smoke after cranking one of these that has sat for awhile.

Greetings:

Yeah, now that you mention it that check-valve might be the more likely culprit. I haven't seen an oil pump in so long, I shouldn't try to diagnose one.