Hey Everybody, this is the tale of a project that i have been working on for almost a year and was a nightmare in the early stages but eventually got worked out along with invaluable help from firemanjim
Way back in August 2014 i bought my first kart frame which you guys helped to identify as a 70's Bug Wasp. The frame was in rough condition but i took it apart, repainted it, greased it, and took care of all the missing little nuts and bolts.
Previous to this project i had a Baja Doodle bike with one of those little 98cc engines and decided that for this project i wanted something with some gears and ended up being oversold these two engines from Craigslist. One was from a Honda XR 250 which was correctly described as a write off and the other was a Panterra 125 with was described in good, running condition(as it turns out, they were both seized).
After deciding on using the 125, i mounted it up to the kart as a work platform. Soon after the sprockets and chain arrived i mounted it all up to find that the engine was seized. This actually turned out as an easy fix though with just pulling the head and cleaning the dirt(yes dirt!) out of the cylinder. That part actually really pissed me off because i was sold what was claimed to be a recently running that had dirt in the cylinder From sitting outside with an open plug hole. Also, putting the head back on i over-torqued a bolt and snapped it off which was also an easy(and lucky) fix with a left threaded bolt extractor.
So that was over with, now to the real part that caused me headaches: electronics. neither engine came with any so i purchased a cheap cdi and coil from amazon and wired it all up. Pushed it a couple times and popped the clutch and got.......nothing. Over the next several months i worked on the project on and off, chasing the problem from the pickup sensor to the cdi, to the coil, and back. Even thought at some point that the pickup magnet on the fly wheel was bad. Also worth noting that the time i only had an analog multimeter so i couldn't measure the resistance of anything to check it up against what it should be. Also, also worth noting that you cant find info about these little Chinese engines anywhere. Ended up letting the project sit for a while and after the holidays found the motivation to finish it. Went out and finally bought a digital multimeter (which i actually had been needing for some time since i do alot of electronics work). Turned out to be DOA. RMA'd it and when the new one came, found out that the stator had a short. Replaced it. Also took apart and cleaned the starter motor because i was tired of pushing it. Hooked everything up, put a pickup sensor that firemanjim so kindly sent me in it, threw some gas in, connected some jumper cables and
started right up 
So glad to have a working (even if still needing some work) kart
I hope to keep everyone updated as i "cozy" out the kart with things such as an in between the legs gas tank (the current gas tank is the water bottle on top of the engine that you see) and re mount the motor more stabilly(in the video one of the bolts holding the motor came out)
So right now the kart is in rough condition and we just threw it together to make the video, but at the end of the day, she runs, and she's fast
Thanks DIY go karts
https://vimeo.com/123147555
Way back in August 2014 i bought my first kart frame which you guys helped to identify as a 70's Bug Wasp. The frame was in rough condition but i took it apart, repainted it, greased it, and took care of all the missing little nuts and bolts.
Previous to this project i had a Baja Doodle bike with one of those little 98cc engines and decided that for this project i wanted something with some gears and ended up being oversold these two engines from Craigslist. One was from a Honda XR 250 which was correctly described as a write off and the other was a Panterra 125 with was described in good, running condition(as it turns out, they were both seized).
After deciding on using the 125, i mounted it up to the kart as a work platform. Soon after the sprockets and chain arrived i mounted it all up to find that the engine was seized. This actually turned out as an easy fix though with just pulling the head and cleaning the dirt(yes dirt!) out of the cylinder. That part actually really pissed me off because i was sold what was claimed to be a recently running that had dirt in the cylinder From sitting outside with an open plug hole. Also, putting the head back on i over-torqued a bolt and snapped it off which was also an easy(and lucky) fix with a left threaded bolt extractor.
So that was over with, now to the real part that caused me headaches: electronics. neither engine came with any so i purchased a cheap cdi and coil from amazon and wired it all up. Pushed it a couple times and popped the clutch and got.......nothing. Over the next several months i worked on the project on and off, chasing the problem from the pickup sensor to the cdi, to the coil, and back. Even thought at some point that the pickup magnet on the fly wheel was bad. Also worth noting that the time i only had an analog multimeter so i couldn't measure the resistance of anything to check it up against what it should be. Also, also worth noting that you cant find info about these little Chinese engines anywhere. Ended up letting the project sit for a while and after the holidays found the motivation to finish it. Went out and finally bought a digital multimeter (which i actually had been needing for some time since i do alot of electronics work). Turned out to be DOA. RMA'd it and when the new one came, found out that the stator had a short. Replaced it. Also took apart and cleaned the starter motor because i was tired of pushing it. Hooked everything up, put a pickup sensor that firemanjim so kindly sent me in it, threw some gas in, connected some jumper cables and
started right up So glad to have a working (even if still needing some work) kart
I hope to keep everyone updated as i "cozy" out the kart with things such as an in between the legs gas tank (the current gas tank is the water bottle on top of the engine that you see) and re mount the motor more stabilly(in the video one of the bolts holding the motor came out)
So right now the kart is in rough condition and we just threw it together to make the video, but at the end of the day, she runs, and she's fast
Thanks DIY go karts
https://vimeo.com/123147555
Attachments
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kart.jpg
