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Neurotikart!

And now, there's even the Redneck Neurotikart!

Update, Monday, 14 July 2008:
As promised, video of the "Retro" Neurotikart, which has now officially broken into highway speeds:
Update Sunday 13 July 2008
I don't know what got into me today, but I'd had these 4-bolt hubs since I built the first Neurotikart, and I'd never used them. So I ran out to the local Tractor Supply and got some tires and wheels to fit them. After some time with a wrench and a mallet, I got the result seen here.

I took a couple of runs down my street, but didn't have enough road to hit top speed. I summoned my friend Jimmy, who loves gadgets even more than I do. He grabbed his handheld GPS, and off we went to the Undisclosed Location for Secret Testing.

Well, despite the goofy look, the new tires ride quieter and smoother than the original slicks. With something like 60% more diameter, they're also faster. The GPS clocked me at 60.9 mph, or over 98 kph. Stay tuned for video of the little rocket, complete with idiotically grinning driver.
And yes, in case you were wondering, the trailer hitch is fully functional. It's used to pull the Neurotikart's own trailer, and serves as a kind of "hay ride". Kids love to ride in it, and no, of course I don't go fast. Top speed in hay-ride-mode is about 10 mph. The NK2 pulled about a half a ton around for a couple of hours yesterday. (1000 lbs = me, trailer, and about 12 kids averaging about 50 lbs each.)

Update 22 May 2008:
Of course, once you have a vehicle that can go fast, there's this creeping desire to go faster. I'm no different with the Neuroitkart. Every so often, I get in a situation where the kart is actually over-powered, and this helps cool down my wallet for a while. The following is one such situation:

I'm pleased to report that the D&D motor has well over 100 hours on it, and is still good as new. There must be over 100 people by now that have either driven or ridden on the kart, but few have ever driven it as hard as I routinely do. Anyway, if D&D ever needs a spokesperson or an endorsement, I'm the guy.
22 January 2008: Well, it's been a long time. So what's new?
I've got this tune that's been running through my head. It's called "Unchained", and it's by Van Halen. Why?
The characteristic sound of the Neurotikart, aside from squealing tires, has always been the whine of the chain and sprockets. Well, I've tired of that, and decided to try something new. I got belt, a driver, and a sprocket so I can go to rubber belting, kind of like what's used on a Harley. I had to fabricate a new hub for the driver, since it was originally intended for a gas motor with a tapered shaft. My motor has a straight 7/8 inch shaft with a keyway. Well, minor mods are still needed, but I did a test run of the Neurotikart 2 drive with a belt yesterday.
It's beautiful. More importantly, it's silent. Oh, I love it. Coming soon: The Stealth Neurotikart. Stay tuned.
Update, 23 August 2007: With the Summer drawing to a close, I can look back on some interesting times with the karts.

The Perm PMG-132 motor is now a paperweight. I'm not at all impressed with the motor's durability or the Perm company's response. One of the clips on the outer edge of the armature came loose, and while rattling around, managed to short some of the other windings. The resulting surges burned up some of the contact areas on the commutator. While the motor can still turn, I removed it and replaced it rather than risk damage to the controller.

Perm's response was that the motor was abused, despite the fact that I monitored the motor temperature, and allowed it to rest if it got to warm. Also, the failure occured when the motor was cold, and the previous run the night before was quite gentle. I got a total of less than 8 hours out of the Perm, so I won't even consider such a motor in the future. The distributor felt kind of bad about it, so they offered me a break on the replacement motor, the D&D ES-33.

There is not enough space for me to describe why and how much I like the ES-33. It's solid and fast. Consider D&D as an alternative to Advanced DC - they're at least as good - and probably better, and they cost less for a comparable motor. After over 30 hours of hard use, the D&D doesn't even appear broken in yet.

I've adapted a bicycle computer to the kart, so now I can see how fast I go. I've had Neurotikart 2 over 50 mph (85 kmh). I get this grin that just won't go away when I drive speeds like that.
Here is the inaugural drive of Neurotikart II.

This is the "break-in" test drive of the Neurotikart. In the opening of the video, I'm out of breath because I'd just taken the kart for it's first real spin. Prior to that, I really had no idea how the kart would perform, and as you can probably tell, I got a pleasant surprise.