Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

So Im coming home from work after working all night on graveyard. I have a 2.8 mile commute.
I turn off a major city road out of traffic onto a side street. Halfway dosing off I approach my first stop sign.
I go to stop but the little Spree is stuck in heavy throttle bogg WOT! I hold on for dear life as I soar through the intersection.
Tried wrenching at the throttle, no luck. Try lightly tapping the floatbowl with pliers going 35 downhill, its near impossible. I figured I can ride it out and manage to make it back home, brakes a-smokin' intensifying my too much coffee jitters by half.
So please take carb cleaning seriously, do it right. Be thorough and especially with the slide portion of the carb. You could end up dead if not, really.
Lucky for the kill switch on the handle is all I can say.

wow what a story. good job in the way you tryed to get home hahahah man i think this is a great story does anybody else have one like this?

here is mine

just got my spree in the early 90s (like 91) and i went past a costco and someone lost a bag of rocksalt on the road (yea it was summertime) and i hit it on a turn and dumped the little bike and dragged my arm and leg accross the salt for way too long. ya it hurt for about 2 days

videonut

Heres mine

Last week i decided to let my friend take my 2000 Honda Elite S for a spin around a parking lot. And i look over and i see him hauling *... straight for a parked car. I yell, and he hits the car, the elite falls over, and the clutch bell got bent, locking my rear tire, and i had to drive home like that.

Luckily we all took off, and noone got in trouble, but the car had about an 8 inch dent in it's driver rear quarter panel.

He says his sleeve of his hoodie got caught on the throttle and he couldn't get it off.

Ha! great stuff denting cars with scooters, rock salt(those *******!) in the wounds-wow .
Im lucky my neighbor hot rods old cub cadet tractors, he is a true 2 stroke wizard. Out of the kindness of his
heart he helped me get the '86 running again after my virgin carb cleaning mishap.
He even welded me up a makeshift straight pipe to try out, which by the way was louder than a KISS concert, on the
Spree. I wish I could leave it but I would hate to put a hole in the piston and tick the other neighbors off.

Yeah your are right about the piston.But the neighbors, just tell them Mr. Cadet King did it....hahaha....of course he'll never help you again!!!May the wind in your face not be full of bugs.Carp

toboggan wrote:Heres mine

Last week i decided to let my friend take my 2000 Honda Elite S for a spin around a parking lot. And i look over and i see him hauling *... straight for a parked car. I yell, and he hits the car, the elite falls over, and the clutch bell got bent, locking my rear tire, and i had to drive home like that.

Luckily we all took off, and noone got in trouble, but the car had about an 8 inch dent in it's driver rear quarter panel.

He says his sleeve of his hoodie got caught on the throttle and he couldn't get it off.

Are you kidding me? Are you like 12? I hope that guy finds you all and puts a dent in your head. Thats BS to do something like that to somebody's car and then run away.

Ha, well my friends that did it i guess stuck around. It was behind a local hangout place in town, and the guy that owned the car came out and didn't say a word. It was kinda a junker car anyway.. but that's besides the point.. and i do get where you're coming from.

I didn't take off because I thought that'd i'd get in trouble, because i knew i wouldnt. This kid would, he had full michigan moped privileges, and was of age. I just left out of pure frustration, and to go the whole 6 blocks to my house to fix my Elite.

Every modern motorcycle ever made(this includes sprees, elites, etc.) has a kill on the handlebars in the same place for this reason.

Kenny_McCormic wrote:Every modern motorcycle ever made(this includes sprees, elites, etc.) has a kill on the handlebars in the same place for this reason.

Kenny, that's too easy. And too simple.
But thanks, you just gave me reason to not disable mine.

Kenny_McCormic wrote:Every modern motorcycle ever made(this includes sprees, elites, etc.) has a kill on the handlebars in the same place for this reason.

So that is what that is for.? I thought that was just for switch kill tag.

Lunytune wrote:But thanks, you just gave me reason to not disable mine.

What would be the benefit to doing this in the first place?

gspreesea wrote:Lucky for the kill switch on the handle is all I can say.

not luck, this has happened many times through out history, I think it is called experience.

Eliteguy, I had considered disabling the kill switch because it is easily bumped and also my son uses it to park the scoot, and I crank and crank until I finally realize he was the last to ride that particular scoot. But now I repent.

Next issue, is to train my brain for emergency situations. After many years in dangerous jobs, and even prison work, I stayed in a state of vigilance. But I've gotten lax in retirement. This thread should be a lesson and prompter to be ever alert to the dangers we have while we enjoy our scooters. Some will say Pheeshaw. But we actually are vulnerable out there on the asphalt with crazies who don't see us, or occupied with their cell phone.

Leave that switch alone, learn to use the key, I put the key on my keyring of various important keys so I wont forget (car, house, safe, etc.), its not that hard.

Learning how to keep cool in the most dangerous of situations is more important than any switch. Most people who crest a hill on a gravel road in a mini van at 45mph only to find there is a 1/4 mile of ice in front of them freak out, crash, roll, die, etc. I however let off the gas slowly and roll through while my mother goes * insane. "Oh s***" is never the loudest voice in my head, I skip that because hesitation kills.

The most important safety feature I've learned to use on my scoot is the horn. Staying alive in downtown traffic takes really vigilent defensive driving. Always scan ahead. When you see some lady on her cell phone in front of you at the next intersection, there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving a little Beep Beep just to let her know you are there. It has saved me on mutiple occasions and now I ride with my finger * and ready on the horn at all sketchy intersections.

akskoot,
That's what you call defensive driving. I practice it all the time in the car as well as the scooter. Two wheelers calls for an extra measure. Nobody else is looking out for you, so you better be looking out for yourself.

Kenny,
I learned the meaning of serious prayer commuting 45 miles through the winter at 5am for a dozen years, and I don't mean the hypocritical type that only calls on God in a crisis. When you top a hill at 40 and are doing 70+ on ice by the time you hit the bottom (don't touch the brakes), you better have something more than an ace up your sleeve.

Lunytune warns:

Nobody else is looking out for you, so you better be looking out for yourself.

Ya got that right, Boss.

Defensive driving isn't just a technical skill, it's an ART. Keeping your skinbag attached to its bones involves continual threat ASSessment, and even to a large degree - 'profiling.' If you see an octagenarian whose grey head barely peeks above the door crank of his 1958 Edsel, you might wanna consider giving the ol' guy some SERIOUS SPACE.

Another 'gotcha' that's bumped off countless cyclists (as well as cage pilots) is the 'shielding effect.' Here's a good example:

You're cruising down the road and a harried soccer mom in a Hummer, shouting at her divorce attorney on her iPhone, is planning a left turn from a side street in your direction. You're about 20 yards to her right when a UPS truck momentarily blocks her view (such as it is because she's otherwise engaged.) In that fateful moment, you're approaching the soccer mom's trajectory, shielded by the truck. Then, ASSuming she's got a window of opportunity, the soccer mom guns the Hummer.

K A P O W !!!!!!

Solution: ASSess threat, slow down -(or if safe - SPEED UP) - leaving room for the likely scenario. Better the soccer mom show you her 'rear end ' (or her 'head lights') than getting yourself all mangled out of shape..

CaptDan>