planning on building a kart

[87srvsnow]

my friend and i 15 and are planning on building a go kart out of my 1987 Yamaha srv snowmobile. has anyone here done this before? is it to hard for people our age?

i have been planning for a couple days and i think i have most stuff planned out. but im still not sure on some things.

i plan on using the snowmobiles clutches and running a chain from the chain case to the rear axle. i am going to use a live axle. is it better to use a v pulley and run a belt to the axle or do the chain case thing? thanks for any help .

im going to have a couple more questions soon. i just need to organize my thoughts. thanks.

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

I would recommend mounting the secondary on a new jackshaft and ditching the chain case. You sound like you know what your doing, if you can make a decent weld you should be good to go!

 

[87srvsnow]

so run a shaft from the secondary to a sprocket and then to the axle. seems simple enough. could i use air bags instead of shocks in the back?

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

Yes on the shaft, I though "bags" were for lowrider type applications and had almost no bump absorption qualities?

 

[87srvsnow]

well we arnt planning on doing off road style. we were building a go kart for road. to use for mainly transportation. we just wanted a little absorption.

 

[dpaxson]

you'd probably be better off going with no suspension in the back if it's just for road use. way simpler and not to uncomfortable as long as the roads aren't too bad

 

[gokartcrazy]

you'd probably be better off going with no suspension in the back if it's just for road use. way simpler and not to uncomfortable as long as the roads aren't too bad

Why couldnt he use like a small trailer leaf springs or in that case make your own and weld mounting brackets its been done before. there are lots of ways to make and fabricate your own suspentions. maby even a quad atv suspention like the swing arm and shock? that even has the disk brake mounting stuff. ebay your should be able to find the who unit brakes and all.

 

[Jerryburger]

On Ed's Black Terror of Death-mobile, I'm planning on using the chain case, since it gives me an additional 2.67>1 gear reduction and has a fairly standard output shaft (after I cut off the track wheels).

 

[dpaxson]

Why couldnt he use like a small trailer leaf springs or in that case make your own and weld mounting brackets its been done before. there are lots of ways to make and fabricate your own suspentions. maby even a quad atv suspention like the swing arm and shock? that even has the disk brake mounting stuff. ebay your should be able to find the who unit brakes and all.

I'm not saying it's not possible i'm saying it's not neccessary. springs with no dampening aren't really going to give you that nice of a ride anyways. the atv idea would be good maybe kind of expensive though

 

[87srvsnow]

ya that would be a bit expensive. were just looking for something to cruise around on. i don't think we'll even put a suspension in the back, first time go kart, it's not like it's going to be perfect.

do you think that a 540cc engine is to big though?

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

You can never go too big!