1987 Marathon Sluggish

[felber61]

Pachanga thanks for the tips. right now I'm still on my first tank after the complete rebuild and several places have mentioned tha 40:1 for the first tank is recommended. the only reason I went 32:1 for this is because it was already mixed for the boys' dirtbikes. I plan on running the 100:1 mixture after this tank. I have brand new clutches as of the original post and I think when the MX season is over I'm going to try your shim recommendation but with the kids at the track always jumping on and finally letting our oldest son (11) start to be moms driver I think 19mph is good enough for now.

[felber61]

Another quick question...how do these carts react to the snow? I'm crossing my fingers but I think this will be the first year ours is running well enough to pull some kids behind on the sled on some private ground a friend just purchased. Any thoughts and/or warnings for this?

[racin161]

Maybe a little choke starting and your good to go. Warm it up a bit and no problems.


LOU

[frodrummer]

Felber61, I like that rear seat. Looks like what I'm wanting to do. Did you use a front seat and recover?

[mcdaver]

Originally Posted by pachanga90

A few points.Do Not Run the engine with the belt off,if it revs up,it can over-travel the clutch and cause quite a bit of possibly permanent damage to the clutch.Mix the fuel 128:1(1oz./gal.)If you run it real hard,mix 100:1(1-1/2oz. per.gal.)Running the mix heavier than that will cause more fouling and muffler-clogging than you will want to deal with.I beat mine terribly for 4-yrs. at 100:1,it still runs fine and doesn't smoke.The biggest power-killer on a Marathon 2-stroke is the Primary-Clutch.The older clutches had a large aluminum-cover with 3 bolts,on this style,remove the cover,add a 3/16" shim under the spring and it will be a nite/day difference from before the shim.Mine GPS'd at 23mph with 22" tires,open-element filter,and Shimmed-Primary.Nothing else was done,stock belt,and stock secondary-clutch.Check the crank-seals as recommended earlier,make sure the throttle and choke are both working properly.A choke that is partly-closed is just as bad as a throttle that doesn't open fully.Also try a light shot of WD-40 on the Secondary-Clutch.Only spray it into the spring-area,If its' dry and binding,it won't slide properly,preventing it from Up-Shifting,and limiting speed.Hope this helps.

Is the primary clutch the one o the engine? The secondary being the pulley on the fromnt of the differential? Sorry for the dumb questions, just trying to understand the nomenclature.

[racin161]

Yep your correct !!!

[islandguy]

nice looking cart. just a quick note on the snow. These little marathons are tanks in the snow. well up here in canada anyway. thinking on getting an old pair of front runners of an old skidoo and trying them on the cart. should be interesting. lol.

[felber61]

Frodrummer,

To make my rear seat all I did was take a piece of 3/4" plywood and set it on the top of the rear fenders and traced around the shape of them. The slant on the back and all. Then I cut about 1" or so inside of my tracing line if I remember right. If you do this and you don't think its enough you can always trim off more. Then I used two old couch cushions, cut slighly bigger than the plywood, wrapped in carpet padding to get rid of the seam in the middle where they butted together and wrapped them in vinyl and used an electric stapler to attach to the plywood. Attached to the cart from the underside of the fenders and there I was done. Took one afternoon and its more comfortable than the original front. Sorry it took so long to reply but since I rebuilt the motor its been a trouble free cart and I haven't needed any immediate help!

[BrewCityMusic]

This one's for You, Islandguy, hahahahahahaha

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[frodrummer]

Originally Posted by BrewCityMusic

This one's for You, Islandguy, hahahahahahaha

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That is just awesome. EZ-SLED!