THE COLEMAN KT196 GOKART
"KATIE"
As is the case around here, we end up getting into other things as time progresses, as is the case with powersports stuff like gokarts. We had a short visit with some gokarts many years ago then fell back as we got into regular cars. As time progressed, we found that powersports is actually easier to partake in versus full sized cars. One can get a gokart or similar machine rolling in a weekend versus a year for a whole car from start to finish. Not that we'll stop working with regular cars but there will be a pull back in the amount of regular car work, mainly focusing on cars we plan on keeping. The exception is when a project is done for profit.
Anyway, this brings us to the Coleman KT196 Gokart. We got this thing many years ago from a friend, only needing to do minor refreshing to get the thing rolling. As time progressed the gokart fell into a state of disrepair, mainly with the carburetor, which is always the case with any small engine machinery. I ended up having to replace the driven and driver cutches and belt in the torque converter assembly as these components were failing, not allowing the kart to even drive. Luckily, the parts for any KT196 are plentiful and cheap on Amazon and elsewhere. The engine in the KT196 is the same Chonda clone, based off the Honda 200 engine. The predator 212 fits in this family just as well so parts are interchangeable.
As time progressed and the gokart sat, the same things happened again, the carb became gummed up and trash, needing replacement. At least replacements on Amazon are super cheap. After some initial tests I found the brakes were nonfunctional, needing a full rebuild from front to back. Again, replacement parts were cheap so I was able to get the master cylinder assembly and caliper installed and bled, allowing us to safely stop the machine after jetting off with our fresh carb.
As time progressed and we continue to have fun with the KT196, I found out there is a whole world out there when it comes to powersports. There's all kinds of upgrades that can be done to gokarts and minibikes or any powersports machinery out there. In the case of the Chonda engines, one can take one of these engines and with a bunch of upgrades be able to turn this anemic 6hp engine into a monster that can crank out 3x the power it started with. Of course that means we had to get into this fun with a Mikuni carb and exhaust upgrade to get some more juice out of this already entertaining gokart.
With the gokart now officially in sketchy territory, we became intrigued at what else could be done to this machine. After a component failure with one of the steering spindles, which is common with this gokart, it was later discovered that there is an aftermarket upgrade for electric start on the Chonda engines. This now means that the KT196 can become more "car" like, in the sense that one can just hop in and crank it over like a car, no more yanking cords and shoulders just to start the engine. Other upgrades include adding a timing advance key for the flywheel to add a little more power as well as remove the governor assembly inside the engine so it can rev up as high as the rest of the internals would allow.
The next order of business in the future will be adding stiffer valve springs to allow the engine to handle higher revolutions without suffering valve float, possibly a better ignition coil and a pulse pump to help push more fuel to the carburetor. I can also play around with different jets to find a sweet spot for the modified engine for maximum power. Another thing that I will want to do is look at upgrading the steering spindles to something with a little more strength compared to the stock setup. This might even require finding parts from a larger gokart that handles more severe duty then modifying the control arms or even upgrading those as well and strengthening the frame for the beefier parts. Only time will tell as we continue to play around with the KT196, which I think can be known as Katie, for obvious reasons.
