Irk’s Art & Machine

These girls love to ride. Every time you here a rev, that’s Edy. I couldn’t keep that girl off the throttle. If I have a future racer, it’s in Edy. The girl loves to go fast.

OHV trails still closed, so I make due in the back deck yard. Camera gets hit by a stick first lap.

With the fear and track record of pillow block casting failures, we decided to fab bearing tubes out of .188 thick dom tubing and flanged bearings. There will be no failures here... #cyclekart #beefyaxles #trialanderror #doitsafe #augustaprep #augustaprepmotorsports #irksartandmachine

Another day in the shop with the @augustaprep Motorsports team. Another step closer to making this a roller... #apmotorsports #augustaprepmotorsports #cyclekart #builtnotbought #teachkidstobuild #goracing @ Irk’s Art & Machine

A great way to spend winter break- building our #cyclekart chassis with the @augustaprep Motorsports team. #augustaprepmotorsports #builtnotbought #goracing #teachakidtobuild #dowhatyoulove

Often, mistakes turn into ideas. Tonight I screwed up one of our SR185 hubs for the #cyclekart trying to remove the bearings. We had yet to come up with a great solution for converting the SR hubs to drive wheels on the rear axle. Luckily, I smashed the center of the hub, which gave me the idea to completely cut it out, tap the remaining ring and mount the kart hub to the SR hub. Not only do we have a good hub, but we also have an option for positive or negative offset. #makingthebestofit #turnlemonsintolemonade #augustaprepmotorsports @ Irk’s Art & Machine

Sometimes a bike can become hard to let go of. Thinking one more season with this old school DR370. I just fit a 36mm Mikuni flatslide on it and plan to get a better exhaust. Add that to the PE250 front end, and the DR400 swingarm makes this a pretty capable machine... #dr370 #suzuki #vintagesuzuki #dirtbike #woodsbike #irksartandmachine

There’s a rule in this business. Never say anything is easy until you’re completely done. With many of these parts coming from swap meets, it’s hard to positively identify their manufacturer without further research. I knew I had two very, very close wheels for the front of the cycle kart. As it turns out, one is Honda and one is Suzuki. The hubs measure up all the same except one detail. The outside bearing on the Suzuki wheel has a smaller OD than all three other bearings on both wheels. Yay. I got to take a wheel apart and machine a hub. I hope my guys are excited to build a spoke wheel. Great excuse to lighten it up a bit and true it up... #cyclekart #bearings #matchymatchy #augustaprepmotorsports #ap4life #augustaprep

To convert the cycle kart spindles over for motorcycle wheels, I had to swap wheel bearings to 16mm ID. Then machined a KZ650 front axle into two 16mm x 4.5in axles and pressed them into the kart spindles. Pretty simple swap... #cyclekart #racekartparts #augustaprepmotorsports #augustaprep #ap4life

I had resorted to doing this cycle kart with a live axle until I remembered I have a Peerless differential from an old 70’s BGW Tri-Rod. Needless to say, it took a bit of restoring as the before pic shows. I literally had to cut the sleeves, bearings and brakes off the axles to make this work. The funding of a project isn’t always cash money. Sometimes, it’s a sore back, a busted hand, a few hours of labor, and a bit of ingenuity...#builtnotbought #cyclekart #vintageracer #augustaprepmotorsports #irksartandmachine @ Irk’s Art & Machine

I finally have this engine built. If only I had a stator cover and clutch adjuster cover. I got it totally put together only to realize the box of parts had neither... #xs650 #vaporhone #takeitapartandputitbacktogether #hellride #heavymetalsled #irksartandmachine

Frosty intakes from my ride into work this morning... #frigid #cb750 #hondachopper #sohc4 #vintagehonda #ridewhenyoucan #hellride #noplunger

Me and my love of Hondas goes way back. And my sis was already challenging social norms... #honda #elsinore #vintagehonda #vintageseventies #topless #thanksmom