Hi, me and my friend were thinking about building a kart in the holidays. Basically, we'd already planned to do it and then he met a guy at a party whose dad has a breakers yard for bikes, so we're gonna try and pick up a biggish engine for cheap down there and put it in a kart or buggy.

I have a few questions, firstly, if anyone has done this sort of thing before, have you got any advice? Also, as we want quite a big engine (enough to get a fair bit of wheelspin), would we be better off making it a buggy rather than a kart? Also, how easy would it be to have a clutch (semi-automatic - thats a centrifugal clutch right?), and finally, is there any way of racing it against others or would it be too much of a pain getting it up to rules and regulations?

Thanks in advance,

Oli.

p.s. How much would it cost? - rough estimate, we both have a bit of money and my grandad's agreed to put in some money for parts, crash helmet etc.

Quote from oli17 :

Hi, me and my friend were thinking about building a kart in the holidays. Basically, we'd already planned to do it and then he met a guy at a party whose dad has a breakers yard for bikes, so we're gonna try and pick up a biggish engine for cheap down there and put it in a kart or buggy.

I have a few questions, firstly, if anyone has done this sort of thing before, have you got any advice? Also, as we want quite a big engine (enough to get a fair bit of wheelspin), would we be better off making it a buggy rather than a kart? Also, how easy would it be to have a clutch (semi-automatic - thats a centrifugal clutch right?), and finally, is there any way of racing it against others or would it be too much of a pain getting it up to rules and regulations?

Thanks in advance,

Oli.

p.s. How much would it cost? - rough estimate, we both have a bit of money and my grandad's agreed to put in some money for parts, crash helmet etc.

This sorta of racing could fit your needs http://www.freewebs.com/wdkrc/ Kind of somewhere in between karting and buggies.

Quote from oli17 :

Also, as we want quite a big engine (enough to get a fair bit of wheelspin)

depending on weight, try looking around the 15-20 hp range... most go karts i've seen use >=5 hp engines.

thanks, thats the kind of thing we're looking for, but its a bit far away really, as i don't think we can afford a trailer.

Quote from bunder9999 :

depending on weight, try looking around the 15-20 hp range... most go karts i've seen use >=5 hp engines.

we were thinking like a really powerful one thats a challenge to drive, like the biggest u could fit in the kart while still being quite nippy (does that make sense? :S)

Quote from oli17 :

we were thinking like a really powerful one thats a challenge to drive, like the biggest u could fit in the kart while still being quite nippy (does that make sense? :S)

might want to look at motorcycle engines then, they should give a decent amount of output without resorting to a car engine.

Quote from bunder9999 :

might want to look at motorcycle engines then, they should give a decent amount of output without resorting to a car engine.

read the first post

Quote from oli17 :

read the first post

:doh:

so how big are you looking to put in there? i've seen hayabusa engines installed into smart cars, but they might be too much for a hand-made frame...

as i say as big as possible, was thinking maybe 500 or 750cc, but want one that won't blow up my spine/wreck the handling. i want like a racing car/rally car in kart form rather than a dragster

Make sure you know what you are doing... I have a feeling at the end of the summer we will have a thread where you try to explain how you just escaped death/serious injury.

we'll try mum :P

I'm just saying. You want to smack in a 'big' engine into a wielded bike frame? That doesnt sound that good to me.

Atleast try to get some proper supervision from someone who knows what they are doing before you takeoff.

no i "big" bike engine into a welded kart/buggy frame

doesn't sound much better though lol

i know it sounds stupid, but you can't say it wouldn't be cool! anyways, if/when we get going with this i'll make this the progress thread as well

Where exactly do you want to run your creation? Mud or tarmac?

http://www.youtube.com/user/monsterair2

That user built himself a buggy. If you can catch up with him, try to PM for some ideas.

Quote from Intrepid :

Where exactly do you want to run your creation? Mud or tarmac?

why did you delete the first bit of your comment? actually, its more a question of where CAN we run it. a bit of both preferably, like a buggy that can go reasonably fast on tarmac

Quote from hp999 :

http://www.youtube.com/user/monsterair2

That user built himself a buggy. If you can catch up with him, try to PM for some ideas.

wow thats really cool, will get in touch. thanks

No probs. He last signed in three weeks ago though.

Quote from hp999 :

No probs. He last signed in three weeks ago though.

d'oh! oh well worth a try!

also, is anyone here doing A2 DT? was thinking we might be able to make this our coursework project, which would also solve the problem of WHERE to build it.

First what you have to answer is how many parts you could apply from donor, how many do you plan to make yourself or find specialized parts.

When you answer that, try to find ppl who made such layout and have design. I know the most popular buggies are from beettle (1600ccm) and there are many designs and parts especially in States. Here in Poland we have buggy design for small fiat 126p (600ccm veery small wheelbase), I created mine frame desing from scratch for Skoda120 (rear engined, water cooled, 1200ccm) using whole suspension (front double wishbones with frame, rear swingarm). I know there is one (!) guy in Poland making buggies with 150bhp bike engines... others just making prototypes from donors... no grown market for this here in Poland.

So here you come up to the frame - how do YOU want to make it. Cut, bend and weld? I can tell you - fitting tubes and box profiles for different angles is quite a pain in ass when you dont have simple tools to do it. But you know, it is possible, I managed to do it

I cant tell you anything about making a cart 250ccm+ I think many parts and designs for that with regullar racing. And specifications.

Although I agree with the post above, I think that you should first think thoroughly what you want. From what I understand, you want something in between dirt and tarmac. IMO that makes it a compromise and like one, will be drivable on a lot of terrains but won't particularly shine on any.

Put your aims in line and consider build options on them.

100 - 150bhp should keep u amused for a little while...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWUcZXAHQ8I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSmxaORvBQI

I wonder how do they brake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rPpoK3A8aE

To be honest mate, you'd be better off with about 40bhp. You can always race against others on private property.