New to Carts

[Bansh88]

Brand new to the forum!

I picked up a Yamaha 2 stroke Cart yesterday. I drove it around the guys property a bit and it did OK. When I got it home, it drove totally gash up a slight grade in my neighborhood.
Heres what I know:
It has a 215 cc engine. 250r FMF pipe. Appears to have an aftermarket? Mikuni carb. It has 22x11x10 tires (which I think are WAY too wide). I did put in some 32:1 mixed gas for my Banshee into it and I have now read it should be 50:1.

On flat ground or downhill, the engine sounds ok and putts at a decent pace but anything more than flat ground, it's struggling. I have no idea if these need to be geared for bigger tires. Do they? is this just from the tire size? I have some stock cart tires here at work I was going to test run.
Is the pipe too much for the engine?

ANY help is appreciated.

[slonomo]

Welcome!

What you have is a Yamaha G1, which is legendary for it's 2 stroke engine, high revs, and good top end speed. What these aren't are powerhouses, although when in tip top shape they run really good and are capable of top end speeds of 25-30 mph with adjustments to the governor.

I suspect that you may have some key issues.....

First thing to check is the compression, which should be at 100 psi or as high as 125 psi. If your compression is low, that will cause a lack of power and speed.

Second, look at the crankshaft seals and see if there is any collection of oil and oil/dirt in that area. If they are clean then they are likely ok, if dirty and oily then they may need replaced. Bad crank seals can cause hard start and running issues.

So let's assume these things are good....I'd have to believe that you might be having a carberation/exhaust issue. This little 215cc "golf cart" engine was not designed for performance and adding fuel and an expansion pipe will not give it "two stroke power". If it is dialed in, it might be better than stock, but it wouldn't be much better, and could very likely make it run worse.

The oil in the gas is a big issue. I assume that the stock oil injection system is disconnected or not working. If you are running mixed gas AND have the injection system it will be way too much oil. Is it smoking really good? I run 80:1 synthetic in mine and it does great. At 32:1 you will be running very lean because there is less fuel and more oil per ounce. Drain it and mix it at 80:1. The more oil you put in, the less fuel is actually burning and more fuel is burning. This causes a lean condition and can damage your engine and cause running problems.

Good luck.

[Bansh88]

80:1? What oil you using? 91octane? That's the highest ive heard. I did fill up with 50:1im trying to find a stock banshee pipe to put on. Ive heard those are ideal.
I ran through the neighborhood several times on the 4th. Made it up the grades and such but dogs on anything but flat ground.
might have a "guy" look at it this week but ill try and check what you listed.
One more post and I can post a pic!

[Bansh88]

I was probably gonna try some stock size tires this week to see what happens

[sho305]

Another issue is a larger carb will hurt bottom end response, if they put a huge carb on it. The pipe will do the same thing. You can have them ported out to run rpm and you would need a clutch tuned to that rpm also or it would dog out. It all depends on what you want to do with it. The stock power is actually at low rpm just like 4 strokes, but it will rev quite high on level ground, eventually. I think the banshee pipe is at lower rpm than a dirt bike? Anyway, those are big mods for it so you will have to play with it to make it run right. Small tires will gear it way down = higher rpm and less speed. Wide tires are smoother and way better in sand for a lower power cart, as compared to a quad/etc with way more power. You spin with a cart and you are stuck, and larger tires don't spin that is why they use them. You can run any size you want of course, just saying. Some run narrow on the front as there is little weight on it, like some quads also do, but its nice to have one size too and they look more massive.

Ah you are in Cali, they have built the G1s up to run dunes and desert there and in AZ. Likely the people out there know more about it than anywhere else if you can find someone local. The g1 is based on an old sled motor.

[Bansh88]

I noticed the air filter is really wet on the bottom. Is the carb taking in too much fuel?
I noticed yesterday that the front end/steering is really squirrely the more weight is in the back. If my friend and I are in the front, it handles fairly smooth. But with 2 people in the rear and just me in the front, it's almost dangerous! I know I need to stiffen up th efron shocks.

heres the only pic I have now. I plan on making this the camp cruiser for when we're out at Glamis (Sand Dunes)

[slonomo]

Originally Posted by Bansh88

I noticed the air filter is really wet on the bottom. Is the carb taking in too much fuel?
I noticed yesterday that the front end/steering is really squirrely the more weight is in the back. If my friend and I are in the front, it handles fairly smooth. But with 2 people in the rear and just me in the front, it's almost dangerous! I know I need to stiffen up th efron shocks.

heres the only pic I have now. I plan on making this the camp cruiser for when we're out at Glamis (Sand Dunes)

Is that the cart? If so I see it has a double a arm long travel setup in the front, nice to see that.

The G1 is a fairly short cart as far as wheelbase goes. The more weight you have in the rear, the less traction the front tires have and it will handle differently, possibly causing the squirrelly feel you described. With just two riders in front it will handle normally. Try this, add weight to the front end when two riders are in back. If the handling returns to normal then you need to stiffen the rear shocks to handle the rear load of the passengers.

[Bansh88]

Thats the cart. Ya, the front end has a ton of travel. The front seems very soft right now. The rear is very stiff and I was looking to loosen it way up.
The shocks are really easy to adjust. I was tinking of stiffening the front to give it more traction? My wife is very light and it's squirrely with her driving by herself.

[slonomo]

The shocks might be too soft, you are right. What shocks are on there now? Atv shocks might be a good try, or maybe shocks from a UTV like a Rhino or RZR?

Cart looks tight though!

[Bansh88]

Afco? shocks. Adjustable. Tightened them up and oh boy was it a scary ride! Put them back to where they were.
Front tires are wide and bald. I know that's not helping. Tire shopping now