Hello!
I have had an obsession with all things mechanical and ride-able since as long as I can remember. I think it started when I tried to jump start my tricycle with a 12v battery charger. My dad still loves to tell that story. I was around 4ish I believe.
I was born in the early 80's, so I was right at the upper age limit when powerwheels first came out. Unfortunately I was also in the upper percentile for overall size so my parents said 'absolutely not, you won't fit in a week'. Bummer. I was 6.
To make up for my lack of anything rideable, I convinced my dad to let me have a old riding lawn mower to play with. I ended up painting it camouflage and getting a local machine shop to swap the one of the drive pulleys to make it a bit faster. It didn't have working brakes so I have a few scars from it. I was around 8-9.
Growing up, the neighbor kids had a moped they would ride around, and sometimes let my sister and I ride. I LOVED that thing, to the point that I ended up pestering a local general contractor to sell me one of his. He refused, but he did something better for me in the long run. He found some old ones for me to fix up. So that's what I did, around age 11-12 I started flipping mopeds. It kind of fell together, my contractor friend had evidently asked quite a few people who were able to locate them, and he would negotiate on my behalf and get me a good deal. I would put in the work with my dads help and then sell them for a profit usually. I went through about 7-8 till everybody kind of lost interest.
I still wanted a kart though, however I could never manage to scrape together enough money. I ended up buying a motorcycle with all the money I made flipping mopeds at 14. It was a 81 Honda GS250, that I was almost too big for at 14. I got it running and rode all over the hills of southwest PA with no license plate for months and loved it. This was amish country and the police were generally 30 minutes away by phone call. So I got lucky, no license and no plates and no record
When I got to 16 and beyond, I shifted to cars. I helped part time at a friends garage to offset hours my friend would help me on my own project car, a mitsubishi eclipse money pit. It needed basically an entire new drivetrain. It worked out, and I learned a ton, but I wouldn't recommend anyone do the same to a 91 eclipse.
Then life happens and what not, and now I'm a dad! My wife made the mistake of buying my two sons a powerwheels for christmas!
Needless to say, I now have two 24v powerwheels with head/tail/brake lights, active cooling, keyed ignition, in-dash volt meter, etc.. that I need a bicycle at minimum to keep up with.
While my guys were happy playing with their rides, old Dad decided it was his turn, and watching my sons ride around brought back my old want of a kart of my own. So I bought a welder and some spiderkart plans, and got to work.
I decided on a Tarantula since I didn't think a front end suspension on an Arachnid would be a good idea for my first time out. It came together well, and I've had a lot of fun with it. I just need somewhere legal to ride it
After that, I built 2 of the itsy bitsy karts for my boys, for when they outgrow their powerwheels. In the meantime, they are now the 'go to party karts', for when someone comes over to hang out at my garage.
Anyway, not sure what I'll get into next, but that's me, and that's what got me here!
I have had an obsession with all things mechanical and ride-able since as long as I can remember. I think it started when I tried to jump start my tricycle with a 12v battery charger. My dad still loves to tell that story. I was around 4ish I believe.
I was born in the early 80's, so I was right at the upper age limit when powerwheels first came out. Unfortunately I was also in the upper percentile for overall size so my parents said 'absolutely not, you won't fit in a week'. Bummer. I was 6.
To make up for my lack of anything rideable, I convinced my dad to let me have a old riding lawn mower to play with. I ended up painting it camouflage and getting a local machine shop to swap the one of the drive pulleys to make it a bit faster. It didn't have working brakes so I have a few scars from it. I was around 8-9.
Growing up, the neighbor kids had a moped they would ride around, and sometimes let my sister and I ride. I LOVED that thing, to the point that I ended up pestering a local general contractor to sell me one of his. He refused, but he did something better for me in the long run. He found some old ones for me to fix up. So that's what I did, around age 11-12 I started flipping mopeds. It kind of fell together, my contractor friend had evidently asked quite a few people who were able to locate them, and he would negotiate on my behalf and get me a good deal. I would put in the work with my dads help and then sell them for a profit usually. I went through about 7-8 till everybody kind of lost interest.
I still wanted a kart though, however I could never manage to scrape together enough money. I ended up buying a motorcycle with all the money I made flipping mopeds at 14. It was a 81 Honda GS250, that I was almost too big for at 14. I got it running and rode all over the hills of southwest PA with no license plate for months and loved it. This was amish country and the police were generally 30 minutes away by phone call. So I got lucky, no license and no plates and no record
When I got to 16 and beyond, I shifted to cars. I helped part time at a friends garage to offset hours my friend would help me on my own project car, a mitsubishi eclipse money pit. It needed basically an entire new drivetrain. It worked out, and I learned a ton, but I wouldn't recommend anyone do the same to a 91 eclipse.
Then life happens and what not, and now I'm a dad! My wife made the mistake of buying my two sons a powerwheels for christmas!
Needless to say, I now have two 24v powerwheels with head/tail/brake lights, active cooling, keyed ignition, in-dash volt meter, etc.. that I need a bicycle at minimum to keep up with.
While my guys were happy playing with their rides, old Dad decided it was his turn, and watching my sons ride around brought back my old want of a kart of my own. So I bought a welder and some spiderkart plans, and got to work.
I decided on a Tarantula since I didn't think a front end suspension on an Arachnid would be a good idea for my first time out. It came together well, and I've had a lot of fun with it. I just need somewhere legal to ride it
After that, I built 2 of the itsy bitsy karts for my boys, for when they outgrow their powerwheels. In the meantime, they are now the 'go to party karts', for when someone comes over to hang out at my garage.
Anyway, not sure what I'll get into next, but that's me, and that's what got me here!
Attachments
-
tarantula resized.jpg -
IMG_20170717_222943.jpg
