gokart governor removal

[surftheworld]

ive got an old 5hp b&s horizontal drive on my go kart. we have a straight pipe on it and ram air. i was wondering how to remove the governor and also if the ram air is even doing anything??

[Pilot Dane]

Even with a well designed intake, you will not get much usefull manifold pressure boost from a ram air intake until you are 130-150mph+. Put on a good air filter and save the wear on the engine.

First the warning: Removing the govenor will shorten engine life and you may blow the engine causing serious bodily injury. Without the govenor there is nothing other than your brain to stop the engine from reving to the point it goes "kaboom". If you don't want to go into the engine to remove all the govenor parts just disconnect the linkage from the carb.

[surftheworld]

how much more rpm range am i going to unlock by just removing the linkage and how much more by removing the entire governor? Also would using tubing going to a cylinder airfilter be less restrictive than the traditional flat airfilter?

[Pilot Dane]

You will get 99.99% of the benefit just by disconnecting the govenor linkage. You will gain a very, very, very little bit of power and save some weight by removing the internal govenor parts. It's not really worth the effort unless you are building a race engine. In a race engine you are pushing the engine right to the edge and don't want anything that is not needed that could break and take the engine down with it.

If you are going to stay at reasonable rpm's than a clean stock air filter will work fine. The higher rpm you run the more you wil benefit from a free flowing filter. Most racers use a cotton & oil (K&N style) cylindrical air filter and usually add an oiled foam outter sleeve.

At high rpm's your engine will make metal (wear) considerably faster. Change your oil very often. Most racers change oil after every race (5-10 minutes run time).

With the govenor removed you can potentially turn very high rpm's. Your clutch and chain will pose an increased hazard. Make sure you have a sturdy guard that will contain the clutch and chain when they break. Getting slapped with a broken chain or getting hit in the head by a clutch shoe can ruin your day.

With the govenor off, and a free flowing air filter your header (exhaust) pipe will take on greater importance. A longer, smaller diameter pipe tends to help the lower end; while a shorter large diameter pipe helps the engine develop a bit more power at high rpm's.

Also, as you push the engine harder cooling will become more critical. Make sure you mixture is adjusted properly. The fuel does a lot to cool the engine so don't run it too lean until you get some experience with it.

[surftheworld]

thanks for all the help, but i still cant figure out where or how to take the governer linkage off. can yo explain or do yo have any pictures of how it works?