Stephen115's homemade kart

[landuse]

You would first have to see how yours is at the moment. It is sometimes just the spindles that need work, not the frame

 

[mysteryboy28]

looks to me like Ackerman will be rather difficult to achieve with this project because your tie rods are in front, rather than behind the spindles. otherwise it would have been a piece of cake to just weld on a couple of short extentions to the pitman arms to get that allignment with the center of the rear axle (Ackerman in a nutshell). with the pitman arms being in front of the spindles you have to actually point the pitman arm in torwards the tire to achieve Ackerman, and judging by the pictures, you're not going to have much room to do that.

 

[EC1]

With the tie rods in front, he could achieve some Ackerman steering by compensating for angles where the tie rods attach to the steering shaft. Have them offset on the opposite side of the vertical centerline of the steering shaft. You could keep the pitman arms unchanged.

Adding castor would really help too. That would be pretty easy to fix.

 

[Stephen115]

Too late to enter in the build off?

 

[landuse]

Too late to enter in the build off?

Depends on if you think you can finish by the due date

 

[mysteryboy28]

I started and finished my latest kart in like 2 weeks. Probably should have entered it into the build-off, but I had already started it before I found out about the contest. Previous kart took me like a month to build. Next one will probably take a week, if I plan right and have ALL the parts beforehand.

 

[Stephen115]

Yea...I'm not going to finish

 

[Stephen115]

ITS ALIVE!! Started her up for the first time today. no telling how long its been. I re-designed the motor mounts and got the chain all aligned. Also got the expansion chamber on. i'll post pictures soonn

 

[mysteryboy28]

Yay! Looking forward to the pics.

 

[jman231994]

With the tie rods in front, he could achieve some Ackerman steering by compensating for angles where the tie rods attach to the steering shaft. Have them offset on the opposite side of the vertical centerline of the steering shaft. You could keep the pitman arms unchanged.

Adding castor would really help too. That would be pretty easy to fix.

Just to clear that up in case anyone doesnt get it, because I'm not sure if I do and I'm facing the same issue. Do you mean, where the tie rods meet the pitman arm, have them go beyond centre to a point that creates an angle equal to what it should be for standard ackerman? So the left rod goes to the right side of the pitman arm and the right rod goes to the left side of the pitman arm? If so....I like it

 

[Stephen115]

Little Teaser:

Flex pipe from your local auto store does not like to be welded.

SJ

 

[Stephen115]

I got the radiator mounted and the hoses all connected. Oil in the transmission. Still to come is the gas tank. I can't wait to here this beast atleast idle!!

Does anybody have a good working way to start a shifter kart? I've been using the tie rope on the wheel but its starting to get old..
SJ

 

[EC1]

Just to clear that up in case anyone doesnt get it, because I'm not sure if I do and I'm facing the same issue. Do you mean, where the tie rods meet the pitman arm, have them go beyond centre to a point that creates an angle equal to what it should be for standard ackerman? So the left rod goes to the right side of the pitman arm and the right rod goes to the left side of the pitman arm? If so....I like it

Correct!

 

[jman231994]

Correct!

Well theres my project this weekend lol

 

[Stephen115]

So got some stuff done this weekend. Hoses all ran and shifter is about 3/4 done. Ordered a half link today. Brakes are also half done, caliper is mounted just need to mount master cylinder and make pedals. I'll have a video up this weekend of it running if my link comes in.

SJ

 

[Stephen115]

Question: I have my clutch lever on my shifer, which is a bicycle brake handle attached to the clutch on the engine by wire. but it isnt engaging the clutch. Do dirt bikes have a special clutch lever? or does it just require alot of force to engage?

Note: I am doing this with the engine not running.

Thanks
SJ

 

[bighead]

looking good friend.

 

[Stephen115]

looking good friend.

^thank you. Can anybody help me with my clutch problem?

 

[Jake.B]

Can you not pull it in or what? Post pics of your set up.

 

[Stephen115]

Can you not pull it in or what? Post pics of your set up.

it will pull to an extent. It requires alot of force to move.