Robin295 or Honda gx390

stephan-d

I have a 1996 EZ-GO TXT. The motor in it now is a Robin295 twin cylinder. I also have a Honda 13HP GX390. The cart has a lift kit on it and big tires. What motor i should go with. The Robin295 needs a little work it's been sitting for 6 years but the Honda is in good shape got it last week. But would the Honda have enough power to get the cart going? Or should i rebuild the Robin295? INFO NEEDED Thank you.

BGW

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ruredy

At the minimum with using the honda engine you'll have to address the clutch not fitting the engine issue and you'll have to make or get an engine cradle. buying these parts new will probably be around $500 maybe more, depends on the clutch. I'm sure there will be cost involved that i'm overlooking but if your real good at fabbin, you could do it sorta cheap. I guess then the only question would be is 4 more horse power worth it.

mikesmotortoys

I agree with Ruredy - That's alot of work and expense for only 4hp...

Monsterezgokid

Stephan, its really your choice.. The robin.. rebuild and just drop in..

Now the honda.. you will have to probably get a new clutch for it, and make a cradle. however, those gx390's have a nice assortment of performance goodies avalable. Because they are very popular with gocarting and lawnmower racing, you can make that little guy run in upwards of 30-35+hp.. if you want to spend the dough$$ But it would only be practical if your planning on doing a high powered lifted offroad type cart. Other then that, your best bet is to get the ol robin goin again.

jahaiap

You could also have the Honda crank turned to accept the stock clutch. Or a generator tapered crank for the Honda might fit the sock clutch, Im not farmiliar with tapers and i dont know how many tapers are out there.

I had the Honda gx390 and now I have the Clonda 420. Both of the Honda style motors will just barely get over 5k rpms with the governor removed and no valve floating. I took my governors both off and put on a tach to keep an eye on it. 5k is safe with these motors as per all the go cart websites. I dont think you could get anywhere near those rpms with the factory motor without building it up or blowing it up.

By far the 420 is the best but the honda 390 is still a big increase in performance over the stock engine. If your honda is elec. start I would consider that first. If its not dont count on converting it untill you check for the charge coil mounts because mine didnt have them, so i got the clone with electric start already. I have a club car, but I think in your ezgo you would need 2 pieces of 1'' square tube to sit under your motor for the valve cover the clear the transmission.

Im not an expert and dont know much about the stock motors. That is my opinion.

James

GXTsandman

30-35+hp that could be fun

scottyb

I have done the 390 clone and I don't think the 4 hp is worth a new engine cradle, belt, clutch, fuel pump, throttle cable, air filter, ignition etc...... Go with a stock fresh motor!

jahaiap

No matter what anyone tells you... that isnt a reliable 30-35 hp. That would be a purely racing motor. If you want to mod any of those motors get a briggs v-twin 18 or 20 or 23 and be done with it. And gain torque!! The appeal of the hondas/clones is that they are simple to install and cheaper than a "real" big block. From what Ive seen the cost of a new stock motor is almost the same as a briggs v-twin, if you cant afford either of those get a clone. A clone and a clutch is still cheaper than a big block.

James

hunt4deer

i just posted about the 18 opposed b&s.

is this robin the same motor i have? mine is like 2005 st sport 2 ? the black one from tractor supply.

if so what dimention is the out put on the robin crank? i was thinlin it was streight 1'

sho305

Old thread but....I just put a clone 16hp in and it was a project to fab the mount/intake/exhaust. If you can and like doing that, it is way worth it because it just blows away the stock 9hp. It has tons more low end torque, it will spin the tires climbing hills my stock cart (next in line for 16hp) will barely crawl over. That said the top end is flat, it does not want to rev much more than the stock yami, though yami do rev fairly high stock I could get 30gps on a flat road and this 16 is only getting around 2mph better (on 22s)...but we have not stood on it for much distance due to low hours on it. But you can tell it takes off hard and pulls hard to after the clutch shifts all the way, then it backs off. The stock engine sort of keeps pulling but has less power. Since in a race you are 10 cartlengths ahead of the stock engine not like it matters that much. So I'm looking around for mods that would help the topend a little I can do before I bolt it into my cart.

Next issue is cost, its about 380 shipped for the 16hp I got (red one). It is around $650 last time I called the yami dealer for a rebuilt swap that I bring in. I had to buy the $50 clutch adaptor and had something like another 50 in various parts and pumbing, used airbox and muffler off a car, etc....and lots of time to figure it all out and build the throttle/choke linkages. The engine mount was the easy part, it was only two 3/8x2" bars and a piece of 1.25" sq. tubing. We used the stock clutch and generator, but did use an electric start engine should we change our minds its not much more and just fit in there. So, this way it was cheaper than rebuilding the stock engine for about twice the power, but lots of shop labor time.

Note the clone GX390 is really a GX420 clone that does not exist. The 15/16hp clone is a bored and stroked GX390 13hp (that is what I read anyway) and most honda parts will fit it though some stuff is slightly different. The engine is sold as a 16hp, but says 15hp in the manual. I assume with a free flowing exhaust and intake it is 16hp now.