decentlyrapidtbf
New member
Hiya there!
Happy to very belatedly introduce myself - I live in the UK and got very interested in engines and karts around 9 years ago when I was a kid. Over the following few years, I designed and built a kart largely on my own, which was a great project. Despite never joining at the time, I got so much out of this forum; without it, my build would not have been a success - I'm joining now to perhaps enable others to learn from my project in the same way I learnt from those that I saw.
Being based in the UK, certain parts were really difficult to find, and obviously, the whole culture around DIY go kart / bike projects was and is quite US-centric. I didn't see much going on over here, but to those of you in the UK, it's doable over here too!
And also, despite wooden karts not being held in the highest esteem here (at least this was the case at the time I was building mine), I thought it might be good to show a case of a wooden kart which turned out quite well, to inspire people for whom working with metals is out of reach to still go for it. I did have plans to later build a metal frame and shift the parts across to it, but never got around to it.
In due course, I'll try to post some additional photos of the kart and more details about design / materials / parts / performance / issues and how I improved and revised things over time etc., but here are a few basics:
-Built initially in 2016, with substantial revisions in 2017 and further tweaks in 2018. Stored in a shed since then - a bit rusty now, but still seemed to be OK and ran fine in 2022.
-Only driven 4 times - probably for a total of less than an hour (lack of suitable space to drive)
-6.5HP Eberth Honda Clone 3/4" (19.05mm straight shaft model, pull start only)
-Governor removed, modifications to throttle to add return spring etc, external killswitch cannibalising the low oil sensor
-Centrifugal clutch, 12 tooth #35 pitch
-72 tooth #35 rear sprocket - 6x gearing.
-Top speed probably around 28MPH, but never properly measured it
-Live axle, 25mm
-Front and rear wheels approx 12" diameter (in theory lol, think it was less). Approx 1.5" of sprocket ground clearance (was initially only half an inch!).
-Rear mechanical disk brake - basic Cadet Kart caliper, but plenty of stopping power for something like this
-Ackermann geometry, Pitman arm steering - initially the front end was pretty crappy, made big changes
-Wooden frame with a few metal brackets towards the front to improve torsional stiffness
-Got quite a lot of the parts from KartParts UK. Petrol Scooter, Kartstore, KKC Karts, and Kart Components were also useful.
-Had to import a few bits from the US via eBay - spindles, sprocket
I had an absolute blast making this - I was a young kid when I started, but even now I can still remember so much about this project and I'm studying engineering in no small part due to the enjoyment I got from making this kart and reading this forum.
Happy to answer any questions / expand on things if anyone is interested, I could go on about this for ages, honestly.
Cheers
Photos:
Happy to very belatedly introduce myself - I live in the UK and got very interested in engines and karts around 9 years ago when I was a kid. Over the following few years, I designed and built a kart largely on my own, which was a great project. Despite never joining at the time, I got so much out of this forum; without it, my build would not have been a success - I'm joining now to perhaps enable others to learn from my project in the same way I learnt from those that I saw.
Being based in the UK, certain parts were really difficult to find, and obviously, the whole culture around DIY go kart / bike projects was and is quite US-centric. I didn't see much going on over here, but to those of you in the UK, it's doable over here too!
And also, despite wooden karts not being held in the highest esteem here (at least this was the case at the time I was building mine), I thought it might be good to show a case of a wooden kart which turned out quite well, to inspire people for whom working with metals is out of reach to still go for it. I did have plans to later build a metal frame and shift the parts across to it, but never got around to it.
In due course, I'll try to post some additional photos of the kart and more details about design / materials / parts / performance / issues and how I improved and revised things over time etc., but here are a few basics:
-Built initially in 2016, with substantial revisions in 2017 and further tweaks in 2018. Stored in a shed since then - a bit rusty now, but still seemed to be OK and ran fine in 2022.
-Only driven 4 times - probably for a total of less than an hour (lack of suitable space to drive)
-6.5HP Eberth Honda Clone 3/4" (19.05mm straight shaft model, pull start only)
-Governor removed, modifications to throttle to add return spring etc, external killswitch cannibalising the low oil sensor
-Centrifugal clutch, 12 tooth #35 pitch
-72 tooth #35 rear sprocket - 6x gearing.
-Top speed probably around 28MPH, but never properly measured it
-Live axle, 25mm
-Front and rear wheels approx 12" diameter (in theory lol, think it was less). Approx 1.5" of sprocket ground clearance (was initially only half an inch!).
-Rear mechanical disk brake - basic Cadet Kart caliper, but plenty of stopping power for something like this
-Ackermann geometry, Pitman arm steering - initially the front end was pretty crappy, made big changes
-Wooden frame with a few metal brackets towards the front to improve torsional stiffness
-Got quite a lot of the parts from KartParts UK. Petrol Scooter, Kartstore, KKC Karts, and Kart Components were also useful.
-Had to import a few bits from the US via eBay - spindles, sprocket
I had an absolute blast making this - I was a young kid when I started, but even now I can still remember so much about this project and I'm studying engineering in no small part due to the enjoyment I got from making this kart and reading this forum.
Happy to answer any questions / expand on things if anyone is interested, I could go on about this for ages, honestly.
Cheers
Photos:
