Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

I managed to find some SB50 reeds off a salvage bike today, but I'm curious what really is the advantage of them over the spree reeds? After comparing them with my spree reeds with my calipers the ports seem to be nearly identical dimensionally.

Then those are not SB50 reeds. SB50 reeds are wider towards the bottom and set a little lower on the cage. They are a bit bigger all around really. They should match up pretty close to the intake mouth that goes over them, compared to a Spree which will have them up higher. Pretty common to see eBay sellers try passing off Spree reeds for SB50 reeds

To help you with the confusion, here are images from the wiki page to take a look at.

On the left here, you will see SB50 reeds (and intake), and on the right, are NQ50 (Spree) reeds and intake.

Notice how much larger the opening is..



In this next image, you see the underside of the reed cage. Notice the different cut and contours on the reeds. If they do not look like that, then they are not SB50 reeds



As to your question about advantages of using them, obviously the main advantage is it allows more air/fuel mix into the block/cylinder.

Now, if you find out you don't actually have SB50 reeds, what you can do is port out the Spree reeds. Of course, if you have the reeds ported, it would be silly NOT to port the intake as well.

Here is an image of what ported reeds look like.

On the left, is the before, on the right is the after of what the intake side will look like.



Don't know if you have visited the Spree wiki page yet, but here is a direct link to intake MODS.

http://hondaspree.net/wiki/index.php5?t ... _the_Spree

Take a gander at the info there for more help and info.

Well I feel stupid, after seeing those pictures I realize the Spree I bought came with SB50 reeds on it. So I was comparing SB50 reeds to SB50 reeds... I definitely see the difference comparing the two in the picture. Thanks for the info.

Here is another way to figure out what you have... Take a look at the gaskets in these 2 images and notice where the intake for the reed cage has a smaller gap on the SB50 then the stock Spree intake. You'll see the tiny Spree intake has quite a huge gap between the lip of the reed cage to the gasket, while the SB50 reed lip goes almost to the start of the gasket.

In actual results, do the SB50 reeds give you more top end, more torque, etc.? Does anyone have a before and after numbers comparison of the difference between Spree and SB50?

Kustomkarma wrote:In actual results, do the SB50 reeds give you more top end, more torque, etc.? Does anyone have a before and after numbers comparison of the difference between Spree and SB50?

Clutch was slipping, but yes:

Ported SB50 Reeds with ported SB50 intake:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr3m1_i4g64

Stock Spree Intake & Reeds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IzNlbWuawI

Thanks for the links! So it looks like you pick up some speed on the top end. I've always read about them, but didn't really know how they made a difference.

Not only that, but they also improve stoich air/fuel ratio when using a BBK. Something that is badly needed to get it running right.

renne150 wrote:Well I feel stupid, after seeing those pictures I realize the Spree I bought came with SB50 reeds on it. So I was comparing SB50 reeds to SB50 reeds... I definitely see the difference comparing the two in the picture. Thanks for the info.

Yep, it just may very well have. This is also something that people might not be aware of. Some Sprees do already have the SB50 reeds. Might explain why some people can get the BBK to work just fine, while others struggle with it.

As long as you know what you are looking for on eBay, you can find some pretty cheap.

Just reference the above pictures and the wiki page.

As an example, here is an eBay auction selling Spree reeds for like $20:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172728190305

Now here is another auction with the seller advertising what he has as Spree reeds, but if you look closer, they are SB50...AND CHEAPER!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/182595221882

See the differences in them?

BOOM!!! You all learned something today!!

Greetings:

EC that would be a GREAT find on the SB reeds, but use the hover feature. Sometimes pics can deceive, but it looks like a rodent has taken a bite out of the reed petal on the lower left. I wouldn't install those as-is, or your engine might be inhaling Chunks O' Stainless Steel.

Wheelman-111 wrote:Greetings:

EC that would be a GREAT find on the SB reeds, but use the hover feature. Sometimes pics can deceive, but it looks like a rodent has taken a bite out of the reed petal on the lower left. I wouldn't install those as-is, or your engine might be inhaling Chunks O' Stainless Steel.

Yes, nice catch there. That was just 1 example of many if you do a search for "SPREE REEDS". One would have to do their own research. I have seen them sell for cheaper.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... s&_sacat=0

Here is a set that sold for $15: http://www.ebay.com/itm/152474935435

But yeah, I zoomed in on that and see what you're saying.