Sam here is a some thoughts on your comments.
First of all the original ISO rubbers get a bad name because they only lasted 30 years or more. I think they could have gone another 30 years if the original rails would have been built with a cross bar like the modification adds.
Usually it is not the ISO rubber that goes bad and causes the problem but one of the bolts holding the rail to the engine comes loose or breaks and then the extra stress breaks the other bolt and then the engine is loose and starts bouncing around destroying the ISO rubbers. I have original ISO rubbers that are still in good condition because I did the modifications to all my quietlines years ago.
When you compare narrow frames and wide frames to Quietlines you need to take into account most of the narrow and wide frames were only running 10, 12 and 14 hp engines, and it was only in the last year of production that they came out with the 169 and it wasn't in production a full year. I have a 169 and it is a totally different creature. I love its raw power but wouldn't want to mow all day on it, I would prefer a 129 then.
I have never found a quietline engine with balance gears in them which all of the narrow and wide frames engines had. Most people say they make no difference but there must have been some reason Kohler put them in.
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