Honda Spree

[Kev250R]

Call this an impulse purchase. A neighbor of mine recently got this Spree from one of his clients (he's a Contractor). It's a 1985 Honda Spree which is all original, unmolested and uncrashed. 50cc Two-Stroke engine But he couldn't get it to start and really didn't want to be bothered by it.

I like a to tinker so I started playing with it. In no time I had it running (in typical Scooter fashion you have to apply one of the brakes in order to make the Starter work). We then took turns riding it around the neighborhood like idiots for the next hour! Eventually a deal was struck and it became one more thing I don't need and really don't have room for in my garage.

The kicker is that until my neighbor got it, it was owned by the same person since '85! Had a good Title, current registration, new tires and a recent Tune-up! It runs well once it warms-up. It has 3,400 miles so it's seen some use but starts easily and rides as you would expect a 50cc Scooter to ride.

Long-term what are my plans for it? Not to keep it! I have a good friend who lives in Mexico who initially expressed an interest in it, however this one is too nice (and too old) I think for life down there. Gas prices are supposed to rise here in So.Cal. so if that happens then I'll likely sell it but for now I'm having a good time buzzing (literally) around town!

 

[BaldRider]

Make sure you get all the bugs worked out.

I might be interested if I survive the next two weeks and you decide to let it go. A two-stroke sounds like fun.

 

[vintagegarage]

Had five Sprees, sold #3 and #4 to Love Honda last year (his and hers red 1987s), still have #2, my favorite, a black 1986.. Sold #1 in 2019 when I bought my first Super Cub 125. Had a huge truckload of parts that nobody wanted so I took the pile to the dump. Only had to pay the dump $20 to leave the pile there.. the pile was all the parts from a pair of basket case Sprees..

#2, #3, and #4 appear in this video I made a couple of years ago.. the MB5, TG50, Red NN50 Gyro and the NS50F also went to Love:

 

[Kev250R]

Make sure you get all the bugs worked out.

I might be interested if I survive the next two weeks and you decide to let it go. A two-stroke sounds like fun.

Sounds good! Though after the ride you've got coming-up I wouldn't blame you if you don't LOL

 

[Kev250R]

Had five Sprees, sold #3 and #4 to Love Honda last year (his and hers red 1987s), still have #2, my favorite, a black 1986.. Sold #1 in 2019 when I bought my first Super Cub 125. Had a huge truckload of parts that nobody wanted so I took the pile to the dump. Only had to pay the dump $20 to leave the pile there.. the pile was all the parts from a pair of basket case Sprees..

#2, #3, and #4 appear in this video I made a couple of years ago.. the MB5, TG50, Red NN50 Gyro and the NS50F also went to Love:

That's very cool! I figured there would be other people on this site who are into these little Scoots! Shame about the parts but I can relate, a few years ago I had to send a bunch of parts for an old Falcon I owned to the dump. Similar story, no one wanted them and I didn't have a place at the time to store them.

 

[Kev250R]

Since it's been about a month since I posted this I thought it time for an update. I still have the Spree, it's still taking-up a valuable spot in my garage which I could (/should) be using for my Dax...I hate to admit it, but it's actually a lot of fun to buzz (literally) around the neighborhood on. Like riding a Mini Bike with better brakes.

I did determine that, at least for where I live it's not really appropriate as an in-town runabout. Recently I rode it two miles to my favorite sandwich shop with thoughts of doing some light grocery shopping on the way home (I live alone and don't cook; two bags of groceries will last me a week generally and would fit nicely in the front rack) however it seems I'm surrounded by roads with 35-40 MPH speed limits on them. Flat-out, on flat ground with 200LBS of me on it I was only able to maintain 30MPH, I may have seen 35 briefly but if I did it was rounding a large bend in the road where people like to change lanes for no reason (and with no warning) so I had my eyes elsewhere.

While eating my sandwich and looking-outside at the little Scooter I debated the legality of taking a bike path which runs essentially from the shopping center where I was to my neighborhood. I decided against taking that route and also decided to skip the grocery store as I wasn't sure what two bags of groceries suspended in a rack over the front wheel would do for my balance but I reasoned that it wouldn't be good. I filled the tank with gas and bravely struck a course for home. It's not left my neighborhood since.

However now I have a morbid curiosity of how much better a new version of this Scooter would be. So now I'm looking at Metropolitan's. If I were still doing YouTube videos it might make for a fun comparison (1985 Vs 2025) but we'll see. My GF has expressed an interest in riding a Scooter, though so far has been oddly unavailable when the Spree has been free'd from it's spot in my garage. Time will tell.

 

[vintagegarage]

I have a Metropolitan and a Spree, and in spite of the old thinking that a 2-stroke is faster than a 4-stroke of the same displacement, it is not always true. A 50cc 2-stroke Spree is a 30 mph buzzer, and a 50cc 4-stroke Metropolitan is a 40 mph buzzer. The Spree doesn't have a variator, so it has in essence, a single speed transmission.

 

[Kev250R]

I have a Metropolitan and a Spree, and in spite of the old thinking that a 2-stroke is faster than a 4-stroke of the same displacement, it is not always true. A 50cc 2-stroke Spree is a 30 mph buzzer, and a 50cc 4-stroke Metropolitan is a 40 mph buzzer. The Spree doesn't have a variator, so it has in essence, a single speed transmission.

That's good to know! I'm friendly with my local Honda Dealer so before I buy a Met I'll take one for a quick spin, though if it can maintain 40 MPH that would be fine for my area and for the part of Mexico I'd likely be sending it to.. Gonna be a bit though before I pull the trigger, but it's something I'm thinking about.

I remain impressed with just how much interest this little Spree gets though. At a weekly 'Cars & Coffee' I attend I mentioned the Scooter and someone I know said he might be interested in it for his daughter. A neighbor walking by saw it parked in my garage (not easy to see since it's sandwiched between a wall and a car) and stopped to talk about it. Everyone seems to have a story about owning or riding a Scooter. Not the reaction I got a few years ago when I owned a Zuma 125 which I find interesting.

 

[vintagegarage]

Here's an option for you. Very similar to a Spree, but you can probably use that bike trail shortcut to the sandwich shop and back.

https://hondatrail125.com/index.php?threads/sundiro-honda-s10t.3533/

 

[Kev250R]

Here's an option for you. Very similar to a Spree, but you can probably use that bike trail shortcut to the sandwich shop and back.

https://hondatrail125.com/index.php?threads/sundiro-honda-s10t.3533/

I like that! Might be an option, though right now it's looking like a Honda Metropolitan will be the next addition to the stable

 

[BaldRider]

I just found out you can buy a new 50cc 2-stroke (Genuine Buddy 50). They are restricted to 30mph but can be unrestricted. That might be another option.

 

[Kev250R]

I just found out you can buy a new 50cc 2-stroke (Genuine Buddy 50). They are restricted to 30mph but can be unrestricted. That might be another option.

Now you've got me curious if my Spree has a Governor. I recently bought a Honda Service Manual for this Scooter off Ebay. When it arrives I'll have to look for that.

 

[BaldRider]

The Buddy has a spacer on the variator that prevents higher speeds and another plate in the exhaust. I don't know what the Spree would have

 

[vintagegarage]

No governor on the Spree, just no horsepower and no variator. The most popular modification back in the day and what m in sc would do would be to swap in the engine from a Honda SA50 and then modify that engine so the Spree would go 70 mph. That swap was so popular that motor mount kits were produced in pretty good numbers. If you want to waste a lot of time trying to make your Spree faster, start here:
https://www.scooterswapshop.com/collections/honda-spree

Sprees and SA50s were a big subculture that brought ScooterSwapShop into being. Once that subculture began to die, scooterSwapShop expanded into Navi, and more recently into Dax 125s. Here is a link to their home page and you can see their line:
https://www.scooterswapshop.com/

If you head down that rabbit hole, you might as well unload your Trail 125, as you won't have time for anything except working on your Spree. And a year from now, you still won't be able to ride your Spree on the bike trail to your sandwich shop. Same for a Buddy 50.. stay away from it.. I had 4 of them.. hard to beat and very reliable.. but not a Trail 125.