Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

I was trying to start my nh125 today but it was a no-go (-9*). So I got to thinking "what is the coldest temp that a scooter will start in?" My ruck is in the garage so it started up as did my elites(20*).

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity.

as long as the fuel line doesn't freeze up it should start.I hope you put something like stabil in your gas tank to keep from freezing.If you plan on riding your bike in weather below 40deg,you should put a 1 step hotter plug and in some cases 2 or 3 step hotter plug.

bakaracer wrote:as long as the fuel line doesn't freeze up it should start.I hope up put something like stabil in your gas tank to keep from freezing.

should and does are two very different things This scoot is set up for camping duty, so it is low compression, small jets, cold plug, stabil. The nh125 did not offer a kick starter and scooter batteries don't crank so well at sub-zero temps.

Greetings:

The fuel line will not freeze up unless there's water in your tank, in which case cold is the least of your worries. (How could we expect a Brother from Hawai'i to know about cold?)

I misspent my youth in the Great White North riding and tinkering with snowmobiles from the Post-Agricultural Era. Irascible, vile smelly beasts they were, and beloved. Fitchel and Sachs, Hirth, Kohler and Rotax air-cooled piston-port (no reeds or rotary valves) smokers running 20 or 25:1 premix. Only good thing was the Tillotson carb right there between your legs for adjustment on the fly at WOT across the frozen lake. You had to take your mitten off to twist the t-handled main jet, however. Many frost-nipped fingertips. The other exciting issue was the frequent flaming backfires, trumpet-assisted, exploding right at one's Nether Regions. It always felt like the sleds ran way better in Serious Cold, no doubt thanks to the increased Oxygen content of the dense air - and the lean but well-cooled operating conditions that resulted.

My cold-start record for a Sachs 340cc twin remains at Minus Fourty-Four degrees Farenheit. (-44 F.) That was not a sissy "Wind-Chill" figure, but an actual thermometer reading. Pull crank start, of course. (We believed electric starters were only for Grannies...) I suspect our friends operating in the Land of the Midnight Sun frequently fire up at temperatures significantly colder still.

The key is to have a crank starter or a method to warm the battery. Available starting power plummets precipitously below zero degrees.
Connecting a very-low amp trickle charger warms as well as charges the battery. I had one mounted permanently under the hood of my car, plug zip-tied to the grille. I was not alone in so doing.

i started both of mine the other day at a very cold -9F thermometer reading wind chill -15,took a few kicks but finally started.

It got down to 70 degrees F here yesterday and it hit on the first kick! (it went brrrrrrrrr)

Wheelman-111 wrote:Greetings:

The fuel line will not freeze up unless there's water in your tank, in which case cold is the least of your worries. (How could we expect a Brother from Hawai'i to know about cold?)

I misspent my youth in the Great White North riding and tinkering with snowmobiles from the Post-Agricultural Era. Irascible, vile smelly beasts they were, and beloved. Fitchel and Sachs, Hirth, Kohler and Rotax air-cooled piston-port (no reeds or rotary valves) smokers running 20 or 25:1 premix. Only good thing was the Tillotson carb right there between your legs for adjustment on the fly at WOT across the frozen lake. You had to take your mitten off to twist the t-handled main jet, however. Many frost-nipped fingertips. The other exciting issue was the frequent flaming backfires, trumpet-assisted, exploding right at one's Nether Regions. It always felt like the sleds ran way better in Serious Cold, no doubt thanks to the increased Oxygen content of the dense air - and the lean but well-cooled operating conditions that resulted.

My cold-start record for a Sachs 340cc twin remains at Minus Fourty-Four degrees Farenheit. (-44 F.) That was not a sissy "Wind-Chill" figure, but an actual thermometer reading. Pull crank start, of course. (We believed electric starters were only for Grannies...) I suspect our friends operating in the Land of the Midnight Sun frequently fire up at temperatures significantly colder still.

The key is to have a crank starter or a method to warm the battery. Available starting power plummets precipitously below zero degrees.
Connecting a very-low amp trickle charger warms as well as charges the battery. I had one mounted permanently under the hood of my car, plug zip-tied to the grille. I was not alone in so doing.

Why is that every time I write something on someones post you write something that basicly says don't listen to what I wrote.You have done this on other treads and post.did i do something wrong to you for you to do this?and just for your info there is AWAYS water particals in gas from either from trans port or from gas station tanks that have condinsation build up in them.if there was no water in gas companies like heet,stabil and stp wouldn't make cemicals for that reason.You have that possibility that some gas stations have a bit more water particals in there gas then other and gasline freeze can happen.Understanding this has nothing to do with being from Hawaii.

Greetings:

You know I'm just jealous of your state, don't you? That and my older brother who retired to Maui...

My point was that we never used any additives in our sleds, and that fuel line freezing was never a problem down to well below zero. I meant no offense, despite the temps in the teens in Deepinnaharta this week.

Wheelman-111 wrote:My point was that we never used any additives in our sleds, and that fuel line freezing was never a problem down to well below zero.

that was back when gas was good. I have to run additives in my sleds all the time now because modern gas is so poor quality (degrades so fast). If I don't run through twelve gallons in three weeks, that sled will start to miss.

my john deere ran last friday with 1 year old gas yes it 10 good pulls but she ran fine

I picked up a second scoot to go with the '96 elite. Its a '86 spree. I needed it, thats what I told the wife, anyways the elite was starting good at about 30* before I tore it down, the spree has started first kick everytime even in the teens that it was here in Indy last week, the question is should I be riding when its that cold!?!?! lol ofcourse but the throttle does get sticky and sometimes lock opened, scary? at 50 maybe but the screaming 25 it does not a prob. I know pics pics there to big i'll try to get them on a file sharing later.

Extreme cold and scooter summer tires don't go together very well(harder rubber in cold). I have started my spree in -20* weather, no different than doing it at 80*.

Greetings:

Quoth Bakaracer (and missed by Wheelman the first time around...)

Why is that every time I write something on someones post you write something that basicly says don't listen to what I wrote.You have done this on other treads and post.did i do something wrong to you for you to do this?

I apologize to you Baka. I have great respect for your knowledge of these scooters and your many useful contributions to fellow riders, including me. You have done nothing wrong to me or anyone else as far as I've read. I kid around often and sometimes that can be taken in a manner I didn't intend. Sorry, dude.