KZ400 Shifter kart project

[Rotore]

Yeah, If your shoulder belts are too loose with a 5 pt harness and you mash the brakes at a good speed in a racing seat, You will slide forward and it will hurt a lot. Especially with the lay down seat pan in my dragster. That was not a fun experience.

There goes your future

 

[modelengineer]

I wouldn't put a cage on it. As is the centre of gravity looks extremely low so changes of rolling are slim to none. However, adding a cage will raise the centre of gravity and make it much more likely to roll. Cornering speed will also be reduced.

Seriously, you're making much more work for yourself. Most karts dont have a harness or cage, but you can't have one without the other.

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

My friend flipped it twice without the cage, stock engine going 25mph. I will be getting a harness for sure. the cage is more for the safety of others who ride it than myself, i know its limits.

 

[Rickracer]

Have you posted complete pics of your kart anywhere? I don't recall having seen the whole thing...

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

Yea a few pages ago a did, but here they are again. theres still plenty of little things that need addressing, but thats what testing is for. The seat is definitely inadequate for what i want, and i have a feeling the axle may be two weak (solid 1" mild steel). Since these pics the wiring has been cleaned up and a temporary gas tank has been rigged along with my clutch linkage and a quick rigged e-brake for testing.

 

[modelengineer]

Oh OK, that does have a pretty high CG because of the engine and big tyres (compared to kart slicks)

But you can't have a harness without a cage, and you can't have a cage without a harness. Do both, mate.

Andrew

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

yea, its no low racing kart. In hindsight i really should have saved a little extra money and built a buggy ground up, but oh well this is good enough for me. I actually just did an ebay search, found some 4 point harnesses for $25 each so thats probably what i'll be getting.

 

[Rickracer]

Wow, that looks about 10"~12" longer than it needed to be. Probably wont turn for crap, but should be pretty stable at high speeds. Lower would have been better, and moving the engine forward of the rear tires more would help handling a bunch too. Should be interesting....

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

I Could have crammed it into a smaller space, but this allows a lot more leg room. Right now the seat is back a bit further, and its very comfortable. I was thinking that the handling would suck also, but its actually not as bad as it seems and once i re-do the spindles and front axle it should handle decently. The frame itself is 6'2" to give you an idea of the length, and stock the frame was about 4'2".

 

[freakboy]

if you need to turn in a hurry man take it hold the clutch turn nail the brakes let off brakes,peg the gass and drop the clutch to get them tires spinnin.

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

I made a hitch so i can pull my little trailer behind it, and made a heel rest. The heel rest helped quite a bit, its not the final version, right now its just tacked on there. I also got it up to 4th today...not sure i'll ever have the balls to get it to 6th... I did a plug chop, i expected to see white electrodes but the right cylinder was a perfect golden brown and the left was black, not sure how it could be running rich right now, but whatever, better than lean.

The back of the frame does look like ****, its pretty beat up but its strong. I gotta take the angle grinder and clean it up sometime.

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

So i have come to the conclusion that this is not what i really wanted, and i guess i just didn't think that no suspension would be that bad around the yard/on dirt roads. I was planning on doing the roll cage tomorrow, so i went and put the new front axle on, thinking that would fix the uneven front end (one tire came off the ground about an inch), but it turns out its the frame thats tweaked and not just the front axle, that is basically what pushed me over the edge and made me decide to start from scratch and make a suspension frame for this engine. I can use just about everything i bought for this kart on the new one, and i can take my time and just ride this one as-is for now.

My hopes might be high, but I'm planning on a small-ish full suspension buggy, with independent rear suspension, i figure i can use the front forks for the rear shocks and get some decent coil overs for the front.

 

[kazkepox]

maybe you can get the sidewinder plans from modelengineer. that would be cool.

 

[timmytim]

So i have come to the conclusion that this is not what i really wanted, and i guess i just didn't think that no suspension would be that bad around the yard/on dirt roads. I was planning on doing the roll cage tomorrow, so i went and put the new front axle on, thinking that would fix the uneven front end (one tire came off the ground about an inch), but it turns out its the frame thats tweaked and not just the front axle, that is basically what pushed me over the edge and made me decide to start from scratch and make a suspension frame for this engine. I can use just about everything i bought for this kart on the new one, and i can take my time and just ride this one as-is for now.

My hopes might be high, but I'm planning on a small-ish full suspension buggy, with independent rear suspension, i figure i can use the front forks for the rear shocks and get some decent coil overs for the front.

B4 you completely start over you should consider what my kart has....My front axle is seperate from the frame. There is a bolt welded to the front of the frame in the center. The axle has a hole drilled so it will slide up on the bolt.The axle pivots on the bolt.These would solve ure one inch problem i think......

 

[kazkepox]

He mine as well go with a cool suspension kart...no offence but that thing looks thrown together anyways...

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

Kaz, it looks just fine to me, ofcourse it isn't finished or painted, but it is by no means thrown together, besides I'd like to see you do any better.

Tim, I know what your talking about, but that makes for some unstable cornering at high speeds.

I have decided to leave the kart as is, just gonna finish up the brakes and a few other odd and ends, and I'm gonna make the full suspension frame next year for my senior project at my tech school, that way I can do everything right (billet, everything CBC machined, etc) and it will proly be cheaper too.

 

[kazkepox]

Kaz, it looks just fine to me, ofcourse it isn't finished or painted, but it is by no means thrown together, besides I'd like to see you do any better.

it was just my opinion lol. of course like you said it's not finished. BUT I think once all the wiring, paint, roll cage, better seat, and some some nice rear tires and rims (like fourwheeler rims and wheels) I think you would have A Kick Butt kart. I didnt want you to think im judging your kart lol I know if I tried throwing one togethor in under 3 months it would look like this

http://www.derekspratt.com/Images/Automotive/Other/Dereks_Go_cart_1973.jpg

 

[timmytim]

Kaz, it looks just fine to me, ofcourse it isn't finished or painted, but it is by no means thrown together, besides I'd like to see you do any better.

Tim, I know what your talking about, but that makes for some unstable cornering at high speeds.

I have decided to leave the kart as is, just gonna finish up the brakes and a few other odd and ends, and I'm gonna make the full suspension frame next year for my senior project at my tech school, that way I can do everything right (billet, everything CBC machined, etc) and it will proly be cheaper too.

My kart runs between 40-50mpr just depends on who is driving and its a blast to do donuts and to drift. There is this old country road i drive it on and its real curvy and i havent noticed any problems with steering....

 

[modelengineer]

maybe you can get the sidewinder plans from modelengineer.

You can buy them from Edge, I'm not going to give out pirate copies.

 

[kazkepox]

You can buy them from Edge, I'm not going to give out pirate copies.

it was worth a try...