Lifan 6.5 hard to start

[byost34]

I recently got my grandson’s BKS grasshopper running and he loves it. One problem though. It came with a Lifan( Harbor Freight) 212 non hemi motor that I kind of rebuilt. I did the governor and oil sensor delete milled the head .025” added a header and originally a Mikuni clone carb from Amazon. The only way I could get it to start was turning the idle stew in and holding my hand over the intake to choke it. I switched to a PKW 28 flat slide carb and I still have to turn the idle up on it to get it to start. Could it be the fact that it no longer has the compression release? I don’t have a problem turning the idle up starting it while holding on to the cart to keep it from running away but I don’t trust the grandson to do this maneuver.

 

[byost34]

 

[Darren]

No compression release?? The compression release is on the camshaft drive sprocket. Check for any air leaks, blocked jets, correct valve lash, if all good, it's a matter of patience setting up with different jets. The guys on here should give you an idea about the best carbs for the 212

 

[Denny]

Rato makes the Predators. You should have left the governor on for junior on for easier starting. Now it may require 2 people to start one in the kart to hold the brake and gas open a little the other to pull the starter rope. But I’m not the expert on this. So I encourage you to wait for other opinions from more experienced members.

 

[panchothedog]

I have 2 212 powered karts and 2 more with 196 cc engines. ( same engine, just smaller bore ) . All of them are hopped up. Cam, milled head, rod, flywheel, header pipe and so on. Two have rejetted stock style carburetor and two have makuni's.
A 22 mm round slide, and a 24mm flat slide. They run great, BUT the only way to get them to start is with someone sitting in the kart keeping the throttle about 1/2 way open. Not so with the stock style carburetor. And if need be you can manipulate the stocker by hand at the back of the kart. With the makuni's, and the sealed cable, gas pedal is the only way. Put the stock carburetor back on, put in a # 36 jet and drill out the pilot jet to .019" and it will start easy, run great, and you might give up 2 or 3 mph on the top end at worst. Your Grandson looks young. The ones of mine that drive the makuni equipped karts are 17 and 20 and know what to do. This old man likes the stock style better.

 

[panchothedog]

Another thing. Removing the governor has nothing to do with ease or lack of for starting the engine. Don't know about your finances, but with what you have already done it's a VERY good idea to get a billet flywheel and connecting rod. The stock ones aren't safe above 5000 rpm. It's been debated to hell and back at what rpm the flywheel will become a hand grenade, but I bet you don't want to tell your son or daughter why the young one has a large chunk of Chinese pot metal embedded deep in his back or arm. In that case you might as well install stiffer valve springs and a performance cam. Seriously though, for hopped up engines the billet parts are a safety issue. Every one of mine has them, because all 5 of my Grandkids are the primary drivers.

 

[byost34]

I have 2 212 powered karts and 2 more with 196 cc engines. ( same engine, just smaller bore ) . All of them are hopped up. Cam, milled head, rod, flywheel, header pipe and so on. Two have rejetted stock style carburetor and two have makuni's.
A 22 mm round slide, and a 24mm flat slide. They run great, BUT the only way to get them to start is with someone sitting in the kart keeping the throttle about 1/2 way open. Not so with the stock style carburetor. And if need be you can manipulate the stocker by hand at the back of the kart. With the makuni's, and the sealed cable, gas pedal is the only way. Put the stock carburetor back on, put in a # 36 jet and drill out the pilot jet to .019" and it will start easy, run great, and you might give up 2 or 3 mph on the top end at worst. Your Grandson looks young. The ones of mine that drive the makuni equipped karts are 17 and 20 and know what to do. This old man likes the stock style better.

Which the stock style carb what do you run for an air cleaner set up?

 

[panchothedog]

I use the aftermarket ones that look like a K&N filter. They take an adapter that bolts onto the end of the carburetor. Usually the pieces are sold together. They let the engine breathe real well, thus the need for the bigger jet. They stop the big stuff ( dirt ) but when we go out to the desert with lots of sand and silt I place a piece of nylon stocking around it and spray with air filter oil that you can get at motorcycle shops. Does a better job with the fine particles and doesn't restrict air flow.

 

[Darren]

I hope you're getting confused between the governor assembly and the compression relief/ezi start mechanism.
If you have removed this, then buy another cam, never remove this unless you're in full race mode and have an external hand held electric start.
The compression relief allows an easy pull start with no kick back on a standard or mildly modified engine.

 

[Rat]

If the compression relief is missing, you need to replace the cam like mentioned, may as well upgrade to a mild cam, add the billet goods as mentioned, but also drop a Hemi flat top piston in as well.

@panchothedog was referring to one of these kits which can be found on Ebay or Amazon either one, as well as any of the preferred distributors such as BMIKarts, OMBWarehouse, etc.

I have one on my Ducar 212, but I set it up a little differently and need a New Prefilter for it.

(Yes, as a matter of fact I did add a remote choke)