Jacktar...does your mount have 2 springs or 4? did you reinforce inside the transom (wood block, G10 plate, or lateral angle support?My motor mount was the original garelick on the boat when I got it from the PO. He had a 85 mercury on it which was the original outboard on the 83. It was 2 stroke and I had no problem putting the sail pro on it. The reason for the intermediate notch I created was that in the upper notch the 25" sits just in the water enough to operate and pump cooling water through it but the lowest notch actually put the bottom edge of the motor mount board at water level which caused drag and prop was way too low at that position. Rather than remount the whole motor mount to accommodate the longer shaft engine I just cut a pair of intermediate notches to put the engine in with prop far enough down not to cavitate when I went forward or when waves or wakes were excessive. No racing and surging then when operating in even extraordinary conditions.
When reinforcing the transom, one other thing to look at might be removing the motor mount, and repositioning the motor mounting one hole further down in the sequence of pre-drilled holes on the motor mount. (If yours is set up this way) My mount has an unused transom mounting hole at the top, and I was considering re-attaching the mount using the top hole, as opposed to the 2nd to the top - where mine is now. I'm hoping this might help decrease the lever effect, by adding about 1" of more positive support at the bottom of the mount, where it presses against the transom. I haven't done it yet, but think it might also help reducing cavitation from the higher notched settings, as the current bottom notch is far to deep on my set-up anyway. It's either that, or likely cutting a new notch as Jacktar has done.Jacktar...does your mount have 2 springs or 4? did you reinforce inside the transom (wood block, G10 plate, or lateral angle support?
Straight to a triple, that sounds fun.I've not had any real complaints about my 2 stroke. If properly tuned and maintained, it should start and run fine. My first motorcycle was a triple 2 stroke. There is a certain finesse about getting them to start easily. Mostly just knowing how much to crack the throttle when starting. I've seen people fight and fight to start a 2 stroke. I have simply walked over and started it on the next kick or pull. Snowmobiles, motorcycles, outboards, they are all the same. You have to listen to the sound it makes when it turns over. You can hear if it is flooded, and lean. Once running, the carb needs to be adjusted by ear. Listen to the crack, and adjust for the best sound. You can't do that with a 4 stroke. 2 strokes are lighter. Because they use oil, the engines tend to survive the off months without rusting the cylinder walls.
GT380, My brother would brag about his Honda 350 with electric start. I would put my bike in gear, rock off the center stand, pop the clutch, the engine would start and rev, and I would drive off, all without putting my feet down - who needs an electric start.Straight to a triple, that sounds fun.