Custom Built Go-Kart

This past summer I set out to do a lifelong task which was to build a Go-Kart. I did not want to build any regular Go-Kart. I wanted to make something unique and never before seen. I had an old radio flyer wagon that had been sitting in my basement for as long as I could remember-it was probably as old as me. It got me thinking- why couldn't I turn that into a Go-Kart. A radio flyer Go-Kart sounds awesome. So my best friend and I set out to start on the project. This would not be an easy task as this was a kids wagon that was not meant to withstand the power of a gasoline engine. The first task we did was pick out an engine. We bought a 212 CC engine that was around ~12 horsepower. We completely got rid of the original wheels from the wagon and rebuilt the whole back of the kart. We added a new frame, live axle, brakes and metal brackets to reinforce the thin metal of the kart body. We bought hydraulic bike brakes and 3D printed an adapter for the hub of the brake rotor to our axle. We also 3D printed adapters for our sprockets to fit on our axles. As for the front of the kart, we were able to salvage a good amount of the original steering mechanism with slight modifications. This project was not easy and everyday a new problem arose. By the end of the summer we were very good friends with the employees at Lowe’s! After around two months of working almost everyday, all day long we were done!. The end result was an awesome Go-Kart that my friend and I call “Hank”. He can hit around 20 mph and that was going uphill. He actually has a bit too much power coupled with an uneven weight distribution causing Hank to do wheelies when given full throttle. This coming summer the plans are to upgrade and improve Hank with new features such as headlights, a custom paint job and decals, and to top it all off a fully custom and all new welded frame to reinforce Hank and keep him running for years to come. This project taught me a lot. I used CAD skills, woodworking tools, 3D printing, hand tools and basically everything under the sun to get the kart into working order.