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Go kart racing. Frame selection, engine selection?.?.?.?

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Bleakley

Proven Member
403
96
Jan 29, 2017
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Might be getting sucked into a hobby here. And am kinda looking for some advice. May not be the best place to ask, but Tuners has helped me out A LOT over the years.

Going to be starting from scratch. I want to get into karting, just don’t wanna spend money on some whack@ss knockoff stuff. Was looking at different engines (there’s a lot), and am leaning towards either 100cc or 125cc 2-stroke. 250cc 4-stroke works for me too!

Main / major question though is frame selection. No idea what I should be looking for. Anyone able to help? Or guide me to somewhere where I’d be able to receive the help? Thanks in advance guys.
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Wanna change this to the hang out area and not the DSM roadcourse section
 
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Get a Carter Brothers frame and a 212cc Predator motor that you can mod up to 12-15hp. Thats what we built. There is a TON of writeups on the Predator 212, and for $99.99 at Harbor Freight and I have 2 of them. Start first pull and they are Honda clone motors.
That will give you some things to check out.
Go Power Sports in Keller Tx has all of the go fast parts.
Marty

Maybe we can move this to a other sub-forum like The Hangout. I will do some checking.
 
I’m looking at sprint racing. Maybe eventually road racing, but the track close to where I live is Pitt Intl.
I gotta look at other tracks within driving distance and see what everyone’s running.
Right now though it looks like they hold regular competitions based around LO206.
Might just start there. Just wondering if I can buy a kart and seamlessly change the engine later in order to compete in a different class.
 
You would want to find a nice used Birel, Parolin, or Margay...something along those lines, I dont recommend Topkart or Allcart unless thats all you can find, those brands are the main name brands, also are you planning on running asphalt or dirt? the chassis are completely different for those types of racing, also enduro is different than regular road coarse asphalt chassis, the offsets are very different on them, we did road coarse type with the Yamaha 100cc engine, they are plenty of fun and reliable and can be had in stock form for cheap, I used to be an engine builder for the two stroke kart guys, we also went to shifter karts and ran the national circuit in shifter Kart for a few years, shifter kart is the motocross engine bolted to a road coarse kart that you were talking about, they are great fun and we used to run around 130mph in the back straights in South Bend Indiana, that place had the longest straight in the circuit, it can be expensive I will tell you that, the amount of sprockets alone that you will carry on you for different tracks can be a small fortune unless you plan to stay local only. Best bet is to go to a karting swap meet and buy someone out on spares.
 
For now, strictly asphalt. I’d really like to go 2-stroke (like TAG or even shifter), but admittedly, they’re just too fast for my skill level and budget at the moment.
I don’t think I’d have a problem starting slower, and learning and building my skillset before making the jump to 2-stroke. In order to be competitive with those guys anyway it’s gonna take a lot of time and practice. Those kids and men have some serious knowhow and skill.

I think I plan on starting local and then traveling a little. Everything’s gonna be within driving distance. I’m not against driving 5-8 hours for events. (Watkins glen NY or Ohio).

I remember when I was younger a family friend had a daughter that did really well. Gonna see if I can get in contact with them for some extra guidance as well.

Def gonna be an expense for sure, but I’m okay with it. I know once I have kids they’ll prob be interested in this sh*t too. Funny you mention sprockets, I was already thinking to myself about that. Don’t want to get to a track and have subpar ratios. Ughh, that’d drive me nuts.
 
Have you been to Pitt Race or whatever they call Beaver run raceway now days? we have ran the shifter Kart there before just to mess around.
 
@1990TSIAWDTALON Marty, I was also gonna reccomend the 212 Predator!! LOL

@Bleakley

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I have a Murray Explorer with a stage 2 Predator 212 on it.Handles very well and with a little tweaking it goes very fast. My only complaint is that it has no rear suspension, but if you're up to some fab work you can easily make that happen.
 
Did some tweaking to the Predator motor.
Thanks Son!!!
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:cool: :sneaky:
 
Increased road speed from 20mph to 29-30mph with that simple mod my son did. Not to be used for EXTENDED periods at that speed though, just for bursts. He even slapped a tachometer on it! It's a trick little cart that the grandson gets to drive after Uncles and Papa's have souped it up, LOL.
Papa will require he have a helmet!!! :thumb:
 
Increased road speed from 20mph to 29-30mph with that simple mod my son did. Not to be used for EXTENDED periods at that speed though, just for bursts. He even slapped a tachometer on it! It's a trick little cart that the grandson gets to drive after Uncles and Papa's have souped it up, LOL.
Papa will require he have a helmet!!! :thumb:
Mine can go 40. What kind of axel/drive setup do you have?
 
She is the stock single tire fryer Carter Bros frame with a centrifugal clutch. Direct drive with a 10 tooth engine sprocket. 54 tooth drive sprocket
My son is trying to find a single seat frame to put a live axle in and do a Stage2 or 3 on it.
Got any valuable info you'd like to share LOL.
Funny isn't it. We will "build" anything LOL.
 
Aha, I have 18" rear tires and a 15" gear on the axle, so it takes less rotations for me to go the same speed as with smaller tires and gear. And I also have the governor deleted.

@1990TSIAWDTALON Click HERE to see a bunch of mods to make the 212 super fast. I got my air filter and my valve lifters from there.
 
Just slap a Honda cbr250r engine on it. You might be able to hit 100mph with a different sprocket setup on it.

That is more like a death cart at that point though and a complete joke.
 
I built a cart when I was a teenager that sported a Yamaha 100 twin and we even had a gear shifter for it. It was neat.
Thanks @BLACK'98DSM , that is where we have been getting parts for our cart(s) too :thumb:
My son found a single seater, Murray Explorer, last night for $100 with a live axle, cage/belts and engine, so we have another toy to play with.....like I don't have enough projects......
Going to pick it up after work.
 
I built a cart when I was a teenager that sported a Yamaha 100 twin and we even had a gear shifter for it. It was neat.
Thanks @BLACK'98DSM , that is where we have been getting parts for our cart(s) too :thumb:
My son found a single seater, Murray Explorer, last night for $100 with a live axle, cage/belts and engine, so we have another toy to play with.....like I don't have enough projects......
Going to pick it up after work.
Awesome! Post some pictures of it for sure!
 
Got home tonite, ready to go get the new toy and the son said the kid decided not to sell it. I told him, just keep in touch and it eventually will find its way here. We never give up. I'll keep ya updated tho!
 
Well this one needs a torque converter or it wont move at all. Idt he does realize what it is tho so maybe still a chance.
 
We HAD one from GoPower but it wouldn't fit a single axle, needed to be live so we returned it just last week. If the kid gives in, in the future, we'll just reorder it. Thanks for the link!!!! :thumb:
 
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