I definitely have the pedal switch to engine mode. I'm not having an issue with the pedals engaging the motor. It's that the clutch isn't translating power from the motor to the wheels. I'm assuming its the interior pulley drive clutch, but the arms, springs, and pads look just fine.
I'm sure that the timing could be adjusted. It seems to slip on me regularly, so I'm always resetting it.
The muffler isn't clogged.
The carb is a runtong and while a clone, I can't imagine that's the source of performance issues. It doesn't leak, seems to deliver gas and air properly.
Currently my priority is getting the clutch to engage correctly. It's going to be difficult to work on performance if none of the power is getting to the wheel. It seems that there's plenty of talk on mopedarmy about dealing with the starter clutch but damn near nothing about the pulley drive clutch.