I tried the ~$50 NT carb mod on a new HS 142F and got no performance gain, but a handy fix if you can't find a stock carb and they look cool.
Maybe dinking with the jet will help but not as much and cheap as these.
That's why I went with the NT setup...rather than trying to order a new 4-stroke carb. Wasn't looking for something to give me outstanding performance...just a way to get whatever parts I may need to actually ride it...rather than the 20 year old car with an ODB 1 connector which is on its last little toe. Being it started and ran...I was more than very happy to be able to ride my pride and joy again. Even more...the looks and inquiries from people who've never seen one before made it worth it. The funniest part is being able to pull into a gas station with almost every pump having big vehicles beside it and me asking for a dollar or two of gas very loudly. Being able to go shopping or to the library 5-10 miles away or drive down a road just because you wanted to see where it went makes it worth it.
I tried the ~$10 Iridium plug mod on a virtually identical new HS 142F and the performance gain was staggering!
We have a nice set of terrain around the shop and after it had several miles on it we dropped in the HIX plug and man you can really feel it.
http://www.ngk.com/product.aspx?zpid=9666
I put HIX's in all my 2-strokes, doing it in all the 4-strokes now too.
Thanks for the link. Just put a new stock NGK plug in when I did all the work last week...especially since I was unsure if gas had gotten into the case when I tried to get it running in June. It's running good...but I will try the HIX when I change it out next year to get ready for the summer.
Do you know of a plug wire which will fit the 142's CDI I can pick up at any auto parts store? Noticed mine's looking a little bit worn...but isn't shocking me. Anyway...a new one...especially a blue or contrasting wire...would be something small...but attention getting.
Last but not least we swapped out the box exhaust for a spare non-EPA 2-stroke chrome exhaust I had.
Again, amazing difference in sound and performance.
If you do one I'd suggest both as together on these last two 29" Fatal Love 7G builds that plug/exhaust combo rocks.
Got a link for one of these? Do they look the same as the stock ones which come with the kits. I've got one of the chrome pipe ones...rather than the box exhaust which comes with some of them. As long as they look the same...might be something I might be interested in looking at to get installed this winter.
On the other hand...I'm having trouble getting the new carb to idle. It will run...but dies if you let off the throttle. When I got it...the "C" on the needle was set in the middle...on the 3rd out of 5 slots. Didn't change it. When I got back from a 10 mile trip yesterday...tried to set the idle by moving the idle screw in & out...but still died. Also attempted to adjust the throttle cable by opening up the adjustment on the top of the carb...but nothing.
With this area being 6000 ft...do I need to move the "C" ring down to the more rich setting to get the carb to get any idle? Am I correct thinking that at this altitude that it's starving for fuel...except for when I have the throttle open?