Road Rat / Gatormoto karts

Pete Schaible · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 5:41 pm Post subject:

I know i'm bringing back an old thread but i just recently discovered this thread. I am the dad from philly reigon that asked to get this kart approved. My daughter races a gatormoto kart with Scotts son in fjc. I thought i would relate my experiences with the kart over the season.

I do want to say that i bought it online from someone other than gatormoto. It was a christmas present for my daughter and as soon as we took it out to play with it it wouldn't stay running. pulled the carb apart to find the float in upside down. fixed it and it ran alright. stepped on the brake and the brake rod ripped out of the threaded clevis connector, apparently factory stripped. I also noticed that the way the caliper bracket was welded on leaves the top of the pads above the top of the rotor so if the pads wore down enough they would squeze eachother and not the rotor.

Once i had all the necessary parts we took the kart out and my daughter LOVED it. It fit her 7 year old body well while being big enough that she can grow with it. The kart is HEAVY. the minium weight for fjc is 125 pounds, on my bathroom scale it weighed in at 150 without driver. We spent many days going to local parking lots and getting her familiar with it.

Auto-x season finally started and i will say i was amazed at how little i cared about my own racing after watching my daughter race. Through out the season we occasionally have issues with the kart sputtering. Eventually i ordered another carb and put a filter inline and that has eliminated 90% of the problems. When i called the folks at gatormoto to order the new carb i asked them about what could be done about the brake caliper mount welded a little out of place and they offered me a really good price on a replacement frame if thats what i wanted to do. Since i didn't order it from them i didn't have a warrenty but i thought it was really cool that they would try to work with me anyway.

Once the new carb was on the kart ran better than ever and seems to have a decent amount of power. I made no modificatons and just left everything stock governor and all. It was very consistant, no playing with jets or mixture screws. from 90 degress down to the 50's it just runs.

Currently i am getting ready to pick up a blue clone motor and see how to make it usable for fjb where the speeds are higher. May just run that governor and all. i would like to find an easy way to intergrate the motor to help get new kids in to the sport on the cheap.

After the initial issues it has been great, Scott can attest, i unload, check tire pressures and start it, no drama and it just does its thing. I bought it for $700 and compared to the price of other karts i didn't mind a little tinkering. I only planed on running it for a year to see if Vicky would like it enough to justify buying a namebrand kart, but she likes it so much she won't let me replace it...."it just needs a faster motor Dad"

Joe Ricard · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:34 pm Post subject:

Need more power.

Geeze where do these kids learn this from? My son tells me the same thing.

We have burned through 15 gallons of Methanol in his raptor powered Invader Kart this year. Rolling Eyes

Yea he gets lots of seat time.

I hear ya with the "more fun to run the kid Kart than my own car".

Chad Stapleton · Joined: 19 Jul 2001 Posts: 4403

justin jackrel · Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:04 pm Post subject:

Joshua West · Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 8:14 pm Post subject:

I just picked up one today. It has only been started, never driven! I hope to have good luck with mine as well!

Robbie Nelson · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 133

Gatormoto kid kart update

I had to disconnect the low oil sensor. Even overfilled with oil, the engine would die during long/hard cornering. It took a while to figure that one out, but it runs great now. I would even suggest that Gatormoto disconnect the sensor before they leave their warehouse. Pete, this could be the source of some of your problems.?.?

I had to oil the clutch, no big deal.

The return spring on the throttle needs a little work.

It seems to have a great deal of caster. It makes it hard for my kids to make tight turns. The chassis is so stiff, it would work fine with a lot less caster. I think I need to try to move the wheels in (there are spacers for that). That may help.

I should probably check on the brake caliper issue. I'll report back later.

Other than those rather small issues, it's been a hoot for the kids. It starts on the first pull and puts a smile on their faces. They still have a lot to learn before they need more power. They're only 5 and 7yrs old!!!

Pete Schaible · Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:03 pm Post subject:

Robbie,

For my daughter I moved the front wheels in 2 spacers on each side and it made a huge difference in the effort required to turn the steering wheel. It made my daughter more comfortable and therefore faster.

I am hoping to get the 6.5 horse clone motor soon and hoping things will bolt in easily. I am currently trying to determine if i would be better off running it with the governor on and no restrictor, or no governor and a .5 restrictor. my goal is to get it close to the power of the other fjb motors but still a little low on power as i want to make sure she has no advantage.

it seems like gearing might be an issue with the 3600 rpm limit and 10" tires
any opinions?

Brian Garfield · Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:08 pm Post subject:

One opinion would be not to bother with a Clone motor until the SCCA says it's a legal motor for FJB...

Putting any motor on and trying to modify it to the same performance is not something approved by the SCCA or the insurance they provide.

Brian

Pete Schaible · Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:09 pm Post subject:

delete

Robbie Nelson · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 133

Are the XR adult karts legal for FJB or FJA? I have a guy that wants to get into the sport. He doesn't want to spend a fortune trying it out.

Tom Reynolds · Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 3:59 pm Post subject:

The chassis should be fine but the engine would not be. The problem with the Honda clone is there are so many variants it would be nearly impossible to regulate. While I greatly appreciate the difficulty spending the money to find out if your child will have interest, it really opens pandoras box to attempt to allow these for the FJ's. You can use them in a local F125 variant class. My best advice is to travel to where someone with an FJ will let your child co-drive an event or two. It still should be cheaper than buying into everything you would need to run your own kart.

philip richmond · Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:41 pm Post subject: Gatormoto

The kid carts are approved in pilot programs for 5-8 yr olds. I am itching to get my 11 and 15yr old on a cart. My 15 yr old can ride with me in my srt but the 11 yr old is left out in the cold for awhile longer.

I was looking at the XR or TAG cart from gatormotor for both of them to run since they are both within 6 inches in height. I can limit the speed so they can grow with their abilities.

I would prefer to run this in SCCA solo2. Thanks for the input all.

Rich

Brian Garfield · Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:56 pm Post subject:

As Tom said, the motor on the XR is not an approved motor for FJA or FJB. However, for the same or very similar cost, you can get into both a used 2 stroke or 4 stroke setup.

There's a BWF setup in the classifieds here right now for $1300 or less...

Brian

Joe Ricard · Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:31 am Post subject:

Yep cheaper to buy a used and proven kart that fits the rules than to buy a new "cheaper Kart" only to get turned away at he SCCA events. Doesn't sound cheaper to me after all.

I have started my own little cult following after getting my son into a legal FJB Kart. I will let other kids run it after we get a practice day in so they learn how to go, stop and steer and STOP!. We now have 6 kids running around on Scooters armed with PSP machines only to be interupted with Kart runs.

Even the Briggs Raptor is competative in local stuff and you can get a used turn key kart for a grand. I like the raptor as a beginner kart cuz you can throttle them down with restrictors and throttle stops pretty easy.

Robbie Nelson · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 133

From the May 2009 Fastrack: