My wife and I have 2 grandchildren .and we wanted something they could tool around the property. Had a hard time finding a local dealer for gokarts. I called this xompany several times with no luck. They are on west coast and we are in Ohio. That may have been the issue. We were nervous about buying something of this cost sight unseen. We did talk to someone, once, and had problem with CCard since ordering out of state. Got that taken care of and tried calling back. No luck. So i just went online and ordered. Went smooth and had an email confirmation quickly. Then a day later another saying order processed then another saying the warehouse has it. 2 days later got an email stating it was on the way. Day later got call from dwlivery company confirming address and such. We received it yesterday. It took me about 8 hours to get it together.
So, as other reports show there were no instructiins. Some patience is needed. The book that came with it was huge help. Exploded views allowed me to see how some items were to be mounted. 1. The battery..do it first that way it can be on charger while you work; 2. Dont tighten all roll bar bolts until you get it all together; 3. The tires had 40 psi in them. The psi should be 7; 4. Check the spark plug gap..mine was bumped tight. No biggee, easily fixed. 5. Drain the oil. Shipped with crap oil. Fill with 20oz 10w-30; 6. Check the fuel line. Mine had one clip off and hose almost off at the carb. No biggee fixed easy. When filled with gas drain fuel from tank to carb. I took each connection and made sure gas flowed thru. Did all the way to the carb. Bowl filled right up. Remember there are 2 fuel valves that need turned on; 7. I checked every bolt to make sure all were tight; 8. Seat is kinda crappy for sliding back and forth. I will check it later; 9. Chain adjustment. Pretty easy.
All done started it up and took a little to get going. Let it run in garage for half hour as other sights suggested. It died after the half hour. Figured since ut us air cooled...sitting still caused overheat. After cooled down i checked the oil drain plug..ok, the carb bowl..ok, the muffler for tightness, tire pressure..ok. wife got in it and it started right up and she put a good 20 min around the yard. Ran good.
Negatives:The key fob works but they are garage door opener - like. So had to figure out what button shut it off. The toein studs are too long and can't adjust specs..i will cut them off later and that will fix it.
All in all. So far. Thus was easy to do, price is fair, and the twins will LOVE it. The problems I had I attribute to made overseas. I suggest youtube to verify some of the steps for oil change, engine adjustments and anything else you may be unsure about. Had way too many bolts etc leftover...made me nervous and checked everything again. I would do again.
I have two boys and wanted to find a decent go kart that I could either discard after a couple years of use. I thought about building my own, as everything I found on CL / FB was overpriced junk and I had no clue how it was maintained... and local dealers sell re-branded Chinese karts for twice the price... but then I came across this Chinese kart that's actually decent:
TrailMaster Mini XRX+ which comes with a 5.5hp engine, LED lights, a (VERY loud) horn, 5 pt harnesses, electric start / stop, remote kill / start fob. The remote fob sold my wife and I, as it provides some comfort to us while they are learning... we were worried they'd punch the gas, head towards the woods and get impaled by a branch (maybe we've been watching too many Final Destination movies).
Anyway, at basically $1,200 shipped, it was a done deal.... and long story short: it was a great purchase, but there are definitely things to know going into it... such as being aware that it will be about 5-8 hours (or more) of getting it setup and checking EVERYTHING over to get it running perfectly.
1) First and foremost, there are NO assembly instructions (at least not with my purchase)... and what did come with it are just some high level specs and safety info... with several pictures having Chinese writing. The TrailMaster mini and mid versions are VERY similar and can be used for the most part. Here are several sources I used that were very helpful... both still leave out some random steps but nothing major:
[INDENT]- Assembly:
[url]https://www.gokartmasters.com/content/Go%20Kart%20A- ssembly%20Instructions%20-%20Mini%20XRX%20%26%20Mini%20XRX-R- .pdf[/url]
- Basic startup instructions:
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzlIPs1N-A0[/url]r />
- Other instructions:
Website and Youtube videos by familygokarts or GoKartMasters[/INDENT]
2) The engine is a "Chonda" GX160 --- so you should be able to reference a Honda GX160 if you need extra parts or documentation.
3) They ship with VERY lightweight motor oil that is NOT meant for driving with. These things take hardly any oil, and since it's a cheap knockoff engine with no oil filter, change the oil before you start it up using a cheap 10w30 oil... then again after an hour of driving it, then again after about 5 hours. On the 10th hour and every 10 hours from then on, I would change over to a synthetic oil.
4) Check the spark plug gap... mine came set at 0.02" and needed to be adjusted to 0.03".
5) Supposedly a lot of these China units come shipped with a dis-solvable gel bag in the carb and you're supposed to let it idle for 30 min. prior to driving it. I did not do this and after experiencing issues, I had to open up the carb and cleaned it all out. One thing to note is that the carb has very little adjustment.
6) I was actually surprised with the overall build quality and bolt quality (none deformed or stripped on me)... and I was only missing one M8-1.25x30 flange bolt that I was able to pickup at ACE Hardware. There was an extra parts bag which I didn't need to use, PLUS there were extra parts in the main parts bag... I thought I missed something, but I looked things over several times and they were definitely just extra parts (roll cage washers, a couple bolts, and a screw)
7) The 5 point harnesses are fine except they will continuously loosen, so my fix was to use black gaffers tape to keep the adjustable harness strap from moving.
8) You can watch the video below for the rear chain adjustment and they say this is all that SHOULD have to be done on the initial setup... however, my top chain connecting to the clutch was way too lose as well, and that is covered under the second link below:
[INDENT]- [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZQH7kL2XFw[/url]
- [url]http://kartingdistributors.com/pdfs/hamerhead/miniXRXsc- hain.pdf[/url][/INDENT]
9) The only thing I had to actually modify on the kart was the passenger front tie rod, as when I was doing the wheel alignment, there was simply not enough adjustment in the passenger front toe in and I had to chop about 1/4" of the tie rod down to allow the wheel to be turned inward more and have the proper stance.
When I did my setup, I missed the following three steps: checking the spark plug gap, changing the engine oil, and letting it idle for 30 min before running it.
My results: after 5-15 minutes of letting the kids play with it, it puttered and then died. You could start it back up a few times, but usually it wouldn't move / have any power... after that, it wouldn't even start up and you would have to wait a while before it would start back up. I thought my chain was set too tight and causing the overheating, so I adjusted the chain and had the overheating occur three three times before I finally decided to change the oil, clean the carb, and check the spark plug. I am lucky it did not (noticeably) damage the engine. I may pay for this down the road (literally) and have to buy a new engine, but as long as it makes it a while, it will be time for an upgrade anyway. After doing the above steps, the engine is purring perfect test running it wide open for 30 minutes with a 220lb guy in it up hills and over big bumps.
If you want to build your own kart, not support "Chinese" crap, or whatever other reason... that's great for you... but if you want to go this route, hopefully this info will at least help you out in getting a good running kart (at least for now).
Purchased this for my daughter this Christmas. She loves it! It was fairly easy to assemble but came with zero directions. Anyone fairly adept can manage though. I would highly recommend this cart for it's cost and overall construction. One other issue, you're gonna want one two!
I just received the kart yesterday (11/06/18). Everything was in great condition, all parts were packed good. I'm putting it together today (11/07/18). shipping was on time, the product seems good and the prices are unbeatable, we haven't ran it yet so that will be the true test. thanks to powersportsmax for a great job and you definitely have my business for future purchases.
ive got to tell you... the go cart i purchased from you is the absolute best purchase i have ever made in my 54 years of living... my girls never tire from it and seldom let it rest... we have had no trouble with it what so ever and i recommend you guys on a daily bases... Thank you so much! Chuck, Serenity and Journey Gandy.
My wife and I have 2 grandchildren .and we wanted something they could tool around the property. Had a hard time finding a local dealer for gokarts. .. Read all Reviews
