2009 Baja Reaction with a 6.5 clone

[bajagokart]

like i said ill take that into consideration, im just more confident in mounting a centrifugal clutch because im familiar with them, ive never done anything to do with torque converters, not even on cars, if one of you wants to post some detailed pictures of hor your torque converters are set up that would be great

 

[1992suburban]

the quote below speaks alot.. side by side comparision (spell check) maybe thats what I need to beat my buddy we drag race ALL THE TIME>>

You should really listen to them. To give you an idea. My friend has a 5.5HP clone minibike with A TAV2. My other friend just got one with a 6.5 Clone and centrifugal clutch. The bikes are identical and my friends weigh about the same. They had a drag race. Even though the NEW bike has more power and is brand new with just some brake in miles, it LOST horribly. It had a surge of power and then it topped out. My other friend with the TAV2 kept pulling away until his maxed out at about 40mph in overdrive. He won by such a large margin I couldnt tell you how many bike lengths. We ride in groups, where 1 goes the other follows. He tried to keep the centrifugal clutch on that bike all summer but it burnt out the first 3 days trying to do what we can all do with our TAV2's. (and have done for 2 years).
But in the end just have fun..... that's really all that counts

 

[freakboy]

see now the reason i wasted my time writing that out when i could have been working on my truck was i was trying to help you to make a good choice so you dont make a bad one and then end up not happy with the kart and then giving up on it...

 

[bajagokart]

well you didnt have to fly off the handle when its my project ya know if you want go work on your truck i really dont care to be honest lol

 

[nerfo]

Bajagokart... I'm totally with you 100%. Try out the centrifugal clutch with the 13 horse and see how it works for you! It's not expensive to TRY so, go for it. I would like to point out one little thing though... I'm assuming you have ABOUT a 23" tire size... if it's something else, lemme know. Ok, lets say, with the governor removed, under a load with the stock muffler and carb, the engine is able to max out at around 5500 rpm, with a 10 tooth clutch and a 60 tooth axle sprocket, that thing will have a top speed of 63 MPH... get ready to pick bugs out of your teeth! Well, when it finally gets to top speed.

Lets say your centrifugal clutch engages at 2400 rpm... if your engine produces 15 ft/lbs of torque at 2500 rpm (does it? I dunno... maybe more, maybe less. 2500 becuase we can assume the clutch is slipping less and transferring MORE power to the axle)... where was I? Right... 15 foot pounds of torqe applied through a centrifugal clutch through a drive chain with a 6:1 ratio means (assuming ZERO clutch slippage) you'll have 90 ft/lbs AT the rear wheels. Sounds kinda like a lot, right? Keep reading...

The reason everybody keeps beating the torque converter to death, is that it gives you some mechanical advantage, in the form of a lower gear ratio when you start from a standing stop. Say for example, when the torque converter "driving" clutch just starts to engage, the converter might have a ratio of about 2.7:1. What's that mean? Not much, yet!

Combine that 2.7:1 ratio with the 6:1 ratio (theoretical 10 tooth jackshaft sprocket to 60 tooth axle) and you have an overall drive ratio of 16.2:1 when starting from a standing stop. The beauty of torque multiplication! If your engine produces 15 ft/lbs of torque @ 2500 (I have no idea what it actually is, just bear with me) your 15 ft/lbs of engine torque, has become 243 ft/lbs of torque AT THE WHEELS! Tad more than 90, eh? Now, there is some parasitic loss due to belt friction, bearing friction and what the chain saps in power. The beauty part is that as the speed increases, the torque converters "pulleys" begin to "change pitch" The faces of one move closer together and the faces of the other move further apart... it will effectively change "gears" just like a CVT used in some newer cars (like the Nissan Altima). Is the CVT belt drive more expensive and more difficult to set up? You bet your a55 is it! But does it have some nice advantages? It sure does!

But I would try the clutch first, see how it works for you, and if you dont like it, save some dough up, and look into a CVT... You might have to do some reaserch to find one that will stand up to a slightly modded 13 horse, but hey... that's what this forum is all about! Good luck, and HAVE FUN! LETS ALL HAVE SOME FUN!

 

[bajagokart]

holy crap man that helped sooooo much! you are awesome btw i have 22" tires (close tho ) and the 13hp makes around 19 ft/lbs of torque lol but i bought a torque converter anyways so im sure it will work fine i just have to get it mounted and get my engine and ill be good to go! but ya thanks so much for the explanation! everything makes alot more sense now

 

[nerfo]

You're welcome! I'm building my first go kart right now and I'm using a torque converter. I had a kart when I was a kid that had a five horse briggs flattie with a centrifugal clutch... I remember it had difficulty getting going and hills... forget it. I've always wanted to use a TAV and comet going out of business kicked my butt into finally building one! So now, I'm really excited to get it done and see how it'll do. But I'm glad I could help! Good luck - whatever direction you choose to go!

 

[bajagokart]

dude i already bought a TC like i said lol and now that you told me how much torque i can make im like super excited! all i have to do is remote rig my choke and extend my electric starter and ill be set! plus with a electric start engine i can finally run my headlight1!

 

[jmadden91]

Could of ran your headlight of a bike engine . Good choice with the TAV, you can always chuck a bike engine in when you want some serious speed down the track. Good luck with the build mate

 

[bajagokart]

thanks man! im not really looking for speed im just looking for crazy torque since it is an offroader

 

[jmadden91]

Lol the bike engine would have crazy torque as well due to the gears. You'll come around eventually

 

[bajagokart]

maybe man maybe but ill stick with my 13 will work fine for what i do with my machine

 

[jmadden91]

Yeh mate sounds like it will be great. Good luck keep us posted

 

[ed1380]

i say **** the CVT and low revving engines. the TC will cost about 200 alone. total setup will be 300-350 with engine. for that much u can get a bike engine and it will be a million times better

 

[bajagokart]

why dont you do what you want with yoyur project and ill stick to my TC which wasnt 200 btw and my engine thanks

 

[ed1380]

so how much was it then?

 

[bajagokart]

About 150 ish I got a good deal lol

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

I payed a total of $57 for my bike engine, which puts out 36hp stock, has a built in manual clutch and 6spd transmission, and redlines over 9k stock.

Haha I'm sorry I know your not gonna buy a bike engine just figured I should chime in one more time lol.

 

[bajagokart]

Well dude that's cool lol probably works well lol do u run a comet 40 series for it? I just want to stick with what I know so I don't screw up lol cause I think if I got a bike engine I would probably screw up somehow so ya lol not that it wouldn't be sweet but I just rather stick to what I know

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

I was just messin wit ya since everyone else seems to be tellin youto get a bike engine. It's all about what your comfortable with. I would rather have a reliable kart than one that you don't trust.