Jamie P
Member
My name is Jamie. I live in Maine. I got my first go kart when I was about 8, and my dad and I restored it. I used it until I outgrew it, then my brother used it for a few more years. I won my second go kart in a contest when I was 11, but I outgrew that one within a couple years. Then I moved on to other things for 30 years.
Now I have a nine-year-old daughter, and I thought it would be fun to pick up something for her to play with in the yard. Everything I saw on Craigslist seemed too expensive, but on my way home one day there was a cool go kart on the side of the road for $100 (the blue one in the attached photos). The guy was home and said if I took that one and the one in his garage (the yellow one) for another $150 he would deliver them.
I thought I was immune to impulse buys, but I guess not because as soon as I got visions of my daughter and I racing around together I went for it, and suddenly I had two go karts.
The guy said they needed tinkering. I guess I was too excited to listen. Once they were home I started messing with them. The blue one wouldn't start. It had spark and compression, but maybe the carb is no good. I'm not sure, but I had no interest in tearing into the engine, so I gave up on it and bought a Predator 212 cc. I had that installed and running (with one pull!) in an hour, but then I realized this thing was way too fast for a 9-year-old who has never driven anything. I was used to old B&S 5hp engines, and this Predator was a lot more engine. I decided that go kart would be mine. It's a fun little thing.
I moved on to the yellow one. It is a Tao Tao ATK125A. It starts right up and runs fine, although maybe a bit rich as it makes a lot of fumes. It has hydraulic brakes, and they do absolutely nothing. I'll get to that in another thread someday. It has three forward speeds, but either the transmission is worn out, or it is just junk because it shifts hard. It's also really finicky. What I mean is you have to have just the right RPMs to shift or it will either vibrate the crap out of you or bog down really badly. My daughter has enough to learn with go, stop, and steer. Figuring out when to shift is way too much. Plus it takes about 20 pounds of force to shift it. If you can figure out how to shift it has no problem going 30 mph. Yeah, I know...no brakes, but my yard is big and open.
I realized that neither of those karts is ideal for my daughter to ride (without some modification). So maybe I'm an idiot, but I found a third one on Craigslist (the black and red one), super cheap.
So three weeks ago I had no go karts, and now my garage is full of them. My wife probably thinks I've lost it.
My plan at this point is to find a cheap 3hp engine for the black & red cart so my daughter can learn. Then maybe she'll graduate to the blue one. Over the winter maybe I'll modify the yellow one for me. I'm so impressed with the Predator engines that I'm thinking about modifying the rear frame and installing a Predator and a torque converter. The noisy, stinky, clunky stock engine has to go away. I have the skills and the vision, but an engine swap like that is a lofty goal.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I'm open to your thoughts on my fleet of karts. I'll do further threads on how to fix my brakes and maybe an engine trade (a running 3hp for a couple 5hp engines that need work).
-Jamie
Now I have a nine-year-old daughter, and I thought it would be fun to pick up something for her to play with in the yard. Everything I saw on Craigslist seemed too expensive, but on my way home one day there was a cool go kart on the side of the road for $100 (the blue one in the attached photos). The guy was home and said if I took that one and the one in his garage (the yellow one) for another $150 he would deliver them.
I thought I was immune to impulse buys, but I guess not because as soon as I got visions of my daughter and I racing around together I went for it, and suddenly I had two go karts.
The guy said they needed tinkering. I guess I was too excited to listen. Once they were home I started messing with them. The blue one wouldn't start. It had spark and compression, but maybe the carb is no good. I'm not sure, but I had no interest in tearing into the engine, so I gave up on it and bought a Predator 212 cc. I had that installed and running (with one pull!) in an hour, but then I realized this thing was way too fast for a 9-year-old who has never driven anything. I was used to old B&S 5hp engines, and this Predator was a lot more engine. I decided that go kart would be mine. It's a fun little thing.
I moved on to the yellow one. It is a Tao Tao ATK125A. It starts right up and runs fine, although maybe a bit rich as it makes a lot of fumes. It has hydraulic brakes, and they do absolutely nothing. I'll get to that in another thread someday. It has three forward speeds, but either the transmission is worn out, or it is just junk because it shifts hard. It's also really finicky. What I mean is you have to have just the right RPMs to shift or it will either vibrate the crap out of you or bog down really badly. My daughter has enough to learn with go, stop, and steer. Figuring out when to shift is way too much. Plus it takes about 20 pounds of force to shift it. If you can figure out how to shift it has no problem going 30 mph. Yeah, I know...no brakes, but my yard is big and open.
I realized that neither of those karts is ideal for my daughter to ride (without some modification). So maybe I'm an idiot, but I found a third one on Craigslist (the black and red one), super cheap.
So three weeks ago I had no go karts, and now my garage is full of them. My wife probably thinks I've lost it.
My plan at this point is to find a cheap 3hp engine for the black & red cart so my daughter can learn. Then maybe she'll graduate to the blue one. Over the winter maybe I'll modify the yellow one for me. I'm so impressed with the Predator engines that I'm thinking about modifying the rear frame and installing a Predator and a torque converter. The noisy, stinky, clunky stock engine has to go away. I have the skills and the vision, but an engine swap like that is a lofty goal.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I'm open to your thoughts on my fleet of karts. I'll do further threads on how to fix my brakes and maybe an engine trade (a running 3hp for a couple 5hp engines that need work).
-Jamie
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