The first step was scratching out ideas on paper and searching the net for other karts and ideas. Right off the bat we knew we wanted at least a 5hp engine, and probably an 8hp. Ted said we should get a two stroke or 16hp. We also knew we wanted front suspension. This turned out to be the hardest part. We also talked about rear suspension and tried scratching out some ideas but it was clear that would really complicate things. We were also on a budget.

Committing to the Project

There was alot of talk and ideas flowing for about a week. We also were looking around at engines which we figured was going to be the biggest cost. A 8hp Briggs was about $350. After talking to a few other people we found out that Bent Bike up on Aurora had 8hp Tecumpsa engines for sale, so we headed up there to check it out.

Sure enough, they had 3 left, and they were only $170. So we made the plunge and bought our engines. Now we were commited.

Budget

Once we had the engines, we also had a pretty good idea what other parts we would need and relative costs. Another big cost we didn't anticipate right away was a torque converter. When I was a kid I had a little go-kart that had a centrifical clutch on it. After talking with some people and telling them what we wanted to do, they said you better get a torque converter. Well, this turned out to be about $160. After we added everything up, and we were a little generous on our estimates, we figured we could build the whole thing for about $800. To buy a similar Kart off the net or in a store would cost around $2000.

Of course we had to build two...

next: Building It