educate me on go karts (long thread lots of ???s)

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  • IndyGunworks

    Grandmaster
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    25   0   0
    Feb 22, 2009
    12,832
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    Carthage IN
    Eventually my wife and I will be purchasing a go kart/s of some sort. Mostly for the kids. I have 4 acres of woods, and that's hooked up with other neighbors 40 acres of woods, that a lot of which will have trails through it. That will be the primary use for these toys, however we will probably trailer them to other peoples property at times. IF we get nice enough ones (cost being the primary factor) then we may take a few family camping trips to some of the off road parks that have trails that we could utilize.

    That being said, and cost being a factor, I have seen some pretty cheap small ones but I am not sure if I would just be wasting my money because the kids will outgrow them to fast.

    As of now I am only looking at new, because they have the descriptions that I can understand. I am not opposed to buying used, and have quite some time to do so, but I really don't know what to look for with some of the used stuff. A lot of what I am seeing go for good prices don't even have any sort of suspension on them, which I THINK should rule them out?

    Also, sometimes they have automatic transmissions, and some are "semi automatic", what should I look for on these?

    I have two kids, a 4 year old boy, and a 2 year old daughter. so I have plenty of time to find something, and to scour the used market.

    When it comes to power on these things you see 4 seaters with 200cc motors, which leads me to believe that would be enough, but again, I don't really know. What would the min motor size be that I am looking for?

    Lastly, does anybody have any of those really really nice go karts that I might be able to test drive? that 400 CC sand sniper seems pretty sharp at a fraction of the cost of anything else.

    We are not avid off roaders, just looking for some family fun, but don't want to spend money on a flop.

    lastly again, do these Chinese import deals actually run decent? Its hard to find forums that talk about them w/out the snobs that have 17,000 dollar razors talking about how incapable they are. Just want to make sure that if I were to go the new Chinese import route, that it wouldn't be something where two years later I have to put a whole new motor in it because a 5 dollar part broke and I cant get another.

    P.S.3. should I look for 2 single seaters or 1 two seater? cost being a concern here.
     

    femurphy77

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    30   0   0
    Mar 5, 2009
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    S.E. of disorder
    Find a couple of Honda Odyssey's, govern them age appropriate and play with them forever. If I had the time and quick easy access to trails I'd have bought one a long time ago.
     

    HoughMade

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    0   0   0
    Oct 24, 2012
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    Valparaiso
    Just looked that up and its a mini van.... Not sure what you meant to say?

    Much longer ago. Expensive then, expensive now- but nice.

    honda-odyssey-atv-for-sale-craigslist-wallpaper-8.jpg
     

    sgreen3

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    51   0   0
    Jan 19, 2011
    11,027
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    Scottsburg,In
    Just looked that up and its a mini van.... Not sure what you meant to say?

    He's talking about these https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Odyssey_(ATV) although very cool, their very hard to find and when you do their either wore out and destroyed or they'll cost you a mint.

    I would suggest just looking over craigslist and finding a couple old Murray or something along those lines of Karts. There pretty plentiful and can be had for pretty reasonable money and their super easy to work on since their powered by lawn mower engines essentially. Another option depending on how much your wanting to spend is getting a couple of the 150-200cc Chinese karts that are all over being sold. Believe it or not their actually pretty decent and most come with a warranty if bought new..
     

    glank09

    Marksman
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    8   0   0
    Mar 27, 2013
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    Corunna
    Off road parks are just that, you will not enjoy life with go carts there.


    I would agree with this. Go karts are great for around the yard but can easily become less than desirable in woods. Doesn't take much of a log over the trail or a muddy area to get a go kart stuck. Would a pair of smaller used ATV's be out of your budget?
     

    Rookie

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    14   0   0
    Sep 22, 2008
    18,155
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    Kokomo
    Sam's club used to sell something similar to this...

    Yerf-Dog Go-Kart #3206 & #4206

    We had it for a day and took it back. It was a lot of fun, for me, but way too much power for my kids. After my daughter parked the front tire under the shed ( I had to jack up the shed to get it out) we decided it was a bad idea.
     

    rooster

    Master
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    10   0   0
    Mar 4, 2010
    3,306
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    Indianapolis
    Had one as a kid with a solid frame and a 5hp Briggs and Stratton chain drive. Simple cheap and would do 45 ungoverned. If simple and cheap is what your looking for that's the route I would suggest. It had seat belts and I rolled it countless times with no issues. Put thousands of miles on the the thing in the 6 years or so I had it.
     

    Rookie

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    Sep 22, 2008
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    Kokomo
    I have to agree with the UTV suggestion. Yes, they're more expensive, but they're not something that the kids will grow out of. While they are younger, look at a golf cart as an option. My sister and her husband had one for the kids when they were younger and they loved it. Big enough that they thought they were cool but not fast enough to be really dangerous. Plus he used it to tool around the property.
     

    eldirector

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    Apr 29, 2009
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    Brownsburg, IN
    Redbird and Interlake require all ORVs to be registered with the BMV, which may not be possible for a kart. Looks like the Badlands specifically allows karts. Not sure about the other ATV-specific parks.

    A grey area is the new helmet law. Offroad go-carts may or may not be considered ORVs by the State. If they are, the kiddos will need helmets even on private property (and they WOULD need registered).

    Just a couple of things to consider.
     

    CountryBoy19

    Grandmaster
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    11   1   0
    Nov 10, 2008
    8,412
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    Bedford, IN
    Redbird and Interlake require all ORVs to be registered with the BMV, which may not be possible for a kart. Looks like the Badlands specifically allows karts. Not sure about the other ATV-specific parks.

    A grey area is the new helmet law. Offroad go-carts may or may not be considered ORVs by the State. If they are, the kiddos will need helmets even on private property (and they WOULD need registered).

    Just a couple of things to consider.
    FYI, it's law that all ORV made after a certain date (2004 iirc) have to be registered, whether they're used on the road or not. Anything prior to that date it's optional to register it. The only question is if a go-kart would be considered an ORV or not.

    I think it probably would be considered an ORV considering the way things are currently going in that arena.
     
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