'Prone Kart'

[Ingested Banjo]

I like riding down hills on my bike, for pretty much the same reason as I like coasters, except that there is a bit of extra excitement generated from you being in control that makes up for the lack of vertical drops / airtime / loops etc.

Trouble is, the bike is slightly unstable being on only two wheels, and I would like to turn round tight corners faster. Also, I thought it might make a nice touch to be able to go head first down the hills. Thus the prone position go kart was created in my head.

I would really like to build it, but I have almost no practical experience of building anything, having never built any projects when I was little. I have asked my teachers, but unfortunately they all say that there is a health risk with going down hills headfirst, so they will not be able to advise me on building the kart.

I have already designed most of it, but there are a few things I'd like advice on.
Basically I'm going to have a rectangular chassis made of 4 steel poles, 2 across as axles, and 2 lengthways to hold the piece of wood to hold me up.
The wheels will spin independently as the vehicle is not powered. The front wheels will be connected like this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ackermann_steering_geometry
The body will be protected by a roll cage made out of some curved bits of metal.
There will be a fender on the front made out of some metal, and a plastic transparent visor.
I think I've covered everything. Apart from brakes. This is what I need most help with. I can't figure out how the brakes will work. I want something easy to make which won't result in a lot of failed attempts by me at making it, but something which will slow the kart down safely. If the wheels were welded directly onto the axle, then I could use a simple brake by touching the pad against the axle, but the wheels areweird as well. Could I just put some metal onto the tyre so that when I press it it rubs against the tyre? I want back brakes as well, could these be attached to my feet so that I just drag them against the road, or will this really not work?

I would really appreciate any ideas and advice, and I'll keep this topic up to date with my progress, and hopefully include some pictures if I finish the project.

 

[Ollie]

Isn't there a sport like this already where people race down steep hills head first on long skateboard things?

 

[kimahri]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeleton_(sport)

And

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_luge

 

[Ingested Banjo]

Yes but

I want to build a kart myself to put on my UCAS!

I want to go round corners faster than just leaning round them.

I want to have proper brakes and protective visors/rollcages etc

I don't wanna go round a preset track of ice, because I don't have one of them nearby...

I'd already thought about that, but thanks anyway. The closest thing on the market to what I want is the product of a company called Xtreme Sleds Corp, but they don't have brakes and I think they sell for about 500 quid, and I'm not paying that much for this.

EDIT: There is also a type of modified skateboard called a longboard, which people sometimes use for lying down on, but that has no steering except to lean around corners, and practically no protection at all.