Cheap, Reliable 6.5 HP engine

[risto]

I recently bought a 6.5 horizontal shaft engine from harborfreight.com. It was $160 including shipping. The link is here. I put it on my small, 80-pound-frame go kart and it gets me going about 30mph. 60T axle sprocket to a 12T clutch sprocket, #35 chain.

I posted this for two reasons:
-I wanted so share a steal for a brand new, Honda-clone engine.
-I wanted to know what modifications should/could be made to improve my speed, engine life, etc.

any help is appreciated.

thanks


EDIT:

and for those of you NOT living in California: Save some $$

 

[Jblankster]

a cvt torque converter from comet would do good.

 

[my_mini_bike]

a new performance air filter, different carb, a different exhaust [ i complely took the exhaust of my kart and there was way more power but i was far too noisy], racing spark plugs etc etc... or a torque converter like Jblankster suggested

 

[Jblankster]

if its too noisey. get a high flow racing muffleler. or go with a straight exhaust(just a pipe attached where the muffeler was)

 

[5hpbriggs]

Okay here we go:

Better flowing carb here talk to this guy I belong to the same forum he does he drag races mini bike and he runs honda motors. www.icehousehighperformance.com

Cams: If you want they run from $100 all the way to $260
www.nr-racing.com

Rockers: Rollers $180 a set
OR>>> www.icehousehighperformance.com 1.2 ratio rockers

springs: if you run a high lift cam yes it is a must

Porting: yes it must flow better




valves: If you want-

Exhaust pipe- If you want a high performance motor use a robertson pipe. Remember it must (motor) flow!

5hp

 

[risto]

I was working on getting a new muffler today...

is this one of those "make it yourself" kind of things? because all the honda-style mufflers i have found around here are more or less replacement parts.

I had a new air filter, but that someone managed to get lost in a pile of junk today...

and those were the only modifications i felt safe doing myself, as:

me + work i am not familiar with = emergency room.

thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Jblankster]

lol yes its a make yourself tyype of exhaust thing. if its a screw in muffeler just un screw it get some pipe that will fit the threads and have it go out back.

 

[risto]

unfortunately it's a Honda-type muffler. So i'd need to make it fit just right. Any tips on making a muffler? or should i just post a new thread?

=]

oh, and any other, simple ways of improving engine performance?

 

[russo2]

take out the governors..check other threeads on hwo to do so
a different spark already saud but it is a very cheap way of gettin more power
adjuste the carburator to high throttle.. but not too high

 

[2or3wheels]

The easiest is to just pair filter and exhaust.