My "new to me" Stratos 201

[Bigs]

Bought my first fiberglass bass boat. Its old but its new to me. 9/10 condition. Got it on craigslist of course ;D 1992 Stratos 201 Pro DC powered by a 200 Johnson GT . The original owner had it till 2007 and never fished one tournament with it. The guy I got it from said he fished about 15 tourneys with it in 07-8 and none this year. So it doesnt look like its been fished hard or even hardly used. Always garage kept since new. No speed demon by todays standards but it powers thru rough water at 62-65 mph with just me in the boat 8-) I rode in several bass boats and this was the first stratos I drove and as soon as I drove it I knew that no other boat would do. I also have a brand new in the box humminbird 798 fully loaded with all the navionics maps and Im bout to throw it on there and she'll be complete. Oh and yes thats original trolling motor, ugly as hell but d**n if it doesnt move that boat qwik. I'll keep using it till it conks out. Other then that I might get a tempest prop to replace the shooter it came with and try and get a few more mph. Just thought I'd share. Anyone else with an older stratos feel free to post a pic . That's all

[fishn hard]

Nice ride congrats

[frogtog]

The 201 is one of the best boats Stratos ever built. The one you have looks in pretty good shape. Congrats on the New to you boat.

[Bigs]

Thank you, my girlfriend and I were just drooling over your Allison in your fixer upper thread. I wouldnt wanna get into a race for the best spot on the river with you, thats for sure.

[Bigs]

The 201 is one of the best boats Stratos ever built. The one you have looks in pretty good shape. Congrats on the New to you boat.

Indeed, its immaculate and Im very picky about cosmetics. I been lookin for a boat since June, took me this long to find one I liked and for 5300 bux it was impossible to beat for the money. I almost spent 10 grand on a few other boats I found that were newer but nowhere near the condition

[TopDog]

Congrats on the new ride!  Good luck with it!

[GRiver]

WOW!!!! That front cast platfrom is huge . Love the dual cockpit too. Very nice boat.

[cart7t]

Those 201's were Beaut's.  Nice boat.  Congrats.   8-)

[Bigs]

Thanks, gonna take it out fishing today. The only part that sux is cleanin the hull after being on the river, I found that out first hand on monday. I ordered an outdura boat cover from iboats.com, anyone have experience with outdura material ? It's supposed to be identcial to sunbrella material.

[Grey Wolf]

Beautiful boat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Shane J]

Nice boat, man!

[simplejoe]

Very Nice boat.

[fishfordollars]

Very nice. Excellent thinking on your part to have the dual console. Girlfriend (And you) will be much happier.

Enjoy,

Jack

[senile1]

That looks like a nice boat.  The carpet shows no wear at all. 

[NewAngler]

NICE DUDE!!

[Bigs]

wanted to go out today but my ole lady worked longer then expected . If it doesnt rain tommorow then maybe I'll get lucky. If I didnt still have a slight cough from 2 months of being sick then Id gladly take it out in the rain. My new cover will be here in less then a week so I can get this ghetto tarp off of it  I spent an hour dryin it off today with a leaf blower. My neighbors who drove by looked at me like I was a madman ;D good times. Thanks for the compliments.

[Sfritr]

Welcome to the Stratos Club!!

For the year, that boat looks to be in great shape!  your correct, that trolling motor is ugly(I have the same one on my 96 Stratos)  and like you, will replace it when it dies.  The problem is the d**n thing runs like a top

Congrats again!

[Way2slow]

When you get like most that own 201's with 200's and start wanting more speed, the first thing you need to do is add a 10" jackplate. This will require changning steering cables and for what that cost, it would be a great time to add hydraulic steering.

For motor mod's, you missed by one year on the better block to mod. The 92 was the first year for closed deck motors and they did not have finger ports (these make a big difference in power), 93 and later were finger ported motors. The intakes and carbs on the 92 have to be changed out also. The pre 96 carbs are very sensitive to trim angle when idling. Keep the motor trimmed level with the water while idleing and it will idle much better. The 91 - 95 intakes are totally non performance so they would need to be swapped out for the 96 or later intakes.

What all this means is, if you find yourself a set of intakes and carbs off a 96 or later 225 hp motor, you will gain about 35 hp. Do this and add the jackplate and it will run 68 - 70 mph. To get anymore speed than this will require a complete tear down and porting, which your block is not the best for that. I did a 94 200 for a friends 94 201 that turns a modified 26" raker 6,500 rpm and runs 78 with two people and full live well. However, if you get thought's for something like that, figure on sending the motor to Monty's racing and spending a bunch of money.

So, 68 - 70 mph is carbs, intakes and jackplate (requires new steering cables), anything more is expensive.

[Bigs]

When you get like most that own 201's with 200's and start wanting more speed, the first thing you need to do is add a 10" jackplate. This will require changning steering cables and for what that cost, it would be a great time to add hydraulic steering.

For motor mod's, you missed by one year on the better block to mod. The 92 was the first year for closed deck motors and they did not have finger ports (these make a big difference in power), 93 and later were finger ported motors. The intakes and carbs on the 92 have to be changed out also. The pre 96 carbs are very sensitive to trim angle when idling. Keep the motor trimmed level with the water while idleing and it will idle much better. The 91 - 95 intakes are totally non performance so they would need to be swapped out for the 96 or later intakes.

What all this means is, if you find yourself a set of intakes and carbs off a 96 or later 225 hp motor, you will gain about 35 hp. Do this and add the jackplate and it will run 68 - 70 mph. To get anymore speed than this will require a complete tear down and porting, which your block is not the best for that. I did a 94 200 for a friends 94 201 that turns a modified 26" raker 6,500 rpm and runs 78 with two people and full live well. However, if you get thought's for something like that, figure on sending the motor to Monty's racing and spending a bunch of money.

So, 68 - 70 mph is carbs, intakes and jackplate (requires new steering cables), anything more is expensive.

Thanks alot, thats exactly the kinda stuff I needed to know. And while it would have been nice to get a 1993+ I didnt wanna spend 10 grand on a boat right now. I paid 5300 for this one and its immaculate. All the mid to late 90's 201's are goin for 9-12 grand all day. Even alot of clean 89-92's are goin for over 7 grand. I looked and looked for a stratos 201 for the last 3 months. I been lookin since early summer but at first had my heart set on a basscat or champion. I'm so glad I didnt waste my money on one. For the money I got a better boat. When I have more money to play with come spring time then I will do the prop, jackplate and maybe even the carbs and intake. For now Im content with goin low 60's with 2 people. I might also consider repowering it with a 250 but it says its rated for 235. How can that be tho ? The boat is long and heavy and should support a 250 all day.

[Bigs]

tried to send you a PM but it wouldnt work. I'd like to ask you some questions if you have time to answer them sometime. I really wanna know what jackplate and prop to go with if I decide to go that route. Couple other things I wanted to know about too. Maybe I should just make a new thread

[Way2slow]

If the transome is good, you're not going to over power it, no matter what motor you put on it. It's your state laws and tournament rules that will get you in trouble when over powering it. Some states are very strick about it. Here in GA, it it fits, run it.

I have a tendency to tell it like it is, which rubs some people the wrong way and I got tired of the BS mail I kept getting so I turned of my PM's.

The best way to get the power and keep it legal is to put a 225 HO on it. That's a 250 powerhead with 225 decals. The second option would be to have yours ported. I've never built a motor without finger ports but the finger ported motors will give approx 300 hp and still have a very strong hole shot. I don't normally build motors for other people but I have done two for friends. The last one dino'd 326 hp at 6,300 rpm and made 302 lbs of torque at 5,500 but it had MAD EFI fuel injection. The 94 carburated motor I did for frinds 201 dino'd 296 hp at 6,100 and made 292 pounds of torque at 5,500.

If and when you get serious about wanting to go into it, talk to Gordon at Monty's racing. He is fairly reasonable on his different packages.

As for 10" jackplates, Detwiler is a good one, Rite Hite is another one. Keep you eye's open and you can run across good deals on used mechanical ones for as little as $125 - $150. However, steering cables are gonna cost you approx $150 each and you install. You have 13' cables and you will need to go to 14'.

If I'm reading your location right, Costa Rica, I guess you don't have to worry about state laws.

One word of advise, don't run it without the air box on the front of the carbs, it WILL melt pistons.  The box is restrictive and if you remove it or take the baffle out, you will need to increase the size of your main jets about 10 sizes.

[Bigs]

Im curious tho, do the holes from a jackplate always match the factory holes ? And if not then how do you seal up the old holes ? Is there a good place online that shows pics and or video on how to install a jackplate and prop ? I think Im gonna get an 8 inch manual and a 25 tempest when Im ready which wont be till march. Altho in the meantime I might just send off my shooter prop to get blueprinted and balanced. Im assuming its pointless to get another prop right now without gettin a jackplate. Oh and btw, Im in virginia, my folks have a couple places they built in costa rica right on the beach. I plan on spending some time down there next year to do some salt water fishing. Thanks for all the info.

[Way2slow]

The engine mounts have been standardized for many years so you want have a problem there. All you do is unbolt the four bolts holding the engine on (which happens to weigh a little over 500 pounds) and move the engine over/back to make room for the jackplate. Usually the same bolts holding the engine will hold the jack plate. Be sure to install them with plenty of 3-M 5200 silicon sealant on both sides. Then you bolt the the motor to the jackplate using a good grade Stainless steel bolt/nuts and washers. I recommend using self locking nuts. You will also want to do the steering cables at this time because they usually won't slide out of the motor with the motor attached to be boat. Your cables probably will not reach an eight inch plate either. Sometimes you can get a six inch plate on without new cables but I've never know of anyone to get any more than that.

To install a Mercury prop on a Johnson, you will need to get one of the newer ones with the hub kit or drill the center of the splines on the older ones. DO NOT go to big on the prop. Those motors like 6,000 rpm at WOT, you don't want to load it. I would turn 6,100 before I would only turn 5,700.

I prefer a Raker prop that has been tuned on them. The old raker that has had Bob Liptons hands rubed on it are mighty hard to beat. Rich Boger is another good tunner but he is proud of his work and I have never seen a noticable difference in performance between the two.

I have spent many hours fishing the Chickahominy.

Forgot to mention, to lift the engine you use a lifting ring attached to the flywheel. It's easy to make one using a small piece of steel plate. Drill three hole that match the pattern in the center of the flywheel and weld a heavy steel ring in the center or a very large washer. Use 5/16 SAE bolts but be very sure they are not too long, only about 3/4", inch should screw into the flywheel. Too long and they will go all the way through and screw up your stator. A very expsensive lesson to learn the hard way.

[Bigs]

so youre saying 6k rpm's once I switch props ? Can I run 6k rpm's with the shooter thats on there now ? The one time I have taken the boat out since I bought it I was only running about 56-57k rpms. But I didnt have the motor trimmed up more then halfway according to the gauge. I didnt wanna push my luck my first time out . What do u mean when you say "Those motors like 6,000 rpm at WOT, you don't want to load it.  I would turn 6,100 before I would only turn 5,700." Are you saying if I get too big of a pitch that the motor wont turn enough RPM's ? Sorry for the newb questions, Im just learning all this stuff now. So much to learn, so little time.

[Way2slow]

With the motor trimmed out and with the motor at wide open throttle (WOT) where you're getting max speed and not cavitating the prop, you want close to 6,000 rpm with you normal load.  It's not going to hurt for it tor turn 6,100 running with a light load.

Bigger props don't mean more speed.  You can actually run slower because it can pull the engine down below the peak horse power curve.   I don't know anything about Merc props so I can't say what a tempest will do for you.  Adding the jackplate first will help get the bow up so you need to do that before you do anything about changing props.  It can all change if you mess with props first then add the jackplate.

The shooter is also not a very good prop for that boat.  It gives you almost no bow lift.   You need a high rake prop to help get the nose up.  That's why a Raker that has been custom tuned works so good.  They can give you the bow lift and tune some sturn lift into them to help get the hull up and flying.