rearenginekarts.com

Hello all, I am new to this site and well, to the whole kart thing. Since I was a kid I wanted a go kart and at the young age of 50 something I finaly got my wish! But now it is for my Grand kids but to my grand enjoyment I somehow feel as tho it is for me too. Anyway, I picked up a Clark go kart and I do not know much about it? It has a Rebel decal on the floor pan. My questions are simple. What tire size should this Kart have. Will this frame hold up to dumpy terrain rather than pavement? (not off road stuff, but like the yard...) . When I bought this kart it did not have a clutch so I put one together from parts I had. I will also need to replace the single 4" brake shoe. Other than that it runs! In fact it is scary fast!!. It has a briggs motor that I believe was put together from several. I do not know what HP this is because there are no badges? Is this the kart I should be messing with? I would rather stay with the old school stuff.
Then there is a project I bought a few years back with the intention of restoring but have lost interest. I need help inentifying the thing as well as a avenue to sell it. It is rear engine but has three wheels so I do not know if it is a "Kart" or "Bike"? I have pics of both and when I figure out how to load them I will do so. Thanks John

hello john ..the clarke is about the best yard kart/old school frame you can get there good all around kart for around the house i have even seen some raced ..there alot similar to a rupp or hamilton ..mine is a 440 cyclone has 6" rears on tri stars and 5" fronts .put one of them brake systems on it from aps, harber frieght or where ever.. i think there either 5 or 6 in. if there not bendix there just like them possibly asuza .?? what ever there cheap and work good ..if you really wanna stay old school put the tater digger on the tri-sport where its supposed to be ...and find an 820 west bend for the clarke..heheheh ..you think the ol tater digger hauls you around good 820 haul you there twice as fast ..

Thanks Steve, The info on the brakes was well taken. Do you know if the "rebel" decal is suppose to be there? Are you aware of any groups around the thumb of Michigan? Any info on the three wheel thing? Is it a kart or bike? All I know is the guy I bought it from said his Grandpa bought it for him around 1968?

hi john ..im not sure about the rebal decal i no they probebly made a few different models .. the tri sport is a 3 wheeled wonder lol i wonder how many kids got hurt on them ..few different co. made them tri sport mud buggy couple others ..also two or 3 different sizes mines the mini mini one really cool i think ..,

A Clark usually a 440 were fun Karts based on the Dart kart design. They had more ground clearance for riding in the yard.

The three wheeler is called a off road 3 wheel minibike kinda thing but most I ever saw were broken or missing pcs.

Rob ..so you remember the tri sports ..there were few different co. that built them .man they were dangerous seems every kids first instinct was to put there feet down when stopping and get run over or have them fall of the foot pegs that were mounted right on the front forks while riding and then get cought under rear tires and it yanks you right off and then runs over you ,,great machines wonder how many thousand law suits were from them ..

yep those three wheelers were all that.
great way to damage your grandkids.
i'd just keep that puppy for display.

build the clark with 6" tires all around and it'll be fine for yard stuff.
was it me i'd keep the throotle a little slack at first.
it'll keep the speed down for them to learn.
if they're the least bit mechanical they'll figure out how to make it go faster soon enough.
dave

Thanks all for the feed back. Yeah, the three wheel thing is going for sure. I got some great input for the kart (clark) and I think 6" all around will best suit my situation. My one Grandson has already figured out that if you turn right and matt it its doughnutville. What is a tatter digger? Is that the number plate? Ill research a better brake system also. Thanks again guys. I would like to build one for me too. I am 6'2" so what type frame would best fit me? Man, looking at the old Karts takes me back...very cool.

I think by "tatter digger" he means rototiller, lol. 5 hp briggs is a really common engine on a front tine tiller, I laughed too when I first read that!

Back in my high school days I lived two streets behind Allsport in Norwalk, OH where the Tri-Sport was made. We used to go over to their parking lot on Saturdays and see the new models being tested. They would ride them pretty hard. Sometimes I would even get to take one for a spin around the lot. I remember the 4th of July in '72 two guys rode them in the parade, rode wheelies just about the full length of Main Street. All you had to do was lean back and twist the throttle and they would pop back on the wheelie bar, then they were real easy to balance there. Didn't need much speed to hold them up.