Hi Everyone, I am from the hills shire in Sydney. Just recently acquired a 1988 Honda Spada which i am excited to get it back on the road again. The previous owner had it sitting in the yard for 10 odd years so i hope it will be able to come back to life with minimum cost. I have mananged to do a few things and got it cranking, hopefully (with much faith in the power and reliability in the Hondas) it will start with the next few steps... Any suggestions on previous posts or someone with similar journey would be welcomed... So far i managed to * drain the super smelly oily fuel (ssmell like an old can of paint), treated the tank with double strength vinegar and completely scrubbed the tank of minor rust and a orange layer of oily film with a scourer due to the deteriorating petrol * clean out the fuel tap (sparkling clean) * drain the engine oil and filled with new oil * drain the coolant and filled with new coolant * checked the spark plugs and confirmed it is sparking nicely * cleaned out the filter with the compressed air * bought a new battery * bought and waiting for delivery of the new key set (includes ignition, ful cap and helmet lock) * new headlight bulb it is cranking now but does not start... ** I sucked on the fuel hose but not sure whether it needs a certain presssure before fuel would come through... Next thing i am thinking is check the carburetor to see if the floats are moving freely etc... and spray some "Start Ya Bastard" to see if it will give it a bit of a kick... I probably bored some of you with too much info but it feels pretty good to save something worth saving... Cheers Song
Congrats on saving another good bike. You will need to disassemble the carbs and give them a good clean (preferably in an ultrasonic bath) and possibly fit new seals as the old ones will be well and truly hard and leaky after sitting so long. Also check your valve clearances as these can give you lots of headaches if not right.
Ah!! new stuff i never done before but it will be keen to try... anyone bought a carby seal kit recently for this bike? would be nice to know what exactly to get since i am abit nervouc about the difference in getting something that's not quite Spada specific...
Only one place to get carb kits that fit correctly and work as planned, and that is LiteTek (one of our members). https://www.litetek.co/Carb_Kit_Honda_Spada.html
Float needles should be replaced also .... the tips go hard and wont seal KHV-18N26 MC20 VT250 Spada Float Valve Needle Set | Motorcycle Spares Warehouse
Can someone confirm this... if i suck on the fuel pipe A with the tap open should i be able to get air/fuel out or the pressure from my mouth isn't strong enough to activate the membranes in the tap assembly to allow fuel through? should i be getting a vacuum pump kit like this https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/404297306573 and pump it to a certain pressure?
Pull off the cover and see whats going on inside .... also pull off the filters .... that o ring looks ordinary Honda 16953-ME5-025 - PETCOCK COVER SET | Partzilla.com
i did take the thing apart and clean it really well. all the rubber membrane looks in good shape ( no sign of cracks/dry/tear/very flexible still). I also blew compressed air to clear A,B,C and D ... E looks pretty ugly but i was thinking of introducing an external fuel filter which is alot easy to verify dirty fuel/debris etc... After assembling i sucked on the pipe while turning the tape on/off/reserve but could feel the relief in pressure in the tube. I thought that i might not have enough pressure using my mouth. i might invest in the ebay vacuum pump to test this more reliably...
On the cylinders? i do have a engine compression test kit but have not done it yet... will try to do that on the Sunday and get some readings
To do a compression test correctly you must check valve clearances are correct first, then either remove the carbs or hold the throttle and slides open before attempting to get a reading.
Oh, then no i don't know how to do this test. i have to remove the carbys first, dismantle and put it through the ultrasonic cleaner etc... i think it would be caked in goo and other shyte...
I hope this link works. i just bought the part and paid with Paypal but there was no where to put your shipping address in. Hope Paypal's details get through to the seller!!???!!!
You can do a compression test without removing anything other than the spark plugs (obviously). After removing the spark plugs, you just need to have the Choke fully on and the throttle wide open while cranking the engine with the compression tester in place. The gauge will stop when it reaches maximum compression for the cylinder you are testing. Be careful what compression tester you use as some don't have a lockable end piece (see pic below) and it may not unscrew properly. Taking the carbs off means you don't have to worry about the choke or throttle during a compression test. You will get a false reading if there is an oil leak into the cylinder as this will seal the rings and give a high compression reading. There are many aspects to a compression test and leaking valves are one of them. To address a 'leak' you will need to do a leak down test which requires a different tool and a compressed air supply. One step at a time; check the compression as it is currently and let us know what you find.
CHAMP!! thank you Frankster!! i am pretty excited to get this thing started but one step at a time eh!! i ordered the carby seal and going to remove and super clean the thing!! everything else so far has been pretty good after the clean so i think the carby pins should come up nice as well... I will delay getting it until i see the condition. I will do the compression test soon and let you know but i feel that the engine sounds pretty intached from the cranking earlier... let's peel the onion one layer at time...
just an update!! please bare with my excitement just spent 30mins with the bike, got the filter and cover off. The carby assembly was pretty clean. I couldn't help myself but to squirt abit of fuel straight into the carby and the bike STARTED !!! This is such so good. Now just have to do those other compression tests suggested above...
Hi can someone tell me if it is possible for the pistons to stopped in a position where it is locked? after i last started and successful ran for 20secs the engine stopped after the fuel ran out in the chamber. i try to start it again about 20mins after that and only got a clicking noise from the starter solenoid. I thought it was the starter motor so i stripped it and rebuild (it was pretty clean), re-attached it back on the engine and it is still only the clicking noise from the starter solenoid... could it be a stuck piston or is it the solenoid is faulty?