Long story short, I think my son is ready to step up from electric to a gas kart. These look reasonable. Has a remote kill switch, speed is adjustable. Suspension travel looks minimal, but it's not some sort of race kart. Primarily it'll just put around the yard. Figure 2+ years and then we'll be moving on to some sort of pavement race kart, as he'll be old enough. http://www.familygokarts.com/shop?category=46&product=d-kandi-90b-black
That looks like a ball
DaveEstey wrote: That looks like a ball
It does, but it also says they aren't big enough for daddy in kiddo to sit in it at the same time.
Might have to get my own.
I see them on Craigslist all the time. It's basically tubing and a Chinese engine. I'd look for a used one.
When you see one let me know. I have been looking for the last several months via craigslist in Vermont, upstate NY and NH without a lot of luck. Condition is highly variable. Anything that isn't a complete basket case is rare. I don't mind a project, but don't want to sour the kid on something that requires more wrenching than wheel time. As soon as it's seen, it'll be torture on the kiddo if it's not running.
It's going to be really slow, especially with two people in it. We've had several off road karts, both American made and Chinese. This is likely Chinese, and they aren't built very well. We had a similar one with a 150cc GY6 engine, and it was really slow, so I would expect the same here. Not saying it wouldn't be good for your son, but it may require periodic repairs, if its anything like the karts we've owned.
Valid concerns. It says this one can hit 27mph, where their smaller one only can hit 12mph. Does that jive with your experience? 12 is the top speed of his electric ride on toy, so I'd like him to be able to go faster, but I'd think 20 is more than adequate. What are the common failings?
In reply to sachilles:
The top speed sounds just slightly optimistic, but what I think will really stand out to you is how long it takes to get there.
Common failings? Carburetor problems when the engine is mounted to the swing arm, meaning it takes all the beating that the tires do. Every one of these we've had has had problems with the front end alignment. The holes in the spindles are not tapered, and they get ovaled out over time, creating slop. The CVT setup can be troublesome, as well as the reverse gear mechanism. The batteries don't last long. The shocks are for looks only - total junk. So are the seat belts. Keep in mind these comments are from my experience with several different karts that we've had over the years. I've never owned this brand of kart, but my experience is that they all share a lot of parts. I started my kids at 6, and they are now 19. We are now removing the 150cc engine and replacing it with a Honda CB650 engine.
On this kart we've added heavy duty aftermarket spindles, tie rods and ball joints, which seem to have solved that problem so far. The CVT and reverse gear is mainly just adjustments. I replaced the battery with a deep cycle lawn and garden type, and adapted snow mobile shocks. The carb is still an issue even though I've replaced it with a better type, and occasionally the intake manifold cracks from vibration and needs replaced. But these and the CVT will be replaced soon anyway. I bought some 5 point harnesses off the bargain table at Summit Racing and will be installing those soon.
The best quality kart I've had (not counting racing karts) was the first kart we bought, which was a Carter Brothers 2-seat off road kart with a 6hp Honda engine. It was made in the USA, and was a quality piece, but it was expensive and didn't have a suspension, CVT, reverse gear, or lights. All the rest have had those things but were also made in China. You get what you pay for, not surprisingly. Our current kart seemed good enough to use as a starting point to build a more high performance adult off road kart, so we're working with it.
The kart you are looking at may be fine. But when something seems too good to be true, it usually is, so hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Good to know, thank you for all of that. My property is slightly sloped. So the speed could be an issue up hill.
Just looking at the spacing on the springs had me wondering if they did much of anything, as there can't be a whole lot of travel.
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