After seeing videos on youtube and wanting a break from working on my drag racing truck I decided to build a drift trike, on a budget. I've been wanting a pit bike for the track and wanted to make something a little different. My plan was to make it rear engine to keep the center of gravity lower.
I planned to start with a drift trike kit, which seemed reasonable until I saw the astronomical shipping prices go kart vendors charge. Thankfully I came across a BMI karts new go kart kit on Craigslist for $280. The kit included all the steering, engine plate, axles, bearings, a disc brake kit, throttle cable, kill switch wheels and tires. I ended up selling the front steering parts, front wheels/tires for $60, so it's like I got the whole kit for $220! Here is a shot of the parts I used from the kit
I turned to Craigslist and picked up a childs BMX bike for $30, a Mongoose Crush, where I got the name from. Then I picked up some 2"X2" steel tubing from the remnants section of my local steel yard.
Then I broke out the welder and got to work. Built a basic frame
Next up was figuring out a seat. I wanted something that helped hold me in place, had a backrest and also didn't cost an arm and a leg. While looking around for ideas it hit me, my desk chair was perfect for the job. It's a tractor style chair, that had a steel base for just $32 shipped. So I quickly ordered another from Amazon and started cutting up my chair.
Not too shabby if I may say so myself. And poking around in the back was the 212cc predators engine I picked up from harbor freight for $120.
I then welded my BMX bike onto the front, painted my custom frame flat black, installed and extended my throttle cable. I considered adding kick out foot pegs off the frame but I hate the look of them, so I decided against them. Here's a shot of it completed.
The last thing I needed to complete it was PVC sleeves. Once again I was shocked by the prices go kart shops charge for shipping so I started looking around. I found ebay seller gibbscustoms which I was able to buy two sets of PVC sleeves for $60 shipped, compared to $90 shipped from other vendors. I've probably have 10 miles on them so far, they holding up great and still have a ton of life on them.
Here's a shot of the trike with the sleeves added. I love how that the sleeves match my front wheel.
Soon after this pic I learned that asking one front BMX tire/brake setup to stop around 300lbs (myself included) was way too much and slightly terrifying when heading uncontrollably into oncoming traffic, so I added the manual disc brake kit I got with the go kart kit onto the trike. Turns out the 6" caliper that came with my kit was too large to fit between my frame rails so I turned it down to 4" using a drill and a angle grinder. Here's the final product
It now stops on a dime.
The finished project
Total cost $475!
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!
I planned to start with a drift trike kit, which seemed reasonable until I saw the astronomical shipping prices go kart vendors charge. Thankfully I came across a BMI karts new go kart kit on Craigslist for $280. The kit included all the steering, engine plate, axles, bearings, a disc brake kit, throttle cable, kill switch wheels and tires. I ended up selling the front steering parts, front wheels/tires for $60, so it's like I got the whole kit for $220! Here is a shot of the parts I used from the kit
I turned to Craigslist and picked up a childs BMX bike for $30, a Mongoose Crush, where I got the name from. Then I picked up some 2"X2" steel tubing from the remnants section of my local steel yard.
Then I broke out the welder and got to work. Built a basic frame
Next up was figuring out a seat. I wanted something that helped hold me in place, had a backrest and also didn't cost an arm and a leg. While looking around for ideas it hit me, my desk chair was perfect for the job. It's a tractor style chair, that had a steel base for just $32 shipped. So I quickly ordered another from Amazon and started cutting up my chair.
Not too shabby if I may say so myself. And poking around in the back was the 212cc predators engine I picked up from harbor freight for $120.
I then welded my BMX bike onto the front, painted my custom frame flat black, installed and extended my throttle cable. I considered adding kick out foot pegs off the frame but I hate the look of them, so I decided against them. Here's a shot of it completed.
The last thing I needed to complete it was PVC sleeves. Once again I was shocked by the prices go kart shops charge for shipping so I started looking around. I found ebay seller gibbscustoms which I was able to buy two sets of PVC sleeves for $60 shipped, compared to $90 shipped from other vendors. I've probably have 10 miles on them so far, they holding up great and still have a ton of life on them.
Here's a shot of the trike with the sleeves added. I love how that the sleeves match my front wheel.
Soon after this pic I learned that asking one front BMX tire/brake setup to stop around 300lbs (myself included) was way too much and slightly terrifying when heading uncontrollably into oncoming traffic, so I added the manual disc brake kit I got with the go kart kit onto the trike. Turns out the 6" caliper that came with my kit was too large to fit between my frame rails so I turned it down to 4" using a drill and a angle grinder. Here's the final product
It now stops on a dime.
The finished project
Total cost $475!
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!
