Dirt Bike Engine (or such) on a go kart?

[Sdannenberg3]

I really want a change here. I have a little honda clone on an old racing frame. What I really want to do is get a clutch and a 4-5 speed gearbox. What im thinking about doing is buying those Lifan engines, A nock off honda dirt bike engine.

What do you guys thinks? Too much work? would it be east to mount the engine? cause i'd imagine the way it mounts is different. And what about the chain and sprocket. Would it be the same size chain and all that?

Has anyone ever done this before? What are your views?

 

[2or3wheels]

if you can weld and have an immagination you can do it.

 

[travisn]

i wish i could go down that road with my kart. but i wont have anywhere to work on it in a few weeks. buy an old dirtbike, then you have everything; frame bits you can use for motor mounts and what not. i wouldnt worry about the chain and sprocket. they can be had for cheap.

 

[modelengineer]

Ditto about buying a whole bike, preferably a damaged one so you don't feel so bad about cutting it up
Bike engines with gearboxes make the best karts ever.
You would need to weld up new mounts for the engine, but it's really not that difficult. You prop the engine up where you want it using bits of wood and stuff. Then you bend/weld the mounts out of flatbar, welding them to the chassis when they are already bolted to the engine. Then you strengthen the mounts and bob's ur uncle. EASY!
Do it, and take many pics for us to look at

 

[Sdannenberg3]

if you can weld and have an immagination you can do it.

Ohh I can weld, and have an imagination. So i think Ill do it. Its funny cause the idea I thought about doing for the shift linkages I saw on this site in another post. Someone thought of my same idea. So it must be a good one!

And yes, I think ill just look for an old bike so i have the motor mounting plate, and EVERYTHING i need engine wise.

Ohh, and I will take MANY pictures for all of you to see! Maybe I should just mount a camera in my workshop and keep you all updated live

All i know is... its peanut butter jelly time!
(haha, just found that smilie)

 

[modelengineer]

I think ill just look for an old bike so i have the motor mounting plate

Motorbike engines dont use a mounting plate. They have threaded holes (some not threaded) in certain areas. You need to weld up new engine mounts out of flatbar/angle/square tube/round tube. Other than that the bike comes with everything you need. Good luck

 

[2or3wheels]

i wish i could go down that road with my kart. but i wont have anywhere to work on it in a few weeks. buy an old dirtbike, then you have everything; frame bits you can use for motor mounts and what not. i wouldnt worry about the chain and sprocket. they can be had for cheap.

You can also get a cheap bike with no title and a good engine.

 

[Sdannenberg3]

Im looking, I just cant find one thats cheap. Especially one locally without a title.

Another question, Are most of the bikes air cooled? cause I have seen some bikes with radiators right behind the front wheel, and not that I couldn't rig up some mounts, but it adds more complexity and more **** to break. I wanna keep it simple.

 

[modelengineer]

Best place to get a wrecked bike is at an auction. That's where the wreckers go so you can get them much cheaper. Just as an example, here you can get a GS500F (500cc twin air and oil cooled) that makes about 50hp with 6 speed manual for under a grand Australian.

 

[dpaxson]

i'm just starting a motorcycle powered go kart project. i picked up an old yamaha rt-100 that some kid had crashed for $120 and now i'm gonna put the engine on a kart frame i built. hopefully it can handle the speed lol

 

[Sdannenberg3]

Ohh man! i I WISH i could find something like that! Its even worse when you are LOOKING for an old bike and cant find one. Im almost to the point where I have nothing to do until I get my engine!

 

[dpaxson]

ya just keep looking on craigslist or ebay. one is bound to pop up sometime.