I have a little bit of engine knowledge (took a small engines class last year in school). but the ultimate goal is to make a go kart out of a motorcycle or dirt bike engine. any and all input is welcome. more info: I was thinking a 250 2 stroke but i am extremely open to change.
type into search box how to make a go kart or how to make go kart with shifter or how to add motorcycle motor to go kart
My gosh! Motorcycle engines were used right from the beginning of the karting sport. C-Class karts were allowed up to 270cc engines. One of the most successful karts was Chuck Balsinger s Yamaha twin powered sprint kart. Duffy Livingston built a front-engined kart using a Puch motrocycle engine. He later built a water-cooled setup using a Konig 250cc outboard twin. He beat Balsinger pretty handily with this kart at the 1960 GKCA Nationals held at Azusa California.
Not much effort at all. You can cannibalize a lot of parts from the donor motorcycle. The biggest problem is getting the final gearing right. The circumference of a go-kart tire is much smaller than a motorcycle tire. However this could be accomplished with a jack shaft. This has already been done so you won't need to re-invent the wheel. There is a go kart racing series that already uses motorcycle engines. Open your favorite search engine and search for motorcycle engine go kart without the quotes. There is one minor issue that you may find is that a 2 stroke motorcycle engine doesn't produce much torque at low RPM. This may be an issue when starting off or if you need to go slow. But look out once you get the go kart moving. You may want to wear a full face helmet to keep the bugs out of your teeth because you will consistently have an ear to ear grin on your face. One other issue you may encounter is that you could very easily over-power your go-kart. If you use too much motor you could easily build a little 100+ mph death trap. Make sure your go kart, your riding area, and your driving abilities match the performance capabilities of your go kart. Another option I have seen is to use a snowmobile engine and belt drive system. I have seen both. And both were wicked fast.
