[Kartbuilding] Quad bike into an off road gokart?

Stephen Burke stephen at sburke.eu
Wed Sep 19 21:55:10 IST 2012


Hi Robin,

Sorry about the slow reply to your last email.

You could try it without widening the front and see how it goes. However
I would widen the front axles.
You should be able to keep the steering arms as is, including
suspension, and just widen out the middle front section.
Depending on how complicated the front end is however, it may require a
lot of work.
For the steering rack, keep that the same, and just weld pieces onto the
steering rod ends.

Broken gearboxes are not good :-(
As you said, getting replacement parts is difficult and costly.
If you can at all, do weld and fix the gearbox so you will at least get
forward speed.
You've nothing to loose by the sounds of it with the way the gearbox is
broken. However I suspect it may not be as simple to weld or fix the
gearbox in forward mode.
You could also try opening up the gearbox and see if you can spot
anything obvious. Maybe it would be a simple linkage preventing the
gearbox from going into forward/reverse.

Ah - so there is currently only 1 shock on the rear axle.
If you can send on photos I can see more. To be honest, it may just be
as easy to make a new kart chassis frame, especially if you can get lots
of metal pipe.
A new chassis would handle better also. You probably would have to get 2
shocks for the rear axle. Perhaps off the front of a moped/scooter.

Glad you like the information on the kartbuilding blog :)

Best of luck,
-steve


On 26/07/2012 13:55, Robin Hauptle wrote:
> thanks for the reply :D
>
> ok so ... yes it can be extended no problem ... im studying motor
> mechanics ... so that helps a load ... umm so ya i can just weld in a
> peace , to extend the rare axle length ... would i need 2 extend the
> front as well ... reason is it could still flip if its 2 narrow ....
> but im not sure ... it would be alot harder as well cos of the shock
> absorbers and steering rack ...
>
> a few things .... 1st is that i did try 2 fix the quad or at least 1
> of them ... but the problem is the 2 speed ( forward and reverse)
> gearbox is broken ... and 2 get parts in my country is not so easy for
> that make of quad ... ( dinli )  2nd is that i have 2 complete motors
> ( both with broken gears )  so my thinking is 2 weld the box so its
> stuck in forward and then use it for a kart ... i have always wanted 2
> make 1 so i guess its a good start ... seeing as though i have
> everything i need already ...
> my main problem at the moment in terms of the design is that i was
> hoping 2 keep the back shock as well ... the problem is that its only
> a single shock for both wheels. .... so ill need 2 do some thinking
> about how to get it working the best way ... ill send u some pics soon
> ... i dont have any with me and im not at home atm ... so ill send u
> some pics of the quad in the next few days... and maybe u can help me
> with a design in terms of the base frame ...  using the front and back
> axles of the quad and making the rest with scrap metal ... i can get
> lots of good quality metal piping ...
>
>
> ok well chat soon thanks for replying and once again i love ur blog it
> rock m8 :D ...
>
>
>
> Thanks Robin
>
>
>
> On 7/23/12, Stephen Burke wrote:
>> Hi Robin,
>>
>> Thanks for your email and kind comments on the kartbuilding blog.
>>
>> You're lucky you have 1 and 1/2 quads to work with. You've loads of parts
>> to work with.
>>
>> As you mentioned, the main problem with the quad is that its high off the
>> ground, the engine is under the seat. Also the width of the rear axle is
>> quite narrow. A go-kart would have a wide wheelbase so it would not
>> overturn going around corners.
>>
>> I wonder would it be possible to extend the length of the rear axle, to
>> make it wider.
>> At this stage, if you're fully sure you want to make a kart (as opposed to
>> just fix 1 quad), is to start dismantling the quads and taking all the
>> parts out. You can then see how the transmission is, and how the rear
>> wheels are bolted to the rear axle. I've seen someone cut and shorten the
>> rear axle of a car (which had a drive shaft and differential). So, maybe
>> you could extend the rear axle width? Depending on how things go, you may
>> be able to put the engine at the rear of the kart in the middle, and then
>> have the drivers seat in front of the rear axle.
>>
>> If you want to email on photos of the quad parts dismantled, I can see
>> what might be the best way to arrange the components together to get the
>> kart working.
>>
>> Best of luck,
>> -steve
>>
>> On Tue, 17 Jul 2012, Robin Hauptle wrote:
>>
>>> Hi there i have decided 2 start building a off road go kart .... i am
>>> hoping 2 make a plan to convert a quad bike into an off road kart ...
>>> was wondering if u wouldn't mind having a look and see if u can come
>>> up with a plan to make the conversion ... basically i am wanting to
>>> keep the steering rack and the suspension and then use what ever else
>>> i can ... reason is i have 1 and a half quads that are in a bad
>>> condition ... so ...decided 2 give it a try lol.... my main problem
>>> atm is the fact that on a quad bike the motor is under where one sits
>>> ... this would not work for the kart lol ... any help or basic designs
>>> would be great ...
>>>
>>>
>>> oh btw i think ur blog rocks and will definitely be keeping an eye on
>>> it ... thanks for all the info very useful ... ur doing a great job :D
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks Robin
>>>
>>>
>>> P.s if u want any of the info on the quad i have pls let me know ill
>>> send u pic's and anything else u may need :D
>>>



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