I need to buy a complete Honda 110 engine (the type with the horizontal jug). I bought a go-kart (imported from China). It is a very nice machine, but the engine is absolute junk. It is a reverse engineered knock off built as cheaply as they could and still get it to run. They sell engine replacements for as low as $250.

I see different companies selling engines, but can't find hardly any info on them. The two I see most often are Lifam and NICE.

Lifam appears to be built in Thailand. It looks very different than what my kart came with, and the websites have all kinds of testimonies and positive copy, but how much do you rely on that? They appear to sell for about $350 - 400.

NICE seems to be a hot little racing engine that for some reason comes up mostly on UK based websites. These seem to go for about $1000.

Anybody know anything about these engines in particular, or advice on other Honda 110 replacements?

__________________
Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Dixie Chopper


Actually, I also bought spare engines From a lawn mower company that I absolutley cannot get to the front of my brain right now. I tried googling it but it was a nightmare...
(ETA: Used them for go carts and mini bikes.)
I found this though, during that google search:
http://www.jackssmallengines.com/

I just remembered. Yazoo.

Suffered a coronary in the process...

http://www.yazookees.com/node1269.asp

Appreciate the help, but the ones I'm looking for are more like this:

http://www.hooperimports.com/dept.asp?dept_id=02

These are the Lifan, and seem to be available via several websites. They are slightly more spendy than the replacements from my kart maker, and do look different; but I'd really like to find somebody that has used them.

__________________
Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

fjd,
if the engine is so poor, what makes you want to put another in a frame and transmission that would be as bad?
John

The faulty nature of one compnonent does not necessarily scrap a device.

Different manufacturers make different compononts- which ultimately are assembled by the builder/seller.

In one case you may have high quality with relative inexpense and in another, you get what you pay for...

It's the other way around. Most everything but the engine is very very well done. It appears they purchase the rolling stock as a unit, then slip their super-cheap fake Honda engine in. It's almost like the engine is a throwaway. You get about 10 hours out of it, then throw it out and buy a real engine.

That is how I'm treating it anyway. Even if I have to spend $500 for a real engine, I've still got a very nice machine for the money. You should see how well it is built. Of course one of my daughters had to prove it by rolling it while doing 30 down the starightaway. Scared the beejesus out of her, but no injuries to her or kart. The harness held her in the seat, and not so much as a bent roll bar. I rolled her back over and off she went.

__________________
Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

i have found a couple of sites for you : www.dratv.com and this is another www.faddybike.com/monkeyengine.htm
cant you get reconditioned ones they might be cheaper? not saying they will last longer.
if it was a bigger engine i have a fireblade engine but its 400cc.
or go on e-bay you might pick something up there, didnt want to advertise that though, but there is always a chance.
or another go to where they dump broken cars and bikes (scrap yard)
it is sad when you buy something direct and it turns out to be duff not the homer simpson drink mind
i will keep my eyes open have a large biking family might be able to help you with this

Thank you for that. I did check ebay, and there were a few horizontal 110's out there. They are all basically the same, just minor connection differences depending on whether they were put in an an ATV, 3-wheeler, go-kart or little cycle. My expert mechanic has seen the Chinese knock-offs and says it would be about the same cost to rebuild a trashed genuine Honda as to buy another knock-off; and it would last.

I'll add those sites to my research list.

Amazing - there is a whole sub-culture around these little things that I had no idea existed. They trick them out (sky is the limit - I saw exhaust systems for over $400) and make them really scream. I guess it all started because the price of the old originals got so high - nostalgia value. I see a really clean old Honda CT70 can easily go for over $2K.

__________________
Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley