Bad news for Dad...good for me?

[ArticRubi]

So long story short, storm at the lake house in ME, broke the jet ski off of its mooring, split the hull the whole length of the boat. Definitely going to be totaled.

Got me thinking, fun project:
The jet ski has a ~1500 cc 155 HP Rotax engine, indirect cooling system. I'm thinking about using this for a powerplant to build a mini buggy or go cart. The go cart is the easiest for sure, could potentially just find an old one and retrofit the motor for a simple chain drive. Pretty cheap/fun thing to tool around the campsites in. The mini buggy has me really thinking...single seat, whatever cheap axles I can find (D30/35 combo?) and drivelines. That part is easy. Mating it to a transmission might be difficult. I'm thinking direct drive might be a bit to much as this thing revs to 10k rpm. I'm guessing the Rotax is used in a few other BRP products, maybe that POS Can-Am trike...snag the tranny out of that and try and retrofit it to a transfer case? Thoughts?

[ZAEDOCK]

There's a couple of video's of a GSXR (or similar) powered 'Zuki buggy thing on Yout00b and IMO, it doesn't work very well.
To get any kind of torque, you'd need to spin to 10K rpm.

A go cart or small sand dart would be fun though. 2WD and lightweight.

[ArticRubi]

Yeah I just watched a few of those videos...a definitely lacking the torque needed at low engine speeds. I think the go cart idea is probably a winner provided I can get the motor and PCM at short money after insurance pays him off.

[Frank]

In another life time , a couple friends and I built a go-cart with a Kawasaki 500 triple two stroke . It was stupid fast , and looking back (way back ) dangerous. A whole lotta fun though. A stick shift for the 5 gears and a gas and clutch peddle set up. 13 in. rims and tires from a Hillman out back, and hung over the frame with pillow blocks. Stock steering up front. Drag brakes on the tires left a lot to be desired . Who knew ? Id say go for the cart and invite us older folks for a spin ! FjR68

[ArticRubi]

Useless thread revival...

Eh. Insurance offered buy back for $500. Not worth it. Too bad, would have been cool.