So im picking up my daughter s first gokart sunday. Its an old race kart that im trading a riding mower engine for. I know absolutely nothing about it other than that. Sye has told me repeatedly that she wants to go racing with me. Ive seen kids on karts at the autocrosses I go to, but know nothing about it. What do I need to for her to came have fun with her old man? She's five right now, and will learn to drive in the dirt first before she gets asphalt tires and full throttle capability.
Kart currently has no motor, and I doubt either the seven or nine horse motors that I already have are a good idea with anything past quarter throttle capability.
Don't know about SCCA karts but I do know that this has been a good resource for me over time: http://ekartingnews.com/forums/
I have a clone 6.5 engine setup for JR if you are looking for a engine.
Do you know what size kart it is? I don't know SCCA rules, but normal karting at that age would have her in a KidKart. There's a good chance that what you traded for was a Cadet (8-12 years old) or full size kart. You can put anything from a Harbor Freight $99 motor on one (look up Chonda or Clone kart) racing to 123cc motorcycle engines. However, at 5, even the clones are too powerful.
I'd search for kid kart to get an idea of what the 5-year old set starts on in karting.
-Rob
My son went through the whole karting thing in SCCA and we wrote about it a bunch. Give Gary at our office a call on Monday and he can hook you up with the back issues.
Tim Suddard wrote:
My son went through the whole karting thing in SCCA and we wrote about it a bunch. Give Gary at our office a call on Monday and he can hook you up with the back issues.
I figured grm would have, and how many calls will Gary be accepting? Cause, I could use this reading material also. Plus pay for subscription.
SCCA/local club rules are a good place to start. The Harbor Freight Predator 212 is a good kart engine in stock form. With proper clutch and sprocket you can keep it around 20 mph max. When you are ready, its a pretty simple job to remove the governor and double her speed. We have close to a dozen karts (including my son and I) at our events and most of us are using Predators. I've built 2 autox karts from the chassis up in the past year and have found that most "American" karts are universal and manufacturer specific parts aren't necessary. Lots of good parts sources, including eBay. Ekartingnews, Bobs4cycle, and DIYgokarts are my go tos for tech and advice.
She needs a helmet, neck brace, long pants, closed toe shoes, and a jacket. Maybe gloves.
The kart needs tires, brake, engine, clutch, sprocket.
Leafy
Reader
7/7/14 9:41 a.m.
Read the rule book. Talk to your local karters. And for the love of god, please choose the 4 stroke option.
There are some amazingly fast little kids at Kart tracks, and others who just motor around. I'd think that'd be a lot more fun than hanging around for hours at an autocross.
X2 on 4-strokes. I started my teenage son with no motorsports experience in a hotted up 2-stroke, and keeping it in the powerband and not stalling it was very frustrating for him. I got a second kart with the Briggs LO206 4-stroke motor in it, and he's posting faster lap times, even though it's 1/2 the HP. The reason is that the torque and wide powerband allow him to concentrate on driving, not just keeping the motor happy. For a little kid, one of those 80 cc 2-strokes would be absurd.
