Buy used man. I've seen 800 joyners for 3-4thou on craigs list. If it's used then you dont feel so bad welding on it.

Tobov119,
I have had my Roketa gk25 since June of 06 and other then the 3 point axles it came with it has been a great buggy. AB power sport has the new six point axles and other parts as well. That said it has broke a few times but nine times out of ten it was the riders fault not the way the buggy was built. Had to replace the motor two years ago but that was my nephews fault and mine for not having gages for him to ignore and even then west coast made me a motor with a nice cam so I could have more at the low end for the type of riding I do slow and rocky.
RRN

Well, I have done tons of research and read the replys here. I went to a Joyner dealership locally. The Joyner, in my opinion, is the Corvette of the buggy world in this category (800cc). A brand new Joyner 800 is right at $8500 for an 2009.

If I lived in Phoenix, AZ, I could get a really nice, USED, kart for $4500. But I am a thousand miles away from there. I'm in the Dallas/Ft Worth area.

I have decided on an SSR, SRB800 kart. I have found another local dealer in Ft Worth, TX, killermotorsports.com, and I think I am getting a good deal on a NEW kart for $4500 that I should take delivery on later this week. I consider this kart, based on the tons of material I have read and peeps I have talked to, in the mid-range. It helped that the dealer I am using has an A rating with BBB, and has a real storefront.

I just cant see dropping 9 grand on a first kart, for what I am going to be doing. The other aspect is, I figure I can break a bunch of junk and fix it myself and still be way ahead of the game.

We shall see how it goes. I intend on giving a review on my buying, assembly, first run, etc, experiences on here.

I have been bit by the "buggy bug", and to my pleasant surprise, my girl is just as excited about the purchase as I am. I think a had her sold with the test rides we did. Thanks for all the support on here. I look forward to being out on a trail very soon.

Good for you man...
Definitly give us a lot of pics and an honest opinion of your experience.
Video and pics are awesome...
Remember to have fun...
Good luck.

Welcome to the sickness. Probably a little late to the party but there is a 2005 650cc Joyner on the OKC Craigslist for $3000 and it is in Wayne, Ok. I wish I had the clams for a big boy like that, but I am thankful for what I have a the present time. Good luck with the choice you make and you will definitely enjoy it.

Ok, so I bought the SSR SRB800. I paid for it on Nov. 3rd, and I picked it up at the dealer on Nov. 9th. To save $400 in shipping to my home, I picked it up in the crate, so they had to forklift it onto the trailer that I used to take it home. So now how did I get it off the trailer? Well, I have a buddy with a flatbed wrecker, so he got it off the trailer and put it into my garage for me. That cost me $20. Also to save an additional $300, I am going to put it together, instead of them.

Word to newbies: Either have access to a forklift, or have it home delivered, and have them set it in your garage for you, otherwise, it is going to be an ordeal for you.

I plan on going through the entire buggy myself and checking single piece on it.

When I took all the boxing and some of the metal frame off, this is what I had in the garage.



The crate was pretty substantial, and overall, it was packed up pretty well. I started working on getting it to a rolling chassis. I started by jacking up the rear frame and installing the rear tires, then the shocks on each side. The back section went together with no probs.

I moved to the front of the kart and started putting the steering knuckles on, and then the shocks, followed by the front tires. I had an issue getting the upper left castle nut to tighten up properly. It is going to take an impact wrench, at another buddies shop.

Next was the rack and gas tank. When I unwrapped the gas tank, I discovered that the fuel line outlet with valve had been broken off. The threaded part was in the tank, and I discovered the other part in the wrapping. I will need one of these. The threaded part came out with an easy out. It was made out of cheap pot metal. A brass fitting will be installed to replace it.




I got the seats installed, the rack, and its starting to look like a kart. I went to put radiator fluid in it, and I noticed one of the bolts holding the radiator on the frame was cross threaded and not fully tighteded. Nearly an hour later, I had this fixed.

I then added radiator fluid to the "burp" tank and it immediately started to drip. The radiator overflow tank, aka "burp tank", was very poorly made, and it leaked along the bottom seam. This will have to be replaced.

I mounted all the roll bars and put together the lights on the top roll bar. This model is supposed to have 5 lights across the top, however the wiring harness sent with this buggy had only three light plugs. So I only installed three of the lights.



Tonight, I will be working on fixing the gas oulet issue, and I am going to re-plumb the gas lines, as the way it came from the chinese, they did a sorry job on this. I am going to try to get it to run tonight.

Overall, so far, things are better than I actually expected. My dealer, killermotorsports.com, has done a good job on the sale and shipping, and this morning when I called to report the broken parts, he was on it to get me replacements. So, I am happy so far with their service.

More updates to follow.

That looks like one killer machine. Hope she fires right up for you.

Well, I am still working on the gas tank outlet issue. The brass fitting I put in the tank is somewhat leaking. Tightening it stopped the leak, but I am not satisfied with this. I am going back to the hardware store for a better fitting that I plan on soldering to the gas tank.

I got the motor started and she started right up, settled into a nice idle, and purred along like a cat getting a head scratch. Sounds good, no leaks, no smoke; no problems with the motor. I did go over it and check everything before I started it.

Since it was running, I took it down the street for a short run. The shift linkage needs a little love, but it went in all gears, and is torque abundant. The brakes were somewhat okay out of the box, but need some attention, so I decided to bleed them out.

To my horror, I attempted to open the brake fluid caps to add fluid. The screws were already stripped out. I had to drill the screws heads off and pull the lids, then take pliers and remove the remaining screw stud. Luckily, this went pretty easy. When I got the lids off, the fluid didn’t look right. I pulled that fluid out and put fresh in. I then proceeded to attempt to bleed the brakes, accept that no fluid came out the front.

I ended up having to pull the whole master cylinder off the kart, take in apart, clean it, and the plungers and valve holes inside, and put it all back together to get the stuff working like it should. I am pretty sure that someone put anti-freeze fluid in the brake system, but I am not for sure. I cleared most of it out, and later today, I am going to bleed the system completely out.

If I were someone buying the kart, without a shop full of tools, and mechanical knowledge, going to put it together and try to ride it, say, on Christmas Day, I would be screwed, blued, and tattooed.

Buying one of these karts, in the crate, from the warehouse, is NOT the way to go for the average guy with no mechanical skills. It is about what I actually expected it to be.

More later!

Nice man. You never know what kind of fluid these folks put in these rhings. How wide and long is this thing?

Question response: It is 67 inches wide at the front wheels, with an 88 inch wheelbase. It is about 65 inches tall at the top roll bar from the floor, overall, about 9 feet from front to back.

I finally got my gas lines and gas outlet from tank the way I wanted it. A trip to the hardware store, and $12 later, it looks like this:



I also bought a little chrome dress up, and got a chrome air cleaner to replace the factory junk air box, and I bought a chrome breather for the valve cover.



The last issue, still to be addressed is the left front upper castle nut on the steering knuckle, won't tightened down and I need an impact wrench. Hopefully this will be fixed Friday, then Saturday, it's out for a test run.

I am looking for a water temp and oil pressure gauges, and a tachometer for this beast. Anyone have ideas where to find these? It is the HH368Q engine.