Thread: Go-cart "for the kids"

Cool mate. Dad got his mate to build one for us kids - think I was about 11 when we got it for xmas. It was a bit bigger though. Was on wide quad bike tyres, about 5-6 inches off the ground and 1.8 metres wide. Full roll cage - which was never required. It had a 600cc Suzuki road bike motor in it, 5 speed box, clutch etc. Brakes were average but it'd spin on the spot if you needed to stop in a hurry. He put a Recaro bucket seat and harness in it to strap us in. The thing was good for 140km'h, which was pretty fast on the beach, in bumpy paddocks etc, we rarely got top speed out of it. I eventually blew the motor up, and he replaced it with a xr250 motor which was a bit more tame, and fitted disc brakes that worked. We sold it for $750 when we "out grew" it. Now I wish we never did, to buy something like that now - $1500-2000 easy. Man we had some fun in it, his idea was that it'd get the "hooning" out of our system before we got cars...

Sweet! I reckon the kids will be stoked with that.

Originally Posted by JoshC

Cool mate. Dad got his mate to build one for us kids - think I was about 11 when we got it for xmas. It was a bit bigger though. Was on wide quad bike tyres, about 5-6 inches off the ground and 1.8 metres wide. Full roll cage - which was never required. It had a 600cc Suzuki road bike motor in it, 5 speed box, clutch etc. Brakes were average but it'd spin on the spot if you needed to stop in a hurry. He put a Recaro bucket seat and harness in it to strap us in. The thing was good for 140km'h, which was pretty fast on the beach, in bumpy paddocks etc, we rarely got top speed out of it. I eventually blew the motor up, and he replaced it with a xr250 motor which was a bit more tame, and fitted disc brakes that worked. We sold it for $750 when we "out grew" it. Now I wish we never did, to buy something like that now - $1500-2000 easy. Man we had some fun in it, his idea was that it'd get the "hooning" out of our system before we got cars...

Holy shit, now thats my sort of go-kart!!

Holly shitballs batman - 140kph!!! That's pretty cool though, kids need reckless responsibilities to mature...Bet you grew up fast real fast eh Josh :-)

I brought this one of trademe, got it going, but soon realised it's way to much for the kids, so hence why I'm building a baby version for them to use until they're big enough to drive it.


Rear end is all Kawasaki trike, doesn't do 140kph...but still goes hard for what it is.

Kj

Originally Posted by JoshC

Cool mate. Dad got his mate to build one for us kids - think I was about 11 when we got it for xmas. It was a bit bigger though. Was on wide quad bike tyres, about 5-6 inches off the ground and 1.8 metres wide. Full roll cage - which was never required. It had a 600cc Suzuki road bike motor in it, 5 speed box, clutch etc. Brakes were average but it'd spin on the spot if you needed to stop in a hurry. He put a Recaro bucket seat and harness in it to strap us in. The thing was good for 140km'h, which was pretty fast on the beach, in bumpy paddocks etc, we rarely got top speed out of it. I eventually blew the motor up, and he replaced it with a xr250 motor which was a bit more tame, and fitted disc brakes that worked. We sold it for $750 when we "out grew" it. Now I wish we never did, to buy something like that now - $1500-2000 easy. Man we had some fun in it, his idea was that it'd get the "hooning" out of our system before we got cars...

Me and a mate built one when we were about 11-12, two seater, mini tires, rack and pinion, 500cc roadbike motor, 80mph.
Watched my mate roll it mid drift down the gravel pit at about 80kph, landed back on its wheels and he managed to stay in it with no seat belts!, would wheelstand on tarseal it was a weapon.
Blew his dads shed up, I was welding up some cracks in the chassie (before we sussed suspension ) and my mate pulled out the carby to stop getting sparks in it splashed me with fuel and its burning up the line to the just filled ER250 fuel tank on top of the roll bar, I reached up and turned the fuel tap off and we ran outside to find something to put it out with....lucky because shortly after a massive fire ball burst out the 3 vehilcle sized doorways! That was the first time the fireengines were called
The tank went from 12-13? liters out to 25ish and was sweet with a new secondhand cap and fuel tap!

WARNING: do not try this at home...but if you do, expect awesome results




That's as hillbilly as it gets...but the old upside down belt sander in a vice trick makes an awesome linisher. Most sanders have a big radius at one end and a smaller radius at the other, just find the sweet spot and use your sanding kung fu... happy days!

Kj

haha, awesome

really enjoying this thread.

As we get a bit older we have to rethink our bush transport, I think I've got it sorted, my new hunting set up. Homebrew.357. .

Welding all done, ready for a final touch up with a grinder here and there...then paint! Yahoo!!!


Kj

And the grand reveal...




$110 and a truck load of my time, but I've enjoyed the project and it feels great to finally finish it

I hope you got some enjoyment from following the thread...but it's now time for a beer.

Kj

Thats really neat mate


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Man I've enjoyed this thread.
And know doubt the kids will enjoy it to

That came out mint! Can't wait to see it when it's petrol powered

Originally Posted by Pop Shot

That came out mint! Can't wait to see it when it's petrol powered

+1

That looks awesome might need some padding around the steering wheel support arm.
I can see some one slipping forward onto that