New Go kart

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Sup eveybody, I just started to make my new go kart...it has a 5 speed and somewhere between 12.5-17 HP. from a 125 cc honda cargo (a motorcycle here in Mexico). The frame is made out of 1x1x.125" square tubing. 1" rear axle (haven´t bought it yet). Hydraulic disc brake from another motorcycle. No suspension (Im planning on trying something new just like racing karts having the same steering geometry so I wont need a differential for sharp turns).Just some pics so you can see. Ohh...there are no plans I just advance if I like what I have. Attached Images
Reply:The engine, it has a good power rating because my little sisters might use it too Attached Images
Reply:first tack of the chassis, took long because all I had for making it square, was an L ruler lol Attached Images
Reply:Second tack for the engine mount Attached Images
Reply:Safe for today, waiting for tomorrow. Attached Images
Reply:Soooooo a 125 cc engine, wet centrifugal clutch and 5 speed. It'll be interesting to see how well it performs.  Is that a four stroker or two??I would guess the reduction in tire size is going to eliminate some of the need for such a huge sprocket as the small cycles have??  Keep up with the info!!!Oh yeh, that shifter is on the wrong side !!!
Reply:Well actually I don´t know if it has a wet centrigual clutch 8S but I know it has 5 speed with clutch (which in the motorcycle was activated with a hand brake). That´s a four stroker, I´ve never had a 2 stroke because I think It would be a mess adding oils to gasoline and seing yourself in the need of always having that oil next to you. Yeah I´m going to put a sprocket just a little smaller than the original cycle so with the tire reduction and the sprocket I could have a little bit more of acceleration than the bike. I think it does 0-60 in about 7-8 secs. Oh btw, what you said is the shifter, thats the kick start! Posting pics at night! back to work!
Reply:Right steering spindle. Still just tacked. I did what Kartracer2 said. 15 degrees king pin inclination and 13 caster Attached Images
Reply:Left steering spindle Attached Images
Reply:seems like a good little project....as far as the L ruler ( we call them a square)  get yerself a good stanley tape messure and mesure from corner to corner (diagonal) and if each side is the same measurment your good to go.......for the future I guess though....just make sure that you dont have ANY sharp edges that could cut someone or something (like cables)felies navida (sorry for butchering that)dawg
Reply:Kinda what I have til now. Attached Images
Reply:Front look. Its on my top part of my bed  Attached Images
Reply:I just have a question...does it matter if one steering rod is bigger than the other? I never realized what this may cause. I built it all thinking that I would sit on the left side and on the right goes the engine. But now im starting to doubt it. It can be easily solved using U joints but if I can skip using them I would like to. Any input? Attached Images
Reply:Oh btw, what you said is the shifter, thats the kick start! Posting pics at night! back to work!
Reply:I just have a question...does it matter if one steering rod is bigger than the other?
Reply:Thanks Sandy and don´t worry instead I should say thanks for the interest 8S lol =)Tomorrow I´ll do the cable of the engine :S I don´t understand why does it has so many cables I have a friend of mine who knows a little bit of motorcycles so I´ll ask him for help. I got today´s pics coming
Reply:I could advance very little today. Had to go buying the bi-metal hole saw for the rear bearing holders. They are made out of 3/8 steel. I don´t have any type of fast saw so I needed to cut them with the 4 1/2" grinder and cutting discs. Bearings are also tacked in place with their 3/8 holes that I made with a common drill, so I needed to wait until it gets cold because it is too much work for doing it once.Tonight I looked for the carb and found it Ok. Also could dissasemble the caliper and have the plan for tomorrow. Enjoy Attached Images
Reply:Left bearing with holder. Attached Images
Reply:Rear of the kart Attached Images
Reply:This is what I got until today Attached Images
Reply:I´m still working on the frame. For today I started making the engine mounts. I could start the engine all by myself yesterday and it sounded great( I just needed to connect 3 wires 8S I guess I did it guessing). Today it was too late to use the grinder(yeahh lots of noise for here) so I started welding some tubes.I had a bad time at first with the 7018 in a AC stick welder. When I was practicing (first time hitting 7018 with AC) on some scrap it was very difficult to start the arc. But when I got 2 beads done I tought it was time for the tubes. Somehow it was very easy compared with the scrap, dunno why.Here there are some beads. Some have a little more than 100% penetration, and some I don´t really know, but they seem to be very good. If anyone thinks they are not safe I will redo them.Tomorrow, I´ll try putting the motor supports that I made (3/16 steel I think).I tried making the pedals too, but because I´m using a manual drill, the holes were not where they needed to be. So that will be also for when I enter to university again. Using a lathe it´s much easier even a drill press but I lack both =( lol PIcs! enjoy! ohh critiques are accepted =) Attached Images
Reply:another weld Attached Images
Reply:Another Attached Images
Reply:aNOTHER Attached Images
Reply:another Attached Imagesanother? Attached Images
Reply:last one Attached Images
Reply:Those welds are fine for what you're doing there. One thing to watch for is craters at the end of a bead. If you see a crater at the end of a bead with that little sunken valley in it (like those descritions ?) you may want to go back and fill it in. Those are perfect starters for cracks after repeated flexing like you'll get out of these frames. You probably already know it and maybe have it but they do make 7018 AC. If you're buying small bundles maybe try some. Looks like you bought pretty heavy flange bearings there..
Reply:I'm going to add a note that maybe, just maybe I saw a couple of seems/beads that didn't get finished ......... Be sure and go back and get those.
Reply:Yeah Sandy that´s right, I didn´t do all of them, because I didn´t had time. I just did some =) and some still have slag so I can´t really see what´s under it. Even though when I was welding them, it seem that I was achieving very good penetration. I also know about 7018 AC, but today I was in a hurry and in home depot they seem to just have 7018. Does the 7018 AC have a special name? or anything next to it? cause in home depot they just have .5 kilogram 7018 bags with no other information, made by Lincoln Electric I might need to go to a specialized welding store. I´ll look for those craters Sandy, tnks for help =) can´t wait for tomorrow!!! I´ll probably start my own exhaust system cause original goes under the engine, and on the frame there is no room for that =) I got some 1.75" tube so, let´s see what can I do with it
Reply:Does the 7018 AC have a special name? or anything next to it?
Reply:i think you are going to  have  a lot of  pressure on the  welds of your  front  axles...you  should  try and  brace them some how (from  under or  above) it looks to me like the  bumps  at  high speeds  will break a weld (or  more  than likley  tear out of  the  tube frame)   just  my thought from the photo
Reply:That´s a great price Sandy! I paid 1.20 dollars for a 1 lb bag :S!!!!!!!Do you think so billie? I just welded some today. Im doing 1/8 7018, at 135 amps and pushing the rod. Do you think this would be not safe? Ohh btw, the pics until now, show the spindles only tacked. Not welded yet, However it will have only 4 welds around the spindle and another 4 of the spindle assembly to the chassis.I will also put some incline tubes to hold the main axle tube (redundancy? 8-)?)I finish today the engine mount (tried the engine again) and also did a lot of weldings, frame is almost completely welded.I also went to Levinson steels an bought a 1 1/4" diameter, 1 meter long 9840R steel(SAE nomenclature). That´s for the axle cost me about 18 bucks. I´ll need to resize it to 1" and make the keyway.Here there are some pics of how im welding it.In some welds, I saw some little holes. I don´t know how did that happen, cause there was no slag on the tube, so I grind and reweld. Hope now it is ok. Thanks guys! What do you think Tx or smithboy?? Am I doing the right way? I´m sure your advice would be very helpful!Last edited by elvergon; 12-28-2005 at 02:01 AM.
Reply:Just some welds. Attached Images
Reply:another Attached Images
Reply:another.... Attached Images
Reply:last one, engine mount, sorry for the bad pic Attached Images
Reply:i dont  think your  welds will fail..and it may in fact  be  ok..but  i am thinking the  wheel will be  (by the looks of  it) 6 to 8 inches from  where the  weld at the  main  frame is...the  leverage from this  distance  may cause the  metal to  crack around your  weld...just an obsevation on my part..and  may in  fact  not  be  a problem....i was by no means saying  your  welds  were not  good....just  trying to  give you  some  things  to consider...when i built one  for my kids  many years  ago...i put  a  tube  straight through  under the main  frame that  was  cut and  angled to be  at the  right pitch and then some  small plates  welded  from this  "axle" to  the  main  frame  where  you now  have yours  welded
Reply:i dont  think your  welds will fail..and it may in fact  be  ok..but  i am thinking the  wheel will be  (by the looks of  it) 6 to 8 inches from  where the  weld at the  main  frame is...the  leverage from this  distance  may cause the  metal to  crack around your  weld...just an obsevation on my part..and  may in  fact  not  be  a problem....i was by no means saying  your  welds  were not  good....just  trying to  give you  some  things  to consider...when i built one  for my kids  many years  ago...i put  a  tube  straight through  under the main  frame that  was  cut and  angled to be  at the  right pitch and then some  small plates  welded  from this  "axle" to  the  main  frame  where  you now  have yours  welded
Reply:billie says maybe add a gusset where there couild be a stress point right?  a place of torque and strainIF it Catches...Let it Burn
Reply:Yeah, I´ll do that, thanks Tx and Billie, I might be adding some out of the rest of the 3/8 steel I got left, and also I´ll add some reinforcements =)!
Reply:I hate to get into this so late but why are your axles angle up so high?
Reply:Elvergon,I didnt see any mention, so I'll ask....Are you using a barbell for the rear axle?Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Yeahh, I hope that it can withstand a good force  and I´ll plug in the 25 lb discs for the wheels ! ....nahh just kidding this is just for "aproximated measurements". For the real axle, I bought an 1.25" 9840 steel, 1 meter long, it is heat treated, and has about the same strenght as the chromemoly . I´ll have to cut it to 1" since that is my bearings size. And johny are you referring to the angle of the front spindle setup? It has the angles of a stardard racing kart (according to kartracer2). It may seem pretty exagerated but maybe that´s because of the tube that is holding the spindles is very long. And I let it so long (going high) so that front wheels have the same distance from ground as the rear wheels. Hope I answered your question.
Reply:For today I didn´t advance anything. I just went looking for pieces. I bought a 1997 volkswagen sedan master cylinder for my brakes. I also went looking for the I don´t know how it is called (the piece that holds the carburator to the engine?) I bought it for 10 bucks. Also bought 9 lbs of 7018 normal electrodes. And went looking for some sealed containers, but I couldn´t find any. So I bought a 2" PVC sch 40 tube (50 cms long), one closed end, and one female plug. The hardware store didn´t have a male plug, but I´ll look for it tomorrow morning. So I´ll be making my own electrode moisture proof container. Damn the electrode box seal had a small hole, so I hope that inside it has another bag which isn´t punctured. If not, I´ll have to dry them again...thanks to Tx I know that they can be redried and found the link in lincoln electric. Here it is...http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowl...nt/storing.aspTomorrow when I got the container ready I´ll start welding them.(pic is the master cylinder) Attached Images
Reply:The Unknown mysterious piece (name right) Attached Images
Reply:electrodes homemade sealed container. Attached Images
Reply:looking good bud.  One thing id give as ad ice....you know them lil packages  the moisture packets you get for various thigns in packages...save em and put in your dry box   it does help.IF it Catches...Let it Burn
Reply:Great! thanks for the help I´ll try to look for some  last time I was giving some to some ducks cause they bit me lol! Maybe my family and me will go to Mcallen for buying my laptop for my computarized drawing class. I´ll be learning how to use a lot of stress and all those kind of design programs. Hope I can get some wheels and hubs. BTW, does anyone knows a good place for shopping go kart parts in Mcallen, Texas???
Reply:I know where mcallen is but I dont know no go kart places there though...sorry   oh in my last post...edit  ad ice for advice lol  dont know where the "V" went  lolIF it Catches...Let it Burn