Danju

hello im trying to get together a few of my friends and start a summer project on building a go-kart...so right now im planning and one of my friends came up with the idea of using a bike transmission (shifter, and derailleur things)

i think it might work.... but i thought that the velocity of the drivetrain might damage or malfunction the bike tranny?
wud you guys think?

also my friend has a vertical shafted engine i might be able to use...just fyi

thanks,
dan

hollylx88

what bike engine/tranny do you want to use? shifter karts are great, you just have to figure out all the linkage

Danju

well idk i might be able to use a lawnmower engine...and i have a Shimano bike shifter that says 7SIS on it that came from an old target bike [8D][8D]

...ya shifter karts look hot..thats why i want to add some sort of manual tranny on the gokart

jumpanddrop

ah dont use that. its just asking for trouble. i am in the prosess right now of converting an old 5hp brigs go cart into a off road shifter cart. so far i have warrior a arms and shock on the front end and a 1500 pound winch. just starting to mount an old qaud axil and swing arm for rear suspentions and a 550 4 cylender street bike motor for power. the thing should flyyy. also this hasent cost me alot ither. some guy gave me the motor and it runs fine. the swing arm and front suspention cost me $150 used off ebay. the winch was on speacal at crapy tire for 30 bux and i already had the go cart frame. oh and also the quad tires and rims cost 150 with rims and all. plus another 100 for odds and ends(brake lines ect) i have about 4-500 into it, not a huge amount of money. . ill post some pics in a day or so

hollylx88

yeah that won''t hold up. if you want gear changes, i''d look for a motorcycle engine/trans, rig up the linkage and you''ll be good.

[email protected]

I would look at a motor bike engine. Try to find a crash bike and get the engine make up some mounts and linkage and you have a fun little cart. Don''t go to big on the engine like 250cc at the most and remember brakes are very important with a power full engine. good luck. Sorry hollylx88 I did not your post but we must think the same

JB COMP

Oh come on, a 250CC street bike (I''m guessing that''s what you''re talking about) would not be enough (or would a 250F dirt bike, but maybe a 250 2-stroke dirt bike) but a 450F dirt bike or a 500+ cc street bike. There''s always the CR 500 2-stroke dirt bike. or the KTM 525. Then there''s the Suzuki GSXR 1300.

I''ve seen a video of a shifter kart with a yamaha R1 engine in it. (it had the right amount of power

zeen420

250cc would not be enuf for a shifter kart?!?!? are you insane bro?! I''ll find the video right now of a 250cc shifter that will blow your mind, 500cc on a kart is a death wish.. Sorry but I had to correct you there.. And that video of the R1 engine on the kart.. Buddy can''t even get down the street in 1st gear without the tires spining out lol.. But no. 500cc is way to much.. 250cc is all you need

Danju

LOL...i think 5 hp is enough for me to make an onroad go kart[&:]
thanks guys for your reply...i had a feeling the bike tranny wont put up to the power of an engine...but what about a simple 5hp engine? i think it can hold up???

im not trying to make some crazy innovative go kart that can go 200mph guys...just a simple thing to carry me around the block lol...

dan

JB COMP

250CC 2-stroke dirt bike engine (like the YZ250, CR250, RM250) yeah would do good, but not a street bike 250 it would be under powered.

Though most shifter karts run 125cc engines, I like fast cars with a high wow factor.

If it was me I''d drop a CRF450 engine with a 498 or 502 stroker kit in one, with a FMF mega bomp header, or a supercharged GSXR 750

Danju

yea lol i bet everyone wishes that...if only we had the money :P

JB COMP

What is with the "quote" thing? when ever some one quotes another person it adds '''''''' i.e. I''d is changed to I''''''''d

anyway back on topic, if I had the money I''d have so many custom built stuff and some nice stuff. I have alot of know how (not saying I''m the smartest person here, I don''t even think of myself to be a smart person at all) but I can build some stuff.

-EXTRA-

[/quote]
250CC 2-stroke dirt bike engine (like the YZ250, CR250, RM250) yeah would do good, but not a street bike 250 it would be under powered.
Though most shifter karts run 125cc engines, I like fast cars with a high wow factor.
If it was me I''''d drop a CRF450 engine with a 498 or 502 stroker kit in one, with a FMF mega bomp header, or a supercharged GSXR 750
[/quote]

a 250cc street bike engine would not be underpowered for a go cart...i say go for the 250cc like a ninja and slap it on there i say that because it''s the easiest thing i can think of to make a shifter cart since everything is already on there all you got to do is make the mount''s and mount it..

JB COMP

Street bike engines make HP but not torque, they make their power up high when dirt bike engines make theiyr peak power around 6,000rpm - 9,000rpm and a street bike make its peak power around 8,000rpm - 12,000rpm most street bikes are 4-cylinder engines, so they won''t make a lot of torque.

hands without shadows

250cc street bikes are usually if not always a V twin. Only larger bikes have a 4 cylinder. The amount of cylinders does not say how much torque an engine has.

Have you ever driven a 250 street bike or looked at the specs of one? The 250R is 0-60 in 5.75 seconds and has a top speed of 105mph. Thats way too much power for a go-kart which weighs more or less the same as a bike. Even the CBR125R has a top speed of 75mph.

JB COMP

My bro used to ride street bikes, he said on a 250 you would get run over, that you need atleast a 600.

Don't you mean CR125R? There's no CBR under 600 (well not in the US or on honda's site) and the CR125R dose not go 75, but probably around 60 maybe 65 stock, my bro had one. Now if you re geared it, and did some engine work (like pipe, reeds, etc....) then yeah it would.

I don't want Danju's thread to get shut down because of going back and forth on "a 250cc street would be under powered or not" so I'm not posting here anymore.

hands without shadows

From what I understand the American market is being tested in Canada (we got them in 2007) and you might see them this or next year: http://www.honda.ca/MCPE/Motorcycle/...Model=CBR125R8

Finding a junked bike or quad with a good tranny isn't a bad idea but it seems a little out of your budget? A bike chain won't hold up but you can get different sizes chain and sprockets for cheap at most tractor supply companies.

Danju

thanksee.

i think for once im not gonna listen to you guys (yea thats right)....lol if i ever get to start my project, im gonna go for the dive and risk using a bike tranny...hey, learning comes from failure...but just what IF it survives???

Anthoop

Hmmm a push bike derailleur on a kart with 5hp....sorry but that has absolutely no chance of working. The materials and design of the deraileur will not be able to cope with either the weight of you and the kart nor the power of the engine. As above, you'd be much better off trying to get a cheap motorcycle engine....or just use the engine you have and use it single speed.

JB- As others have said a 250cc unit on a kart is much,much more than adequate....more power is simply wasted as there is not enough traction. Unless your after some sort of speed record.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSmxaORvBQI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbZt9-xtuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMaNRxcwey0

[email protected]

back in the day we put a honda rebel 250cc street bike motor on a 125lbs cart and we did not think to up grade the brakes. I don't think any one ever got it into 5 th gear it was just to crazy. Remember dude you are a inch from the ground you feel like you are going 500MPH the smallest movement in the steering can flip you at 60+mph. the street bike engine had electric start how would you start a kick start engine in a go cart? I just have to say it was a good time and a lot of fun, it was a joint project with about 5 1/2 of us ( one guy just watched us put it togeather) and we all had a blast, then like evrything in are lives it broke and i was the one that broke it. Did you know you can't stop on ice, Like who would think that[&:].

It's a cool thing to do and it will build you welding skills even when you dad told you not to touch his welder.

calvino

ha, dan, wana use a weed eater engine, hey, it will be NICE AND SAFE, knowin how I drive, ya, I know how to weld, and have access to a welder (dang it is HARD to not blow holes in metal/make an even bead[8D]

hollylx88

i would definately stay away from a bicycle parts in a go kart. the chain is light duty, the sprokets are light duty, i really don't think it will last long and would be a real safety concern for me. also under load the only way to shift the bike transmission (for lack of a better word) is guiding it to the next size sproket, and i really think you'll have issues with it and again, safety issues being as that they're not build for that much abuse.

Danju

kk i c what ya mean, which is what everyone had been telling me so far...but i have faced another problem: i cant even get the friggin sprockets off the rear and wheel [:@]...

calvino

good new dan, found the weed eater, sittin in the shed, now, all it needs is new fuel hose, haha, got started > got never finished project, haha, Ill make the excuse it is for the track........ and then try and get rid of it[8D][)][)]

ttoks

okay on some simple ideas, a bike derailer system i doubt will work, a 5HP engine isn't very powerful as we know, but a human, even a human in peak physical shape can only produce about 1.3 HP in short bursts, and only .3 HP continuously, so you see why a derailer won't stand up to it.

what I suggest, since you not looking for a recored breaker, get a postie bike engine, or an engine outa a honda cub, 100CC 4 stroke, around 5-8 HP and with a 4 speed, should do you well.

or if you wanna go something with more poke, you can easily find complete KX 60cc dirt bikes for under $500, a lot of the time a lot less, take the engine outa that and put it in your kart, there's 16HP with a 6 speed gearbox, and still cheap as peanuts, they're deadly little engines though for there size.

no need to go with 250CC dritbike engine lol, my dad once put a 1974 suzuki TM 250 engine in a go kart, and that thing was a death trap, he didn't think it was fast enough, so he put a 1996 ported KX 500 engine in it, after driving it once on a kart track he put the engine in a dune buggy instead, the 250 two strokes are fast enough in a 230 pound bike, and the 500's are to fast in anything.