Governor ADJUSTMENT (delete?)

[Squiddy202]

You should not have a solid cable. It should be a multi-strand flexible cable.

As long as the set screw on the top holds it I found a solution. Didn’t get to test it as it was dark and late. It did seem to actuate the throttle lever fully. My dad had a bolt with a hole in it from a small girls bike brake mechanism. Hopefully she doesn’t miss it… Either way, what’s hoarding? It seems to work.

 

[Hellion]

I now significantly dislike tractor supply. That POS costed me $20. Worst part is that it’s my fault…

It’s okay to run every little niggling concern through this forum, throttle cable purchases and whatever, even down to nuts and bolts. There’s common parts that’ll do, stuff that is unsuitable and then “the best” for the application. In other words, bicycle cable will do, solid wire is a nope, and then a thicker stranded “kart” cable with a threaded ferrule on the end (which permits fine tuning) is “the best”. The threaded portion allows a quick adjustment of cable free-play so you don’t have to take everything apart. Cables naturally stretch a little,

Yes governors are adjustable but no one here really knows how to do it. Taryl Fixes All (on youtube) has one or more videos on the topic as do others but this I think is required reading to learn and dispel myths:

Governors, Flywheels And An Internet Full Of Crap

Reposting this superb article written by Doc Sprocket, from this thread. (edited for spelling ~Hellion) "This has come up recently, again, so I'm going to post this here. What you are about to read is a couple of articles I wrote sometime back, that address the function of the governor, the...

www.diygokarts.com

Three cheers for Doc Sprocket!

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

lo barato sale caro.

The cheap comes out expensive.

Do it right the first time.

 

[Squiddy202]

In other words, bicycle cable will do, solid wire is a nope, and then a thicker stranded “kart” cable with a threaded ferrule on the end (which permits fine tuning) is “the best”.

From a quick test rip using the girls bike brake bolt it seemed perfect with the solid… perhaps a new jerry-rig method?

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Im gonna guess it works now?
Been quiet round these parts....

 

[Squiddy202]

Im gonna guess it works now?
Been quiet round these parts....

Yup. Not sure if I will mess with the gov, maybe idk.

 

[Hellion]

I now significantly dislike tractor supply. That POS costed me $20. Worst part is that it’s my fault…

I get that Tractor Supply is like an institution, they sing about it in country songs and stuff but I much prefer Rural King (or for those in the know “Urban Queen” because it’s easier to pronounce). Plus they have free movie theater popcorn and coffee, self serve!

 

[Hellion]

There’s a lot of myth and trepidation about when the governor gear “will go”. 3600 revs is the engine industry standard for powering a tiller, generator, power washer etc. It’s just an agreed-upon RPM figure to suit the implement on the end of the engine. Not slow, not super fast but enough speed to get the job done—of course most machines use a gear reduction where needed (rototiller, snow blower, etc) for more grunt.

If you’re within the range of *governor adjustability* with it still intact inside the engine, the governor gear will survive. The range that it can be adjusted is determined by moving the linkage rod to a different hole on the governor arm, or in some cases putting more tension on the governor spring as seen on some Briggs L head engines.

In other words, if the engine can be adjusted, per manufacturer specs, to provide 4500 revs for example, then the governor gear will be happy. Like in that thread I posted, it’s called a safety margin.

Some manufacturers provide a tool (or instructions) to adjust the governed speed. Blah blah blah…

 

[Squiddy202]

I get that Tractor Supply is like an institution, they sing about it in country songs and stuff but I much prefer Rural King (or for those in the know “Urban Queen” because it’s easier to pronounce). Plus they have free movie theater popcorn and coffee, self serve!

Near me Dries Do-it used to be around. They got taken over Wehrungs. They no longer have popcorn.
Edit: it was free, they had a please contribute thing that went to a charity.

 

[Squiddy202]

Guess who’s looking back into speed? I want to discuss the pros and cons of Governor delete and this seems like a good thread to do so. A few things to consider:
1. I have a tc, a heavy kart, and big tires. That seems hard to over-rev.
2. I am going to make a tach soon, so I can mark a redline.
3. Does valve float cause damage in short bursts?
4. I am not planning on doing a carb upgrade without conrod/flywheel upgrade.

All in all, my kart seems like a safer option to do a gov delete on compared to other karts. What would you guys do, what should I upgrade? Billet parts seem expensive.

 

[Hellion]

Delete the governor, it’s the only way to kart.

3. Valve float/flutter is perfectly safe, the engine just can’t run any faster without stronger springs. It’s a natural rev limiter.
4. Wise.

There’s plenty of folks who delete the governor as their only mod. They let valve flutter control the over-speeding of the engine and just run it, fingers crossed.

 

[Squiddy202]

Delete the governor, it’s the only way to kart.

3. Valve float/flutter is perfectly safe, the engine just can’t run any faster without stronger springs. It’s a natural rev limiter.
4. Wise.

There’s plenty of folks who delete the governor as their only mod. They let valve flutter control the over-speeding of the engine and just run it, fingers crossed.

Ngl I found something out. I removed the throttle limit screw like spark recommended. I gotta get more travel outta my pedal now but HOLY ****. I had to be hittin 30 going down my alley that’s like half a block. I gotta think more about the governor deleted since I got a boatload more speed just now.

P.S.: my phones GPS was too weak for it work well for speed.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Guess who’s looking back into speed? I want to discuss the pros and cons of Governor delete and this seems like a good thread to do so. A few things to consider:
1. I have a tc, a heavy kart, and big tires. That seems hard to over-rev.

This is totally dependent on the gearing.

2. I am going to make a tach soon, so I can mark a redline.

Why bother. They make hour meter / tach just for small engines. Cheap on amazon.

3. Does valve float cause damage in short Amazon.

It depends.
If you have enough piston to valve clearance maybe not, but if your decking heads and blindly throwing parts together than its a possibility.

4. I am not planning on doing a carb upgrade without conrod/flywheel upgrade.

A slide carb will wake up the throttle response of the engine, not make it turn faster.
The billet conrod is Always a good thing. Its just a better product for the longevity of an industrial engine pushed beyond running a pressure washer.

All in all, my kart seems like a safer option to do a gov delete on compared to other karts. What would you guys do, what should I upgrade? Billet parts seem expensive.

The cheap comes out expensive.

Do it right the first time.

If your going to remove the governor, you have the engine case open. Why not put the rod in while your there.
Do not just bypass the governor.

The governor can be a good thing. It is more of a rpm maintainer not a limiter.
Its design is to hold the rpms at peak power no matter the load.

 

[Squiddy202]

Why bother.

It’s fun and I like working with Arduino. Plus I can make it a speedo too by putting a magnet and Hall effect on the axle.

 

[Squiddy202]

Alright so before the governor monkeying, I need to get more travel out of the throttle pedal to maximize the use of my newfound power from having a few screws loose.
Above is the throttle connection. The bar goes to the pedal and has a cotter pin and washer holding the spring on. How would you guys get more travel? I may need to get my dad to wip out the old MIG to move the pedal mount as it will hit the steering rod unless a find a great Jerry rig. How do you think I should modify it?

Edit: My dad mentioned the idea of moving the bar further up on the pedal. That should increase travel I think. That is another possibility.

 

[Hellion]

I thought you already addressed the throttle travel including the throttle stop? The throttle stop screw is a big one and the screws are almost always “throttled down” on these engines as they come from the factory. It is good to remove the screw entirely on all engines for karting and minibiking use.

You have a Subaru Robin engine, right?

Anyway, 30 mph is probably the max speed that the governed engine plus the kart’s gearing can provide at this time so don’t be sad, because “uncorking” the engine as you’ve done is a great success. That speed is plenty enough for some people. A tachometer is a good great idea that will let you see the max revs your engine is (currently) capable of. Then you can plug that info into a speed calculator. Have you used a speed calculator?

About the throttle connection, make sure you take as much slack out of the throttle cable as possible because I see some slack where it comes out of the sheath/conduit in the photos from your post #35. You don’t want the pedal moving and nothing is happening on the engine until the pedal is pushed haflway down or something like that. With the amount of coils visible on the throttle return spring, I don’t think you will need to alter the throttle pedal range but it could be all jacked up. Show us pics of the pedal when you can.

By the way, I agree with everything WTR wrote, could have written same but didn’t want to get too wordy.

 

[Squiddy202]

I thought you already addressed the throttle travel including the throttle stop?

I did the travel. I got it good enough. It went almost immediately. I did not do the stop as I read that at school originally, forgot and only noticed it going back to this to check a potential governor delete.

You have a Subaru Robin engine, right?

Subaru Robin. Says EX21 on block, SP21, on tank. Will get better pics asap. The tray isn’t on this since half the bolts were gone and the other half sheared when I jumped a berm. I fixed it now. We tapped the actual holes. Either way, this is better than nothing. More pics coming soon.

Anyway, 30 mph is probably the max speed that the governed engine plus the kart’s gearing can provide at this time so don’t be sad, because “uncorking” the engine as you’ve done is a great success. That speed is plenty enough for some people. A tachometer is a good great idea that will let you see the max revs your engine is (currently) capable of. Then you can plug that info into a speed calculator. Have you used a speed calculator?

No speed calc, I don’t know rpm’s yet. 30 is probably close enough for me but we will see. It depends on where I drive it. In my alley, I find myself slamming the brakes and sliding in my mini driveway/grass like 10 feet at the end. In my friend's neighborhood full of long winding roads it feels a lot slower.

About the throttle connection, make sure you take as much slack out of the throttle cable as possible because I see some slack where it comes out of the sheath/conduit in the photos from your post #35. You don’t want the pedal moving and nothing is happening on the engine until the pedal is pushed haflway down or something like that. With the amount of coils visible on the throttle return spring, I don’t think you will need to alter the throttle pedal range but it could be all jacked up. Show us pics of the pedal when you can.

More pics to come, the photos in 35 are before I replaced the cable with a single strand and some parts of a girl's bike. The bolt has a hole in it to put the cable in and pinch it down so it works. The engine begins to rev up almost immediately upon pressing pedal. Man though whoever had this before me was missing out on so much speed between the CC and screw limit. The kid's dad who we brought it from was talking about a governor delete before removing the limit. More people need forums like these.

Edit: Pic is old, I have since tightened up the pedal. I know it looks like it is leaning to the side, it was.

 

[Squiddy202]

Pics time:
Pedal:
Cable connection:

Spring:

Throttle fully closed: (by hand lever)

Throttle fully open: (by hand lever)

The bar on the pedal goes straight back to the cable connection. It would seem as if I can get more travel from the pedal by moving the bar up and possibly having it rest further forward, but I don’t know how to get more from the spring. The spacer changes where it rests, I don’t get more or less travel out of the spring. Do I just need to find a new spring?

Edit: McMaster Carr sells springs but the specs are confusing. Length and spring rate are what I get as well as diameters and stuff. What is a good spring rate?

 

[Sparkwizard]

If you are asking about the spring around that pedal bar, I think you could remove the forward cotter pin and drill another hole a little farther forward. That would allow your pedal to rest farther back toward your foot. Don't go too far, because that is your return spring. We don't want a runaway. I might be looking at it backward, though.

 

[Squiddy202]

If you are asking about the spring around that pedal bar, I think you could remove the forward cotter pin and drill another hole a little farther forward. That would allow your pedal to rest farther back toward your foot. Don't go too far, because that is your return spring. We don't want a runaway. I might be looking at it backward, though.

That makes sense but I think that I don’t get enough range from the spring. I think I need a longer difference between full expansion and full compression. The pedal maxes out against the spring once it gets to a point. I only get like 3/4 throttle or so.