[Kartbuilding] go kart handling

[Stephen Burke]

Hi Jayson,

I'm not sure exactly what kart you are talking about, but I suspect it was 
the racing kart at: 
http://www.kartbuilding.net/racingkart/Old_Racing_Kart/donorkart.htm

I got a racing kart cheap, however the chassis was in bad shape, and the 
engine was broken. I decided to weld up the chassis frame and to add a 
motorbike engine. However when I welded the frame it became too stiff and 
did not flex at all. I tried adding front (heavy) bumpers to the front to 
add extra weight, but it still didn't handle great.

In the end I made a new lighter and more flexible chassis. With a kart 
frame as there is no suspension, and as there is a solid live rear axle 
(where both wheels spin together), in order to go around a corner the 
inside rear wheel must slip to allow the outside wheel go faster. For this 
to happen the chassis needs to flex.
Photos of the new chasis and kart:
http://www.kartbuilding.net/racingkart/Old_Racing_Kart/completekart.htm

Take a read of the following also:
http://kartbuilding.net/The_NatSKA_Guide_to_Karts_and_Karting/Pages-1-10-11-12-13-Chassis-Design.pdf

Best of luck,
-steve

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012, Jayson Webster wrote:

> hey
>  
> my names jayson. im making a go kart at school as a project. but im completly modifying my frame. i waslooking at your
> designs. i was just wondering why you said it had such rubbish handling in the corners when you had a motorbike engine as
> the engine? did it get understeer because of the lack of weight at the front? did you end up solving the problem? just hope
> you can give me some ideas.
>  
> cheers jayson
> 
>