Honda Elite 1989 SA50 (canadian version)

[NSDreamer]

Good Evening,

I have a Honda Elite 1989 SA50, model # AF122K.

I was recently dying it, and I noticed as I increased throttle, the engine started to die off and thrust decreased. If I eased up on the throttle it maintained speed and stopped slowing, it made it about 200 metres (luckily to the end of the bridge I was on ) before dying off completely and would not start again. I have had 0 problems with it prior to this. A friend of mine suggested I might need to change the spark plug, as it is commonly ignored on most scooters, so eager beaver that I was I went to my spare parts and sure enough I had a spark plug for my baby. Unfortunately, however, I have no idea how to perform this operation.

Any help/advice would be appreciated!

-NSDreamer

[NSDreamer]

I have gotten the current spark plug exposed, but for the life of me I cannot seem to rotate it out of position. I have tried everything from needle nose pliars to grip cloth. I am assuming because this is the electrical spark plug, I do not want to use wd40?

[NSDreamer]

Right so over the course of 2 hours I finally figured it out. Apparently just apparently, there is a "spark plug" socket wrench (I borrowed one from my neighbour).

For those in the future who are searching the forums to find out how to change the plug. You go in underneath the seat behind the back tire. There is a rubber tube connecting from the battery to the engine, remove this and underneath is the spark plug, a few quick twists with the proper tools equates removed, reverse direction for new plug and VOILA.

She runs perfectly once more!

Sometimes, when no one offers help (besides neighbours) you gotta figure it out on your own!
Peace everyone!

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Sometimes it takes longer than 46 minutes to receive a reply. Glad you got it going well agaiin.

[NSDreamer]

Haha, no worries. I wasn't being impatient, I just figured go at it. No point waiting around right? Besides when you figure something out like that on your own it gives you one heck of a good feeling!

[motormike]

No replacement for hands-on experience.......probably this time you are good with plug gap.....always requires checking and adjust to proper gap with guage increments in thousandths. Welcome to site and keep scootin'.........

[eliteguy50]

Right so over the course of 2 hours I finally figured it out. Apparently just apparently, there is a "spark plug" socket wrench (I borrowed one from my neighbour).

For those in the future who are searching the forums to find out how to change the plug. You go in underneath the seat behind the back tire. There is a rubber tube connecting from the battery to the engine, remove this and underneath is the spark plug, a few quick twists with the proper tools equates removed, reverse direction for new plug and VOILA.

She runs perfectly once more!

Sometimes, when no one offers help (besides neighbours) you gotta figure it out on your own!
Peace everyone!

Additional info for those searching in the future: always start threading the plug by hand instead of starting it with the plug wrench. This way you can feel if you are cross threading the plug into the head. Check the spark plug box for proper torque specs.

[NSDreamer]

No replacement for hands-on experience.......probably this time you are good with plug gap.....always requires checking and adjust to proper gap with guage increments in thousandths. Welcome to site and keep scootin'.........

What is the plug gap? I used the spark plug straight out of the box and it works fine. I know next to nothing about maintaining my bike, but I"m trying to learn!

[eliteguy50]

No replacement for hands-on experience.......probably this time you are good with plug gap.....always requires checking and adjust to proper gap with guage increments in thousandths. Welcome to site and keep scootin'.........

What is the plug gap? I used the spark plug straight out of the box and it works fine. I know next to nothing about maintaining my bike, but I"m trying to learn!

The spark plug gap is the distance between the center electrode and the ground electrode. Shown in this picture: http://www.installuniversity.com/instal ... stance.jpg

[NSDreamer]

What does it do? What does the difference in distance make? The one I took out had a significantly smaller gap

[eliteguy50]

What does it do? What does the difference in distance make? The one I took out had a significantly smaller gap

The larger the gap the better, as long as there is still a strong arc. Always use the Honda gap specs. A smaller gap means a shorter distance for the spark, making a smaller arc that does not burn as well as a larger spark (less power output from your engine). If you make the gap too big, the electrical system can't reliably produce a good spark. Honda has done the research and it should be followed until you are a professional tuner.

[one_wierd_guy]

The larger the gap the better, as long as there is still a strong arc. Always use the Honda gap specs. A smaller gap means a shorter distance for the spark, making a smaller arc that does not burn as well as a larger spark (less power output from your engine). If you make the gap too big, the electrical system can't reliably produce a good spark. Honda has done the research and it should be followed until you are a professional tuner.

Not always true, as you increace the gap, yes you increace the amount of spark, but you also increace the amount of time needed to make that spark, thus messing with your spark timeing, its always best to go with the gap that the maker of the engine specifys for said engine, because that is the gap that the coil is made to perform optimally with. To find the right gap, take a look through the owners manual(always a good thing to read through anyways) that can be found here on the forum under the "honda servise and manuals" section.

[Bear45-70]

The larger the gap the better, as long as there is still a strong arc. Always use the Honda gap specs. A smaller gap means a shorter distance for the spark, making a smaller arc that does not burn as well as a larger spark (less power output from your engine). If you make the gap too big, the electrical system can't reliably produce a good spark. Honda has done the research and it should be followed until you are a professional tuner.

Not always true, as you increace the gap, yes you increace the amount of spark, but you also increace the amount of time needed to make that spark, thus messing with your spark timeing, its always best to go with the gap that the maker of the engine specifys for said engine, because that is the gap that the coil is made to perform optimally with. To find the right gap, take a look through the owners manual(always a good thing to read through anyways) that can be found here on the forum under the "honda servise and manuals" section.

Yeah, if you open the gap up from .025 to .035 you will change the timing about 1 Giga second = you and the engine will never notice the difference. You need to get real.

[eliteguy50]

The larger the gap the better, as long as there is still a strong arc. Always use the Honda gap specs. A smaller gap means a shorter distance for the spark, making a smaller arc that does not burn as well as a larger spark (less power output from your engine). If you make the gap too big, the electrical system can't reliably produce a good spark. Honda has done the research and it should be followed until you are a professional tuner.

Not always true, as you increace the gap, yes you increace the amount of spark, but you also increace the amount of time needed to make that spark, thus messing with your spark timeing, its always best to go with the gap that the maker of the engine specifys for said engine, because that is the gap that the coil is made to perform optimally with. To find the right gap, take a look through the owners manual(always a good thing to read through anyways) that can be found here on the forum under the "honda servise and manuals" section.

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Bear, let me take this one:

Hah! So then you know nothing about tuning obscure vintage Skiroule * 303 cc rotary engines, you insignificant and insolent upstart!

There, I'm bettuh.

Read the red high-lights. Tha's good advice rat thar. personally I've never found much difference between plug gap sizes. Get a thick, fungus-infested thumbnail in there and call it good.