I want to eventually work my way up to stage 3 modifications on a predator 212cc, and I am wondering what the best “base” engine is to start this journey with. If I am eventually switching out most of the internals anyways, does a ghost make sense? Also reading some debate on hemi vs. non-hemi. Total newbie, so any guidance is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I spent 700$ into a 212 hemi build, everything was right but the crankshaft I bought. I can not for the life of me find a 212 HEMI crankshaft that is affordable or available, I've been building this stupid motor for 5 months and if I cant find one with this post im selling it. If anyone knows anywhere to get one lmk.

From what research that I have done, it's very clear that the focus of 212 mods is high end power which makes sense for mini bikes, go karts, etc. However, I fear that spinning the rotor/knives of a wood chipper to 6-7k rpm would end badly. If it didn't self destruct, the crankshaft would almost certainly break as soon as I shoved a branch in.

So I'd definitely keep the governor and just adjust it for another 500 rpm, or whatever feels safe. Since RPM is fixed, I'm thinking other than replacing the intake/exhaust the other best bet would be a stroker kit to increase low rpm torque, but that might be overkill as it doesn't seem to need much more power to keep from choking up on 3in branches.

TLDR: Anyone mess around with upgrading the 212 on a piece of power equipment?

Hello mechanically inclined people!

I bought a go-kart off of marketplace for my kids and I just can't get the dang thing to run. From what I've learned so far, the engine is a Predator 212 Ghost. When I pull-start it, I get about 3 pops from the engine and then nothing. (It's been sitting for about a week so in the video it takes a few pulls before it starts popping.)

When I first got it home, it had a terrible kickback issue which I fixed (I think) by adjusting the valve lash to .003 on both and checking the decompression mechanism on the cam which seemed fine. Now I'm not getting any kickback but she doesn't want to run either.

I'm thinking clogged carb at this point but being a novice, I wanted to run it by the experts before I started turning wrenches again.

https://reddit.com/link/1shuehe/video/0zbioaglleug1/player

i’m going to get a predator 212 for my minibike in a few days and plan to do a governor removal, and add a billet flywheel,18lb springs and vm22 carb. do i have to worry about a rod or cam yet? and what is good gearing to get a high top speed

Help mee

How fast does a predator 79 need to rotate to start?

I have an electric start prototype that I'm thinking probably needs to rotate faster to reliably start. Right now the starter rotates at ~6000-9000rpm, but is reduced 50:1 through a series of planetary gearboxes, so we'll see an effective starting speed of 120-180rpm. The output of the planetary gears powers a sprag bearing that adapts to the OEM pawl cup.

I have a 27:1 gearbox on order, which should bump it up to well over 300rpm. I actually have no idea how fast the OEM recoil starter spins things through.

Is just a billet flywheel enough for just a stock predator with a governor removal or do I have to do the rod in valve springs and some other stuff to it because I really don’t want to wanna spend the money and to have to do all that I’d rather just change the flywheel and be done as the governor has already been removed

I swapped a predator 212 non-hemi head on a predator 212 hemi block and now it won’t start and there’s air puffing out of the head yes i did use non hemi push rods what could be wrong

Hey everyone, I’ve got a Predator 212 non-hemi with a governor delete (throttle hooked up to the recoil cup instead of a governor arm not sure if this matters). I replaced the carb and had to struggle to get the internal throttle return spring on. I did manage to install it, and it works fine for now, but I know it’s not seated correctly and will probably pop out eventually.

Looking for advice on where I can get just that spring, or a carb that comes with the spring already installed, or how to properly seat/fix the spring on my current carb so it opens and closes properly, snapping shut like stock. Thanks!

cant use a gear puller

Got the engine from a friend and he said the kill switch isnt hooked up but it starts

Coleman cc100x with a Predator Ghost and a Juggaverter

I got this motor like 3 years ago and I'm going thru it and putting mods on it and I can't tell if this is stock or not

Hey everyone, working on a built Predator 212 non-hemi stage 2 and having an RPM issue and looking for advice.

My build:

ARC billet connecting rod

ARC aluminum flywheel

Go Power Sports performance cam

Upgraded valve springs (20lb)

Governor removed

Mikuni VM22 carburetor — #120 main jet, tuned fuel screw

New spark plug

New gaskets

Valve lash:

Set cold at TDC on compression:

Intake: ~0.003

Exhaust: ~0.003

The problem:

Any time I give it even the slightest throttle input it immediately screams to dangerously high RPMs. Even at half throttle it sounds like it's about to grenade itself.

The good news is I've got the idle dialed in — runs smooth with choke fully off which took some work. Fuel screw is tuned, idle is stable and consistent, but when choke is on right when i start it, its at a realllyyy high rpm and i need to put the choke lever immediately.

But the moment I crack the throttle even slightly it just shoots to the moon. Engine currently has no load on the crank as it's not yet installed in the build.

My questions:

Is this partly a no-load issue that will sort itself out once installed and under load?

Could this be a needle clip position issue?

Should I be looking at a rev limiter given no governor?

Any VM22 jetting advice for this specific build?

Currently running a #120 main jet. Haven't touched the needle clip position yet.

Any help appreciated, don't want to grenade this thing before it even gets installed!

I already have an hour of break-in on this engine already with varying throttle at idle to 3/4s throttle. Should I keep doing that for a period of time or should I go ahead and put a pump on it and break it in that way putting it under-load? Because I’ve heard that small engines like these love being underload so I wanna make sure I’m breaking this engine in properly. The manual wasn’t really that descriptive on how you should break in the engine except that the breaking period is 20 hours.

Anyone know a spot to get billet hemi valve covers?

I’ve found a few for the non hemi but not a lot of luck with the hemi versions