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It’s All In The Mix
Running any machine with an eye for long term service always requires planning, and Dad turned to his cousin Jack for advice. He recommended nothing but Quaker State mix oil and regular leaded fuel. A two gallon can of Quaker State went out the door the day the Moto-Ski was bought and nothing else has ever been used. Reams of material have been written about correct and often incorrect lubrication of 2-cycle sled engines. There’s probably as much folklore and questionable information as fact. But you can’t argue with results and the JLO 372cc has never been torn down. The early years saw a 16:1 ratio and later on, with improved lubricants, a tad leaner 20:1. About the only fault of this mixture was plug fouling, but someone once said plugs are cheaper than a new engine! It should be mentioned there was one other result with fouled plugs. Dad was often in a hurry to get going and cranked out too many warm plugs when he should have let the engine cool. This resulted in a plug blowing up out of the engine one day and a heli-coil being installed. Along with an aftermarket kill switch and a replaced windscreen, these were the only modifications to the original sled.
To say the JLO-powered Moto-Ski has been a great sled is an understatement, and it certainly started my family on a lifetime of great sledding experiences. Over years the big thumping single really became part of the family and even more so once it had a Ski-Mo attached. But that is a story for another day.