Go Karts

[Drizzit]

So i have a house with 2.9 acres. About 1 acre is wetlands so i cannot do anything with it, and i say about .9 acres is the house so that leaves me with about 1 (or a little more then 1) acre of land to play around in. For people that do know what an acre is, it is about the size of a football field. So with all this land i want to do something with it. I had the idea of making a go kart track, my friends and a couple of male family members love the idea and would help make the track. My wife at first was against the idea, but now i think she sort of likes it but doesn't want to tell me that. So i was thinking that i should do it, it will not be cheap what so ever but i think it would be really cool to have a race track in the back yard (come on has anything one said to you lets go race in my back yard with go karts). Anyways looking on the web and saw a couple of karts fro around $700-900, which is a lot cheaper then i thought. I would probably need like 4 karts (there is no fun with 1 you know, 2 is fun, 3 is funner, and i think 4 would be great).

Here is the thing, money is tight, but with a little budgeting we could get this, but is it worth it. Yes, karts are fun, but will it be fun all the time? Will my friends come over once a month to race for the day? Will it get old fast? If i don't use them any more i could sell the karts for half the price to get some money so am not worried about the karts or anything. But the pavement that i put down as the track will still be there and it will be a pain to turn it into something else. There is also a speed way like 40 minutes from the house that i could go to, but the thing is some of the karts are slow as dirt (i could walk faster then drive it), which takes the fun out. The other thing is that i am not into cars too much, i am good with my hands, but for some reason i really didn't get into cars. Sense karts are like cars i don't know too much about them. The good thing is if i like karting i would probably learn about them more.

So what does everyone think. Should i get it and it will be used all the time, or don't get it cause i will get bored of it.

[HPB]

I always dreamed of having either a go-cart track or a mini-golf course of my own. I'd go for it. Don't forget that if it's a nice track there are other uses. If you have kids, they can ride bikes around it. It would be nice for walking around on (excerises is a must, especially for gamers!). You could also do RC-racing on it. It'd make a nice runway for remote-controlled aircraft too. I'm sure there tons of other creative uses for it. :D

I've seen folks on HDTV make mini-golf courses, putting greens, ect in their yards (sometimes front yards!). I don't think any of them regretted it ;)

[Drizzit]

Doing some more looking, being in RI sucks cause nothing is here (thank god mass is close), but the ones i was looking at where like off road ones which would be pretty cool, but now seeing the racing ones i am now thinking what way to go. With the racing ones i could race and stuff but they start off at 3k per cart, but they go up to speeds of 75 mph. The off road ones only go up to 45 mph. But then again do i want my kid to go 75 mph and crash (could careless about myself, but not my kid).

[Klamor]

if you don't mind all the noise, you could post signs around your town advertising go-kart racing for a small fee :) it would help maintain the go-karts and you would even be able to close it down on the weekends or something when you need some "quiet time"

also, i'm not sure but i think i saw go-karts at like wal-mart or something.... the type of go-karts really depends on the course you're making.... if you have more of a stadium course (e.g. nascar or something) you may feel safer with the faster kart, but if you're making a fun, windey course, the slow ones will probably be safer

[Katharsis]

Check into the cost of liability insurance while you're at it.

[HPB]

If you're in town, you probably can't get away with running it like a business. Zoning and all that... If you were out of town a bit, I'd suggest a few picnic tables and rent the track out for birthday parties or something. Otherwise, it'd be just cool to have for yourself. I'm sure the insurance will be higher if you use it to make money. Keeping it private will save some cost on that front. Also, it might be like a swimming pool... your insurance company may save you some money if you put up a fence to keep tresspassing kids out.

[Drizzit]

hmmm still stuck on what ones i want to get off road or on road. If the kids really get into it on road might be easier for them to get into. Well here is what i was thinking about getting for on road: Road Rat ('http://www.gatormoto.com/index.cfm?action=ViewDetails&ItemID=7')

Price isn't that bad, but trying to convince my wife is another story.

[Anozireth]

... i say about .9 acres is the house ... what an acre is, it is about the size of a football field. ...Are you saying your house is as big as a football field? You must live at the Palace of Versailles! :thumbsup:

[Elektroz]

My neighbor tried to do this, and his neighbor (on the other side of him) called the county and complained. Well, the zoning crew came out and told him that if he allowed anyone other than his family on the track it'd be illegal due to zoning problems. Well, a month later he has a party, and the police came over.. blah blah blah, and now nobody uses it (maybe the police told them to shut it down), and it's growing a bunch of grass atm... so i'd be careful about zoning and stuff, also, if someone is hurt on your go kart course, i do not want to imagine the mess that would cause. So i'd call someone from the city and explain to them what you plan on doing, and see if it's okay.

[moosejaw]

You are in Rhode Island. Everything is zoned in RI. They will want a construction permit to do the paving and you may need to rezone for the permit. And don't forget the environmental impact study because you have a wetlands nearby. Then they will up your property tax for the extra blacktop on your property.

I think some of the RI government types think they are not part of the United States. They refused to waive the sales tax on a used car I purchased while in the Navy. Even though there is a Presidential order waiving sales tax for active duty armed forces not stationed at thier Home of Record. I talked to one guy on the phone there that thought he was was god incarnate because he worked for the guv'ment in RI. Me "You are aware of the Soldier and Sailors relief act right?" Him "That doesn't apply to RI." Me "So RI has seceded from the United States?" Him "Go piss up a rope." To summarize.

I am never, ever going back there again. I mean, holy crap, you are ignoring a legal Presidential Order. Geesh.

[dirjax]

tbh... get off-road, much more fun than "just" racing around
and ... you could also take a bike / dirtbike / pocketbike / .... and have some fun on it :)

if your attention shifts you can still use the dirt-track, but a racetrack is less easy to change :)

[Bradster]

That sounds pretty cool. Semi-on topic around age 12 I got a 4-wheeler. We lived out in amish country so the amount of land to drive on was endless. Those were the days. I still have it, old 1988 Yamaha 200 4 stroke. My friend nick named it the pigger because it was slow compared to their 2 strokes but I could plow down some brush and keep on trucking doing a wheelie do to its weight. Actually I have a picture in the pic thread in the sticky of me on the old thing.

I have a funny story relating to go karts. I think I was 17 at the time, my friend and I were hanging out at his house, when one of his friends (I didn’t know him that well) called him up and said “Hey, this is my last day working at the go cart place. You guys come down and you can ride for free all day. My boss isn’t here”.

So we jump in my car and get down there. No customers were around just us, so all three of us took to the track and started racing around. Well his friend started ramming the hell out of my go cart with his, so we basically had an all out war playing bumper cars with what I’m sure was expensive go karts. My friend picked the slowest go kart unknowingly. So he suffered the most attacks, both of us sent him in to the tires a few times.

No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t catch his friend for payback for all the whip lash. 30mins has now past and his boss pulls in to the parking lot. When he pulls in this is what he sees.

He sees my friend mowing down every single cone on the track sending them flying.
His friend, the worker is in the middle of the track (all dirt) doing doughnuts kicking up dirt and dust making a smoke screen.
As I round the corner he noticed his boss pull in to the parking lot (I didn’t) he turns to tell me to stop and BAM I rammed his cart up on to two wheels and sent him over the tires haha.

At this point his boss began a sprint down to the track screaming. So we all pull in to the pit stop/starting area and I said (I’m such an ass) “What seem’s to be the problem sir?”. His boss “YOUR #@$%@#$% up my carts” fast forward pass all the screaming he told my friend and I to “leave” only he didn’t use those words XD.

So my friend and I are heading to my car and he we here the poor guy getting reamed out. A few months later I saw the guy at a local store and asked what happened after we left. He said that from all the horse play we cracked the frame and his dad had to weld it.
Lol. It’s one of those things where you had to be there but man was that one hell of a good time.

[-silencer-]

Regardless of how much land you have to use.. if neighbors complain about noise and neighborhood regulations don't like your use of the land, you can have problems. Better to keep it a dirt track and have fun with off-road gocarts/bikes/paintball/etc. I built one a few years ago with some used parts from broken ATVs, plus a 1300cc Suzuki motorcycle engine/transmission from a wrecked bike. It's badass to have a mini dune buggy with a full steel rollcage roostertail 0-60mph in less than 6 seconds on dirt.
Paving a track costs a TON of money - just look at how much it costs to pave a driveway. Getting rid of it later is even more expensive. Keep the land natural and have fun with it.