The recipe for a go-kart has been pretty straightforward throughout my life: a tube frame, simple steering rack, a bucket seat, steering wheel, four tires, two pedals (brake and gas) and a simple engine driving the rear wheels. From the 3-horsepower units at the kiddie course that my grandpa Ken would let me on when I was a wee little tot until the radical units that were built before the words “driver’s license” went from dream to reality, that was the program. There have been the psychotic builds that use street bike engines and there might have been a unit that used a 2.3L four stolen from a Ford Courier at one point in time, but for the most part? They are the same.
Junkyard Digs’ latest project is this beast. Don’t dismiss this as a home-made deal, this was a real deal machine. It’s a BKS Ground Hawg Dual, fitted with twin 6.5 horsepower Honda engines. The rear sprockets on this thing look like they belong on some old timber-cutting device laying around at an abandoned mill in the Pacific Northwest and the rear rolling stock looks like it was raided from a Honda FourTrax quad. In short, it looks fun enough. But what’s it really like?
After Kevin dusts off this barn find and gets the engines back into running order, you’ll see. This thing has 1970 Buick-like habits…that is to say, torquey down low. This is the first video with the engines in tired, stock order. He wants to build this thing up to something heroic. I just want to drive it once after he gets it there, spine be damned from the lack of suspension.
