zero Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Well, this summer a couple of buddies and I want to try to build something to kill ourselves with, as most of our cars are not yet completed. The plan so far is to somehow acquire a wrecked motorcycle, preferably somehthing like a 600cc sportbike, and design and build a 2 or 3 seat gokart around it. We plan to retain the sequential transmission from it, using a simple lever or maybe rigging a paddle shift and mounting the clutch either on the wheel, or building a pedal. For brakes, we may attempt to mount the front disc or discs in the rear, and try to get something up front, though front brakes would complicate things considerably. Tires and wheels will probably be proper racing go kart peices, as the goal is 100 mph. I will be custom welding this frame together, and doing the bulk of the fabrication work. If anyone has any sources for good wrecked motorcycles then that would be great, thanks alot and I will keep you guys posted about our progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Sounds like an interesing and exciting project! If you are planning to be carrying 3 people around though, I don't think that your 100mph goal is reasonable with a 600cc engine. Why not just try and get a hold of a 1000 or 1100 cc engine...maybe you could find an old Police bike? Tim http://www.necycle.com/ http://www.jackscyclesalvage.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Zone Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 insurance auctions, just call your agent and find out where and when. Lots of bikes get totaled and not too many people willing to rebuild a bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluex_v1 Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Since you are talking about using racing go-kart tires, I assume its for onroad stuff then? I have my brother's non rideable 70-something honda sitting at my house collecting bugs and stuff while he's overseas, just itching for me to hack apart and turn into an insane offroad kart. I have a few plans for an independent front, solid rear highly articulate suspension. It would be a right hand drive single seater though, with the motor mounted on the left on a sideways pivoting plate, and the rear radius arms the same length as the chain (with a very extensive chain guard) The last thing I need is another project at this point. Gotta save it for later. Anyway, check your local nickle-trader or whatever your area classified magazine may be. I have seen lots of older bikes for sale for $100-$200 that just need a little work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silicone boy Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Go to http://biketransplant.tripod.com They have great information on Lotus Super 7 type cars with bike engines. This site and http://locost7.info inspired me to build a Sevenesque spaceframe chassis recently. I picked up the ultimate bike motor, a Suzuki Hayabusa motor at a wrecking yard. It had only 300 miles on it (I'm told the guy died). 180 HP, stock at 10,000 RPM. It's probably the closest I can get to a Formula One car. I took on the project as a learning experience. I'm learning about chassis design, suspension geometry, fiberglass and metal fabrication, etc. The suspension pieces are going to be made from spare 280Z parts (glad I kept them!). With a little fabrication, these "leftovers" will be incorporated into a double wishbone IRS suspension.It will be a 2 seater weighing in at 800 pounds. It will also feature a steering wheel mounted paddle shifter. The British kitcar industry (with Lotus 7 clones being their version of the Cobra kit car) has led the way in putting bike motors in cars. People may say that they have no torque, but what does it matter when your humming along at 12,000 RPM in a second. Ask anyone who has ever seen a relatively heavy Legends car race with a medium sized bike motor. Bike powered Super 7's and Locosts routinely give Cobras fits on autocross and race cources. There's even a UK manufacturer that puts out the Tiger Avon with 2 bike engines in it. 0-60 times are reportedly in the 2.5 second range! Now, if I could only finish the Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 I have often thought about doing something like this but I would like to use a liquid cooled snowmobile engine... like a 700-800cc Ski-doo engine. This way it would take out the transmission part and basically all I would need is a gas and brake pedal. Just a thought..... Post pics & vids if you do make it! Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Check this bad boy out: http://www.meditech.ch/exoticthermoengineering/ete10.html John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silicone boy Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 I thought about using the twin turbo motor out of my FD3S RX7 since it needs freshening up anyway and I wouldn't mind an LS1/LS6 swap into my daily driver, but the Busa motor became available. Motor and gearbox weigh only 200#. My back didn't think it was all that light though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zguy95135 Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 instead of a go-kart, how about a hotrod project? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silicone boy Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Hey, I just got an evil idea. Do you think it would be stupid to put my motorcycle engine on the back of a race kart? Something tells me it would be a Darwin award winner, kinda like the guy who strapped the jet engine to the back of a Beetle. Still, the idea of my butt skimming about an inch off the ground at around 150 mph has some appeal. On the other hand, I'm sure the brakes and tires are not up to the challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 You're honestly considering building a 100 mph go cart with no front brakes? Another good source of used bike parts is hospital emergency wards. This will have the added benefit of putting you on a first name basis with the emergency room workers. Might come in handy when you lock the rear brakes at 100 MPH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silicone boy Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Wait a minute. Karts don't have front brakes? Come to think of it, you're right. I guess I'll just have to use a new pair of running shoes for front brakes, kinda like they did on the Flintstones. Hope they don't overheat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 I saw a video on a colleagues laptop of a guy in Germany that put a 1300cc engine on a shifter cart. He did 4 laps at a kart track, then had to come in to replace the rear tires...man what a drift machine that was!!!! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted April 17, 2004 Author Share Posted April 17, 2004 I will probably have front brakes, but keep in mind that with the engine and two of the seats over, or close to over the rear wheels, this cart will have a pretty mean rear weight bias and no transfer under braking. Thanks everyone for your input. This will be an onroad cart because here in northern Jersey we have way more parking lots than parks. I may go with a simple front suspension, but definately a solid rear to simplify the process, and also to allow me to build a very stiff rear section to deal with the power. I was aiming for 600cc because I wasn't really able to find bigger bikes cheap enough; but now that I have been supplied with many links(Thank You) I will try to get ahold of something bigger. I would go with a snowmobile or skidoo engine, but the fact is I really want a transmission, I think it would make the kart a much more fun ride. As for the idea of putting a motorcycle engine on the back of a race cart, it has been done as Tim240z mentioned and it was part of the inspiration for this idea. I plan to make mine longer, and definately slower. Thanks again, and I will update this as I accumulate parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 any reason for not putting the engine up front with a harley or bmw style belt or shaft drive? seems like that would address weight ratios nicely, especially on the 6oocc or similarly weighted engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 http://www.fsae.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted April 17, 2004 Author Share Posted April 17, 2004 well, 4 cylinder bike engines are pretty large, i plan to build this thing pretty low so i dont really think ill be able to see around the engine if its infront of me. Yea I LOVE fsae cars they too were part of my inspiration, though i dont have NEARLY the money to build anythign that nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 Silicone Boy, Check out http://www.dpcars.net/ . The silver one. It's amazing. Just one guy. edit: added an "e"- boobs, not 'puters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted May 19, 2005 Author Share Posted May 19, 2005 a year later and i have finally started this project. This time it's school sponsored (final project, I convinced them that since im going into engineering i should be allowed to build this.) At this point the hardest part will be getting the ignition system working. The engine is out of a 1996 katana 600, I have the entire engine assembly, coils, and wiring harness. I am still missing some ignition stuff but I will worry about that later. If anyone in the northeast has knowledge or experience with motorcycle engines and wants to help me out with this bit I would appreciate it. Here are quite a few pics of my progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted May 19, 2005 Author Share Posted May 19, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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