Do Go Karts Need A Clutch?

More often than not, go karts do need their clutch but it’s not like the type of clutch that you will find in your car, for instance. It does not serve the exact same function either. In this application, a clutch on a go kart would be used more for like controlling your overall current RPM ( as opposed to just shifting your gears, like you would on a manual car ) . If you see any go kart sitting in its idle gear ( whether you put it there or not, he he he heh heh ) , you will know that the clutch is actually turned off. When your RPM and speed go up, then you know that you’ve engaged the clutch.

It’s similar to how, when your car turns on and ignites, and then you get off moving ( wherever you are headed ) , you know that the car is working. Well, that, in this case, is how you know the clutch is doing its job. And the go kart, as a whole, would not be able to move around ( like shifting speed, controlling RPM, helping with the acceleration on those turns, etc ) and do all it does without it.

“Engage the load” is a term or phrase you may hear quite often in the go kart world, and it simply means this : Make the clutch turn on, and make the go kart thus run. Dis – engaging it, thus, on that note, means doing the opposite : Turning it off. I recall not knowing what these two terms meant but hearing them all the time when I went to places like Water World and Boondock’s. I would hear “clutch” and freak out, thinking I was about to drive some sort of manual transmission go kart ( I didn’t even know how to drive a manual transmission car itself, and I still don’t, he he heh heh ) .

The centri – fugal clutch is the type of clutch that you will see in just about every single type of go kart around, these days. You use the clutch’s driver to shift the weight around, while on it, and the engine’s speed will eventually pick up. It will increase bit by bit. There are also other kinds of clutches, like variable transmission clutches, which basically just put less strain on the engine while also allowing its speed to rise higher, faster. A belt is run around the transmission, by which this is made possible, and you’ll find 2 pitch pulleys working around that belt.