Hi guys, I am buying a 1994 Stratos 201 ProXL with a 1998 JOhnson 225 HO and I wanted to see if anyone had any advice on how to keep it running strong. The engine was rebuilt in 2007 and looks very clean. It has good compression (although I am going to get another compression test this week as soon as the sale is finalized) and seemed to run strong on the test drive I took on Saturday. The GPS didn't work so I don't have a top speed but it was easily in the low-mid 60's with a 4 blade prop, got it up to 5200 RPM's but it was too cold to go much faster although it felt like it could go a bit higher.

I know a lot of people eliminate the VRO from this motor and pre-mix fuel but I have also read that continuouswave article so I am not sure I want to remove the VRO. My mechanic suggests replacing it with a new bombardier VRO just to be safe. Is anyone here familiar with this engine and willing to give me some advice? Any info on how to keep it running well is appreciated!