Go-Karts! Another way to burn through cash...

I drug home my childhood go-kart a few months ago and I finally got to drive it today! It's a ~15 year old Invader with a 5HP Tecumseh engine and weighs less than 100Lbs. I had to rebuild the carb, replace the primer bulb, replace the throttle cable, new spark plug and fuel lines, and fix the inner tubes. I put a few miles on it today with a HUGE smile on my face! And then the clutch broke...

So yeah. Anybody ever play with these beasties? Any tips to get more power out of the Tecumseh without swapping engines?

It has dirt tires on it now, but I think I'll grab a set of slicks for autocross season

I raced "Briggs stock heavy" on the former local road course a few years back to wean myself off racing after quitting motorcycle racing cold turkey. Sort of Nicorette for racers in my case.

Stock at the time meant you buy a couple new Briggs & Stratton Motorsports Raptor flatheads and have the local engine builder blueprint them to the fullest possible extent of the rules, and possibly then some. They run on methanol, make about 10-11 HP, and rev to close to 7K rpm.

You change the oil after practice, after qualifying, and after the main as it gets contaminated w/ fuel which is corrosive and hygroscopic. They ran at 360#. and what with me being an actual size adult I ran zero ballast and partial bodywork to make weight.

Cheating was pretty rampant; Now and then the kart in front of me on the grid would be started a minute before the qualifying heat went out and the nitromethane fumes from the exhaust would practically blind you. The physicality and violence of circulating the .25 mile 10 turn super rough track would leave you sore 'til Tuesday every time. The firld was usually the same 6 guys that had been racing one another since the Carter administration and they were in effect, unpassable.

Setup is completely counterintuitive; the inside rear wheel absolutely has to be in the air on corner entry to be competitive - you do this by monkeying with track width, tire pressure, axle diameter/stiffness, and above all - CASTER.

The upside is of course that it's incredibly fun racing, you will frequently be in contact simultaneously with 4 other karts; front, rear and both sides - the track food was excellent and cheap, and the people were either nice or crazy hillbillies and nice.

I was sad when the track closed and sold off all the 4-stroke stuff but kept a mid-90s Margay Cougar and a couple Yamaha KT100 2-strokes. SCCA won't let me run in the kids class even though that's what the kids run, but I may buy a seat and tires and go play just for fun next season.

Karts are great, particularly if you live someplace other than an urban center where there's karting.

Wow, I've never even HEARD of that and it sounds like fun.

Bought an old 5 hp briggs and stratton gocart with paper route money when I was a kid, cost about 150 bucks, hardly ever ran. Saved up my money for several years for the ultimate, the 8 hp "Baja Magnum" that was advertised in some catalog that we received every year. When the day came where I finally had enough cash, mom confiscated my funds and said no way.

I haven't been right since.

There is only one solution for that. Buy two of them, and fit them with bike motors.

I raced karts way back when. Just a frame,seat, four wheels and tires and a 100cc Tecumseh 2 stroke with modified Wiseco cyl and piston. App.12 HP on gas. Put new rear tires on at the beginning of the season,thought it was a good idea. Usually a new clutch. Freshened the engine and I was good to go for the season. Ran on a .4 mile road course for 5 years. When I look at them now, I think OMG. I hate listening to those lawn mowers.

I LOVE karts, buddy and I put one together a couple years ago from a pile of craigslist parts and a 5hp Tecumseh and had a blast. We were too tall for the rollbar and looked like a couple of idiots tearing through the empty field next to his house but it was a ton of fun.

My GF has a 9yr old son and he and I just started working on one a few weeks ago. Another ratty CL find, we spent the majority of a Sunday afternoon sanding it, couldn't believe he sat there and sanded for 3hrs straight! Went to my favorite store with a coupon a couple weeks ago and picked up a 6.5hp Honda copy for $110 for him for Christmas, can't wait to get that sucker going. For him of course :)

I bought a ratty 125cc shifter kart. Eight years old by then and uncompetitive, I got it cheap. I run it on dumpster tires and flog it to within two seconds of competitive times. You can't have more fun for less money.

David

Go karts are good fun! I try to get out and go karting a few times a year, mostly in the off season!

Can you run the generic "yard karts" w/ the briggs/strat/tecumseh style motors in SCCA autocross? I'm under the impression that only F125 legal karts are allowed...

Maine Indoor Karting often provides a kart for rental at our local autocross events. (We have our own classes for karts as well as F125.) I drove it at 2 events this year. OMFG what a rush! Take the rush you normally get after an autocross run, then multiply by.... I dunno, a lot, and that's what it's like on a kart. I'm an OK but not great kart driver, and I was still among the top times of the day - beaten only by a couple of other karts. The local class structure provides adult and junior classes with the same kart setup rules, and lets juniors run as young as age 8 after taking a class. My gf's son is now 5, so we'll have to see where we're at in 3 years...

problemaddict wrote: Can you run the generic "yard karts" w/ the briggs/strat/tecumseh style motors in SCCA autocross? I'm under the impression that only F125 legal karts are allowed...

I dunno, but our PCA might let me run mine for grins and giggles! I'll have to replace the dirt/gravel tires with slicks first though.

Wow, thanks for the zombie canoe.

Crazy video. kart on the street

zombieeees!

So canoe aside... how cheap is cheap? I want to get my 8 year old a kart, not to compete but to learn basic driving control and hoon around the parking lot across the street from my house. He's 8, outgrew his safety1st powerwheels style corvette and is currently on a razor electric minibike. Willing to wrench, can't weld. Realize prices will vary from region but just would like an idea.

. So yeah. Anybody ever play with these beasties? Any tips to get more power out of the Tecumseh without swapping engines?

Other than any other regular old bump the compression more airflow basic engine stuff...

Cheap and easy... Either grind the cam or the valves to do away with the compression release and let the valves come all the way closed...

That should be enough to entertain you for a while...