Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

I've been able to find some common issue some spreeople (I'm sorry) have had with their spree's, however are there any issues that are very common with Spree's that have just sat out for months, years, decades?

Greetings

Aside from Critters taking up residence in the scooter, the most common issues are fuel problems, mainly. The carb bowl has to be vented to let air out as the fuel flows in. Consequently volatile gasoline components evaporate and escape through the vent, leaving thicker and thicker hydrocarbon residues puddling in the bowl. The tank is vented for the same reason too. In the case of Flash 1, evaporation over 10 years left a fuel tank with a half-inch thick coating of material best described as something between epoxy and granite. The carb had a quarter-inch thick layer of the same stuff. Even that carb eventually succumbed to a 3-week-long process of soaking in every solvent I could find and repeated scraping &spraying. Search "The Beast ", circa 2008. For the record, it did start and run, eventually with the original carb. But I spent more on carb dip and sprays than a brand-new from-Honda carb might've cost.

Surprisingly, a dry engine with enough oil when parked will be OK for a long time, unless it's very humid in your neck of the woods and the piston is left to rest with the rings across the exhaust port. Being cast iron, the oil can retract from the ring lands and leave the rings exposed to humidity, leading to the theoretical possibility of rust, especially if the pipe has some holes near the header. I had no trouble starting Flash once the carb issues were sorted out, but it had sat in a dry shed for something like 11 years.

Air seeps slowly from the tires, which are vulnerable to UV light and ozone. Aside from going flat, the rubber goes brittle and forms surface cracks even though the tread is good. Personally I won't ride with tires minted longer than 7 years ago. An oval date stamp with 4 digits representing the week and year of molding can be found on all DOT-approved tires. I suspect the drive belt is susceptible as well, but if it's covered it may outlast tires. My Reflex had its original 2001 vintage belt and still ran OK.

Spreeders living in the switch gear, mud dauber colonies in the muffler, and all manner of resident rodentia have also been reported.

Thanks a lot guys, I'm already seeing a little bit of these issues.

motormike wrote:Also:
Rusted, stuck cables.
Shredded seats.
Faded plastics, body panels, dash lenses, light lenses.
Rotted hoses.
Air filters deteriorated.
Crankcases and mufflers filled with two-stroke oil, or fuel, or both.
Rusted and peeling bright-work.
Center stands rusted and draggy.
Petcock in-operable.

For the air filters deteriorating, how do you combat that. Do you just buy a new filter everytime or something else? I see a lot of people use UNI or K N filters which looks very interesting. How big should these be/ is there a minimum/maximum?