[Kartbuilding] kart plans

[Stephen Burke]

Hi Adam,

Sorry for the slow reply.
Good to hear you got the kart made. Did you manage to get it built in one 
day? You done well if you did. With them 4x4's it must be a good sturdy 
kart. A tip is to prevent the wood from getting soaked wet, as it would 
add a lot of weight onto the kart.

Aye - I have an old motorbike helmet I use for going round on my old karts 
( 
http://www.kartbuilding.net/gallery/v/Kart_Clearance_and_Memories/DSC01177.JPG.html 
) That and a good part of gloves will save many weeks of recovery! I have 
often thought of putting some roll bar/cage on my karts, however I wasn't 
sure if they would take the punishment and just give a false sense of 
security.

Thanks for the tip on the steering stops. I should add that into my own 
wooden-kart plans as it would save injury to some other people. The levers 
idea is good and definately something to try out. I had often thought of 
setting up a "tiller" arm to steer a kart. Basically it would be a 
rod/tube in a L shape connected to the front pivot bolt.

Anyways, Im really glad you found the plans of good benefit. Thanks for 
the tips and ideas for improvement. If you get some photos of the kart, I 
would be interested in seeing them, and can share them on the kartbuilding 
website to help other people out.

Best of Luck,
-steve

On Sun, 24 Feb 2008, Adam Rosenfeld wrote:

> Thanks for the reply. I built the kart for him today. I used 4x4 instead of 3x4's because that's all The Depot had. And used 1/2" axles and 7" front, 8" rear (for that hot-rod look!) ball bearing wheels.
>
> We took it out for its maiden voyage, with Dad at the helm first. The steering is VERY quick and as I started to gain speed, I was worried I'd roll it with the quick steering, so I went to drag my feet a bit to slow up. BAD IDEA! AS soon as my feet hit the road, they were pulled under the car, flipping my onto my face and hands. Not pretty. Next thing to do was... PUT MY SON ON! ;-)  He went from a much lower starting point on the hill, started to go and whipped a sharp turn so quickly he threw himself right off.
>
> NOW! WE'RE HAVING FUN! LOL
>
> After some more "tuning," we realized SMALL steering inputs were the key to success. I plan to put bolts or eye hooks on the front axle to limit steering travel at speed.  It turns to quickly that you can really flip yourself out. The kart remains stable.
>
> Also, by NOT using the steering string, and instead just steer with your feet and using your hands to HOLD ON to the bottom of the seat, we were able to have many fun and successfull runs.
>
> So i think any steering setup will have to be carefully applied. I'm thinking of running cables, one on each side, up to levers to steer the way a tractor or bulldozer steers. But then we can't hold on so I'm going to have to think it through.
>
> Anyway, thanks for the plans. The kart is a blast.  Steering stops will be added then I'll send you some pics.
>
> Adam S. Rosenfeld