Saturday, June 11, 2011

One Man's Junk

Shane speaking here - I don't frequently post, but occasionally I have to spread good news and this is as good of a venue as I can get.

If you know me well then you know that I like junk. I love thrift stores, garage sales, junkyards, auctions and Craigslist. I find value in items that others consider worthless. Another love of mine is things that go vrooom. I love cars, bikes and anything mechanical, though I have really owned very few things of that nature. Finally, I love a good project. I'm generally more interested in starting projects than finishing them, but I like a good challenge to research, plan and carryout.

Today the stars aligned and the perfect trifecta occurred.

Today was our neighborhood's annual garage sale day. Dozens of garage sales scattered throughout the subdivision. I found the diamond in the rough. A go-kart. Not just any go-kart (I'll explain later), but even any go-kart is a pretty rare find at a garage sale. The seller and I negotiated a bit (after my third trip to the sale) and I finally ended up with an ugly old go-kart and motor that isn't attached (but suposedly runs).

So there you have it, in one swoop I got a motorized object, a project and a screaming deal all at once. I am beyond excited.

I am not sure where this project will end up. Our boys are too young, I am too old and we simply don't have the space to keep it. I may try to get it running, clean it up and get my money back.

Our family had a go-kart when I was younger and we drove the wheels off the thing. Finding this gem brings back some great memories.

Here are the key specs for any gear heads out there:

It's an older frame that rides very low to the ground. Has two motor mounting plates (i.e. could take two motors). It's two-wheel drive with a drum brake on the rear axle (donuts?). The tires are old slicks almost identical to the final tires on our family go kart. The motor is a 2hp Briggs and Stratton. It looks like it has been set up as direct drive (no clutch) so I am interested to see how that works out.

I've got lots of work to do.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Do you think you can track down Milo to help with the repairs?

Jeremy said...

Shane, please allow me to make a few corrections in your post--boys are never too young, you are never too old, and you can always make space for a go kart. She is a beauty. Expect a call from me soon, so we can chat about it.