New here and ready to rock and roll!

Hondasher

Member
Messages
34
Reaction score
28
Hi everyone, I am new here, just bought my first go Kart in about 28 years. Technically my 5th go Kart, as I have had go karts before, well frames mostly, and a couple with tires even but none that were able to be fixed cheap or easily at the time so I traded them off in pursuit of other projects. Just bought myself a fairly nice I would say, Manco Dingo IX a model 398 I believe has a 9HP Vanguard B&S Engine on it. I'm excited to run this awesome machine all over tarnation, I wanted a go kart for as long as I can remember, ever since I saw them used in the movie Heavyweights when I watched it at the age of 5 back in 1997. So it's been a long time coming.


20250613_225423(2)(1).jpg
 

Hellion

Moderator
Messages
8,779
Reaction score
3,803
<--- ain't seen that movie but am intrigued now.

:welcome2: :welcome2::welcome2::welcome2:

Great first post from a dude that knows his own go kart, WOW!
Never seen one that nice in original condition. You should do a photo series of it in the main Go Kart forum or something. It definitely has some 1990s styling cues.

I'm guessing the 'gum drop' beacon on the roof is quite necessary.
 

Hondasher

Member
Messages
34
Reaction score
28
<--- ain't seen that movie but am intrigued now.

:welcome2: :welcome2::welcome2::welcome2:

Great first post from a dude that knows his own go kart, WOW!
Never seen one that nice in original condition. You should do a photo series of it in the main Go Kart forum or something. It definitely has some 1990s styling cues.

I'm guessing the 'gum drop' beacon on the roof is quite necessary.
Thank you, I quite like that movie a lot it's kind of a silly movie but it's good in my opinion, over the years from when I first saw it to now, I've seen it about 25 times. The beacon I think is cool, I have a lot of acreage available to me to ride on, I don't know if that is a stock addon from Manco, or if someone just put that on there, I did see another same model Kart with that exact same light on it, but maybe you or someone else can correct me on whether it is stock or not. It's definitely in very good condition I would say, I was surprised it has the original engine and Dingo cover for the clutches on the side there.
 

Hellion

Moderator
Messages
8,779
Reaction score
3,803
I did see another same model Kart with that exact same light on it, but maybe you or someone else can correct me on whether it is stock or not.

No clue but the light could very well be stock or it might even be a powersports dealer add-on. Info on Manco products of this era (or any go karts in general) is sketchy and a factory brochure that has been uploaded to the interwebz is a rare thing. It's a great pity but I would guess American Sportworks or American Landmaster (current company name) still has all the product info all the way back to the beginning, it's just that uploading them to their site would be a major undertaking.

The only thing we have in quantity is the black and white exploded part diagrams masquerading as "owner's manuals".

A Dingo "398" did not turn up in a search but I know yours is a 390-Series. Maybe it's a 393 where the 8 looks like a 3?
https://landmaster-assets.american-...oads/manuals/Fun-Kart/393_operatorsmanual.pdf

Found here: https://landmaster.com/utility-vehicle-resources/manuals?category=fun-kart
 

Hondasher

Member
Messages
34
Reaction score
28
No clue but the light could very well be stock or it might even be a powersports dealer add-on. Info on Manco products of this era (or any go karts in general) is sketchy and a factory brochure that has been uploaded to the interwebz is a rare thing. It's a great pity but I would guess American Sportworks or American Landmaster (current company name) still has all the product info all the way back to the beginning, it's just that uploading them to their site would be a major undertaking.

The only thing we have in quantity is the black and white exploded part diagrams masquerading as "owner's manuals".

A Dingo "398" did not turn up in a search but I know yours is a 390-Series. Maybe it's a 393 where the 8 looks like a 3?
https://landmaster-assets.american-...oads/manuals/Fun-Kart/393_operatorsmanual.pdf

Found here: https://landmaster.com/utility-vehicle-resources/manuals?category=fun-kart
I'm not certain of the model myself the research I've done so far led me to the model number, and I may have meant 389 and not 398 could have been a typo I'm not sure. I do believe it's from 1995 however as that is the year on the engine.
 
Top