Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

I just picked up a 84 spree super cheap. Knew the starter was bad so trying to decide what would be better. Should I buy an aftermarket starter motor, used one from a spree or just get a cover with a kick starter and not bother with an electric starter?

Is the starter actually bad or is the starter relay smoked. If this was jump started and they smoked it, usually the relay dies first.

Can you hear the relay switch (click) when you activate the starter button?

I tested it hooking known good scooter battery up directly to the positive and negative wires of the starter. It spun but would not engage the sprocket to spin the motor over. When I got the starter motor it wouldn't move at all. I tried using high temp solder to patch the break and it did spin but probably won't spin hard enough to engage teh motor. So I don't even know about the relay yet and for all I know it could be bad also. Just trying to see what my options are regarding buying a new or used starter. Or maybe just get a side cover with a kickstart and not mess with it. How much are we looking at for starter vs a cover with kickstart?

Are you sure the bendix is free and working properly? If it is stuck it will turn but not throw out and engage. I was aware of only one terminal on the starter, the 12 volt plus terminal from the battery. Ground is thru the frame. There are no wire off the starter, only to the starter.

oldrock wrote:How much are we looking at for starter vs a cover with kickstart?

I'm sure someone on here has a starter for a decent price. I'd get a used starter then get a kicker cover down the road. Post a wanted add on these forums.

personally, i love my kickstarter. But kickstarter covers for sprees are sought after, so it might be expensive, i don't know


starter motors on the other hand should be pretty cheap, since i don't think they go bad too often. I have a few of them i would be willing to part with for example

Bear45-70 wrote: Ground is thru the frame. There are no wire off the starter, only to the starter.

The starter has two wires going to it, one for power, and one that hooks to the frame of the starter motor for ground

PimpinSpree wrote:personally, i love my kickstarter. But kickstarter covers for sprees are sought after, so it might be expensive, i don't know


starter motors on the other hand should be pretty cheap, since i don't think they go bad too often. I have a few of them i would be willing to part with for example

Bear45-70 wrote: Ground is thru the frame. There are no wire off the starter, only to the starter.

The starter has two wires going to it, one for power, and one that hooks to the frame of the starter motor for ground

How would power to those two wire make the starter run? You would have to disconnect them to get power to them.

im not following you. They run because the power goes to the power wire and from the starter relay, and the ground is hooked to the batteries negative terminal? Or do you mean how would you test the starter with those two wires? By hooking power to one and ground to the other?

Bear45-70 wrote:
How would power to those two wire make the starter run? You would have to disconnect them to get power to them.

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PimpinSpree wrote:im not following you. They run because the power goes to the power wire and from the starter relay, and the ground is hooked to the batteries negative terminal? Or do you mean how would you test the starter with those two wires? By hooking power to one and ground to the other?

Bear45-70 wrote:
How would power to those two wire make the starter run? You would have to disconnect them to get power to them.

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But he said he jumpered power to the wires.

Bear45-70 wrote: But he said he jumpered power to the wires.

PimpinSpree wrote:Or do you mean how would you test the starter with those two wires? By hooking power to one and ground to the other?

oldrock wrote:I tested it hooking known good scooter battery up directly to the positive and negative wires of the starter.

sounds like he did exactly what i was saying:
1. remove starter motor from scooter
2. locate a 12volt dc power source
3. very carefully touch positive wire to the red wires terminal in the quick connect and very carefully touch negative wire to the green wires terminal in the quick connect
4. see whether it spins or not

not saying this is the best/safest way to test the starter, but this is what i pictured with what the OP said, so im confused what there is to be confused about

Yes I just used aligator clips to run a 12 volt battery directly to the starter. once I saw the soldering patch job I did was going to hold (had to use a micro torch to get the copper wire red hot so the silver solder would hold properly) then I bolted the starter back up to the engine. When I tried just hooking up the battery in the normal way via the battery terminals, all I got was a click sound. So what I did was disconnect the wire harness with the red and green wires that do from the starter to the wiring harness. Then used the aligator clips to feed the power directly to those wires. That allowed me to send the battery current right to the starter bypassing all the other electrical. When I did that, the starter motor did turn the engine over.

So I guess the question would be when starter relay (the little silver colored metal box by the battery box) clicks when I press the start button but the starter motor doesn't turn over, I assume that means I need to change out the starter relay? I am using a gel cell 12 volt battery instead of my running scooter battery since I didn't want to kill my good scoot battery if there is a problem. I guess I should at least try the scooter battery to test it.

Asuming the other battery still makes the clicking sound, I guess I should be looking for a new relay? IS that part best ordered from honda or aftermarket?

Or used.

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