This is the current scene in the garage.
That’s my wife’s bay, which she would really like to have access to now that her car has returned from a long visit to the body shop. I’m still a little ticked at her for hitting the house while turning into the garage after only 18 years of practice.
I may drag my feet on the scooter for a bit as I have another project with a firm deadline of June 11 that needs some immediate attention.
Wow, I didn't know I needed one of these.
Thanks for sharing! Off to set a Kijiji alert.
Edit: what's the secret for pop up headlight? '84 or older? I'm seeing tons of them all with a regular light. How about the digital dash?
In reply to Run_Away :
All '84 Elites have the popup headlight and digital dash, as do the '85 and '86 Elite 150 Deluxe. The regular Elite 80, 150, and 250 do not.
Everything got weird in 1987.
A Honda elite was required 9th and 10th grade transportation for the cool kids at my private high school. Of course, I lived 20 miles away and on a farm so I drove a colt vista wagon or a Volvo
i think the scooters are super cool still and I’m 39
I stepped away from this project for a while, or more accurately, stepped around it for a few weeks.
Today I took a few more baby steps toward getting it back on the road. I removed the front wheel, disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled the brakes. Nothing terribly photogenic.
So at the very least, I am confident that it will be able to stop if I ever get it running again.
I was able to knock a few more items off the pile today. I cleaned up the two pulleys, Drive and Driven, cleaned the belt and replaced the side cover, rear fender and muffler.
I also fiddled around a bit with headlight, which was locked upright in the emergency position, hopefully due to the previous weak battery. I haven’t tested the headlight motor yet, but I’ll take my chances. And just in front of that light was the only real rusty spot on the scooter. Water must have been sitting there for a while and the paint was gone. I wire brushed it and hit it with two coats of Extend. I actually had planned to paint that area satin black, but after the Extend dried from white to black, the whole thing just looked properly patina’d, so I just left it like that. Fresh paint would have stood out too much.
Today, I moved this hose back into position.
this is a really legit restoration project. glad to see it progressing smoothly!
Today I installed my brand new, fully charged Yuasa battery and tried to start it. I always have full confidence in anything that says Honda on it, and I approached the day as I would any other.
Nothing.
It cranks away without issue. The headlight popped up and even illuminated. The whole digital dash even works.
I have confirmed that I have spark and compression. The fuel in the tank is probably old, and it is flowing through the fuel filter, but I can't even get it to sputter on starting fluid. Ignition is electronic and not adjustable. There is no indication that the engine has been opened up.
I am flummoxed.
In reply to Woody :
Edit ignore previous timing comment, it wouldn't have compression if the cams were off..
I had a PC800 with a borked kill switch. Similar vintage to the elite scooter. I was able to clean the contacts and make it live again.
akamcfly said:I had a PC800 with a borked kill switch. Similar vintage to the elite scooter. I was able to clean the contacts and make it live again.
But it has spark, so I don't think it would be the kill switch.
When I bought this thing a few months ago, my goal was to clean it up, get it running and stopping, and then try to swap it for an old European station wagon.
A whole bunch of stuff has happened in my life in the last few weeks. My father passed away and my sister is in the hospital.
Amazon delivered a new Hi-Lift Jack to my house yesterday, and last night when I walked through the garage, I realized that I was way more enthusiastic about the new jack than I was about the pile of scooter parts next to it.
I don't usually give up on a project, but sadly, I have lost my motivation here. I am into this thing for $450, plus another $50 or so for the battery and factory shop manual. I'm not sure if I should reassemble it and try to sell it as a non-runner, or start eBay'ing parts since it's already disassembled.
I know that this scooter can run again, but I also know that I'm not going to be the guy who will get it there.
I feel as if I have let you guys down.
Well, this is awkward...
A few hours after my last post, detailing how I'm throwing in the towel on this thing, the August issue of GRM shows up in my mailbox and, lo and behold, there on page 32 is the Pit Bike of the Month:
I guess in theory at least, it should be worth more now that it's famous...
This is your message to not give up... Never give up. You are almost there. Sometimes, just taking a small break will bring to light something you haven't considered which will lead you to the resolution of the issue and ultimately a running scooter. You have most of the hard stuff taken care of and once it's running, the bulk of what is left is simply fancy plastic to make it look cool.
Consider nohome's Molovo. The engine had him stumped and everyone else. Turns out it wasn't the engine at all but rather the transmission. He didn't give up and he is a better man for it. Maybe the Googles will provide enlightenment or someone on this forum will have some sage advice for you. Regardless the answer is out there and you will find it.
In the mean time, empty the tank, verify it doesn't have any junk in it and if it's good, verify the fuel line is clear and the filter is good/new, add some good gas and give it another shot. If that fails, then spark may still be a question and/or as was mentioned earlier, the kill switch. Retrace you steps and try again.
You can do it Woody! I have faith! Look at this video for how much fun you could be having! And yes, this scene is the absolute first thing I thought of when I saw this project.
Woody said:akamcfly said:I had a PC800 with a borked kill switch. Similar vintage to the elite scooter. I was able to clean the contacts and make it live again.
But it has spark, so I don't think it would be the kill switch.
Dirty or unhappy plug? If you're throwing fuel down the hole it may be wet or fouled.
In reply to akamcfly :
Plug is brand new and not fouling.
Harvey said:You can do it Woody! I have faith! Look at this video for how much fun you could be having! And yes, this scene is the absolute first thing I thought of when I saw this project.
Back in the 80's, my cousin told me that that was the best movie ever and gave me a copy. It literally sat on the shelf in my parents' basement for years. I never watched it, and now I regret that.
I bet my father watched it every night!
Well, the Stupid Magazine motivated me to reopen the Scooteria and spend a sweltering afternoon in the garage working on this thing.
It's still not running, but I have some ideas. There's an electrical component on the carb called the Auto Bystarter. I don't know exactly what that is or what it does, but it's probably worth investigating. It's not serviceable, but it is testable, just a simple measurement of resistance will tell me if it needs to be replaced. That will happen tomorrow.
At the very least, the pile of parts has gotten smaller and it's starting to look like a complete machine again.
Fewer parts on the floor means progress. Just look how clean the garage is now...
and it looks like you may be on to something.
I know you will get this running and the joy of doing so will be very intoxicating.
Have I mentioned the Scooter Cannonball yet? Every time this pops up I think about it. This scooter seems ideal.
mazdeuce - Seth said:Have I mentioned the Scooter Cannonball yet? Every time this pops up I think about it. This scooter seems ideal.
Oh, good Lord! I don’t see how that could possibly be completed in nine days.
Woody said:Harvey said:You can do it Woody! I have faith! Look at this video for how much fun you could be having! And yes, this scene is the absolute first thing I thought of when I saw this project.
Back in the 80's, my cousin told me that that was the best movie ever and gave me a copy. It literally sat on the shelf in my parents' basement for years. I never watched it, and now I regret that.
I bet my father watched it every night!
Included with Prime!
https://www.amazon.com/Running-Scared-Gregory-Hines/dp/B0097HBAPG
It holds up pretty well overall as buddy cop movies go. Well... it is definitely an 80s movie. That soundtrack is not holding up well, except of course for the timeless Michael McDonald.
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