Newbie motor question?

[BuckWildRacing]

My cart has the 2stroke motor in it. Compression is only 120 psi. Is this a good motor to modify, or do I need to transplant something else into it. Planning on lift, and tires if this helps. Any advice is good advice! Thanks for the help.

[42hut]

I have an 81 with a 2 stroke, same numbers....clean the carb, lift away, and enjoy!!!

[BuckWildRacing]

Yea but, It is very low on power up hill. How do you tell if the clutches are slipping. Could that be my power loss problem?

[nomo]

I have an '87 with the same compression. It sometimes is slow climbing hills, but only when over loaded. Remember it was only designed to carry two adults and clubs. I often have two extra 5 gallon gas cans, a cooler, a bag of food, myself and two kids. I think it does quite well considering. Check your belt and replace it if worn. Also check that the driven clutch works well. You can jack up the back and run it with the tires off the ground to watch the belts in action. If you are going to add larger tires, the lack of power only gets worse.

[tonyton]

Yea, the two cycles were never known for torque and 120psi is probably a pretty good reading for that motor. They have a very short stroke. Even the stock four cycles aren't great, especially with large tires. They all are designed for 800lbs or less @ 14mph or less. If you want more, you need to go outside the design. Two cycles can be modified to run fast but you will not gain much torque. There are no kits to modify these that I know of. The real solution is a larger motor or stay with the design.
You need to be sure what power you have is getting transferred through the clutches correctly. This will killl performance. The rear clutch should actually shift to a lower ratio as the load increases. If one is faulty, neither function correctly.
There is a possibility of gaining some climbing ability by replacing the belt with one inch shorter. It will hold the clutches in the lower ratio longer. You may lose some top speed. Good LUck.

[BuckWildRacing]

Thanks for the info. I have been reading through the threads, and have come to that conclusion. I jacked it up ,and watched the clutches as I stepped on the gas. The two of them opened and closed at about the same rate. This created another problem. When you start and stop alot, it didn't seem to want to start. I slapped the panel where the F&R,and key switch are at. Fired right up. What would cause that?