Engine Choice

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Shadowbob700

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Being that I don't have much experience with larger horizontal shaft engines (13-18hp), I was wondering a few things. How would a 13hp predator engine or the like compare against a 4 stroke dirt bike engine such as a Honda xr100 or something similar. Wondering what the top speed and torque difference would be. Seems about equal honestly, but obviously the predator 13hp with a torque converter would be cheaper and easier to use.
 

tinamcjittles

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Being that I don't have much experience with larger horizontal shaft engines (13-18hp), I was wondering a few things. How would a 13hp predator engine or the like compare against a 4 stroke dirt bike engine such as a Honda xr100 or something similar. Wondering what the top speed and torque difference would be. Seems about equal honestly, but obviously the predator 13hp with a torque converter would be cheaper and easier to use.

Compression ratios are very different for those engines, meaning they have loads more torque. Generally the stroke length is much shorter to allow for higher rippems, they can have overhead cams, and most importantly they have gearboxes! Just totally different usually, the biggest difference is probably stroke length but compression is huge too..
Also the xr100 makes nearly 10hp! For a single cylinder thats pretty cray
 

Shadowbob700

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Yea I'm familiar with the motorcycle and dirt bike engines, just haven't had much experience with large "go kart" motors. So I'll most likely stick to the dirt bike engine for my build.
 

chancer

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There is really no such thing as a "Go Kart Motor" a 13 HP Predator is an industrial engine meant for a Paint sprayer and the like.
Using a 100cc Motorcycle engine is a cool idea.
But to try to compare the two just is like apples and oranges.
Weird how a 100cc Motorcycle engine makes more power than a 420cc Predator?
See Apples and Oranges.
 

Shadowbob700

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I know there's no such thing as a go kart motor. That's why I put it in quotation. Being sarcastic because everyone around here seems to call them that.
 

Kartorbust

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There is really no such thing as a "Go Kart Motor" a 13 HP Predator is an industrial engine meant for a Paint sprayer and the like.
Using a 100cc Motorcycle engine is a cool idea.
But to try to compare the two just is like apples and oranges.
Weird how a 100cc Motorcycle engine makes more power than a 420cc Predator?
See Apples and Oranges.
Well with the exception being the Animal, Raptor engines, and a few others that were marketed as such. But at their core, still Industrial engines.
 

OzFab

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There's always a trade off:

- If you use an industrial engine, mounting is relatively easy but, then you have another trade off between high speed & good acceleration when considering gearing

- Using a motorbike engine, regardless of size, requires fabrication of an engine specific mounting cradle, not to mention shifter & clutch mechanisms but, then you have the best of both worlds regarding gearing...
 

Kartorbust

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Making an engine cradle probably isn't terribly hard, but considering a big block and small block industrial engine mounts can be bought or made easier there is that. The other half is that the bike engine will have a specific chain and sprocket size, like a 428 chain or 520, where as an industrial engine you can pick and choose which chain and sprockets you want much easier. Which also means adjusting your final gear ratio will be a lot easier than say trying to locate a larger or smaller sprocket for 428 chain.

Haven't looked a chain pitch chart in a few months so I don't know how close 420 and 428 chain are in relation to using each other universally (doubt it). Just remember the faster you go, the better the brakes have to be. 35mph geared for a 40 series on a 420 Predator would be at that engines top end depending on how it was geared and tires, where as a bike engine, that could be say top end of 2nd and bottom end of 3rd gear, with an extra gear or two after that to work with.

Gearing a bike engine gives you more overall flexibility in that you have gears to work with for speed. So you could gear it deep and still have decent speed and awesome take off, but can't really be said for an industrial engine.
 

Shadowbob700

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Yes there will be a build thread.
And yes I understand ill have to build specific engine mounts. But I see it as, if I'm building a go kart from scratch, it shouldn't be much of an issue to build some engine mounts to fit. A stock xr100 does about 45mph. And I would probably just be using stock gearing. But I think I'm gonn start out with a Lifan 125cc electric start. They seem pretty decent these days and parts are easy to find. And if it becomes too much of a problem I will just swap in a Honda motor.
 
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