I gotta say anytime I see one of those videos with a left handed shifter it trips me out. Even more so when I see that it shifts backwards (forward for up and back for down) like the first video in your post.
3 Likes
The more interesting prospect is the mini shifter at East Lansing. I predict the best cadet shifter drivers on yellows would run 33s. Yes, thatâs a 9 year old doing that.
Jeez. Everyone is in such a rush to grow up.
1 Like
Ah, the million dollar question.
LAKC will run it, but thatâs because the Musgraves control LAKC. However, LAKC failed to complete the 2023 race season as scheduled due to a lack of entries, meanwhile Tri-C has become the dominant club in the region. I donât think introducing an entirely new class structure to that situation is going to bring enough entries to turn that around based on the fact that youâre drawing from a smaller potential client pool.
Nationally speaking, SKUSA, Rok and Rotax all operate closed ecosystems based on purpose built engines. So if they want a national series, itâll be a brand new effort.
3 Likes
Im hoping the engine becomes allowed in stock honda/stock Moto for road racing. 95% the speed of a kz but 1/3 of the maintenance. The class has been slowly dying due to lack of honda parts.
1 Like
Thanks! 20 letters and stuff
Road racing Iâd say youâre looking at a 250 single being 105% of a KZ. Sprint not so much. As it stands (Given equal driver and setup ability) a 250 single on a superkart chassis (80lb+ disadvantage) is faster than a KZ.
Thatâs not to say you couldnât hold back the 250 to try and match a KZ, but I feel like thatâs kinda going down a new rabbit hole of variables.
I was referencing the 125cc Yamaha with the stock honda! Sorry I know were in the 250cc thread but I was under the impression we were talking about the whole lineupâŚ
Ahhhh. I had a YZ125 some time ago. Great engine.
As always itâs âIâll buy this engine to race my seriesâ versus âIâll race this series to run my engineâ !
We run an Open shifter class at Rock Island GP⌠After the start KZs only use the top gears. 80 MPH on back straighat. Wonder how that would work? Guess I donât have to wonder until someone asks 
1 Like
I didnât realize it was open to shifters over 125?
Right now just the 175
Very interested to see how it plays out. Right now, both the 125 and 250 are in no mans land.
The 125 will not have anything else to race against. It will not be competitive against other KZ type shifter engines.
The 250 is way down on power to other 250 stuff that is being roadraced. 55hp is not going to bowl anyone over and Iâm sure at the pricetag of a new YZ250, you would have many other options. A stock/spec 250 class would be awesome if it can garner enough support!
1 Like
I mean youâve seen the guidelines for commercial posting right? Now that said, I can give this a pass because you contribute to the community a lot (Even if MRC themselves donât).
Do you have a timeline on when they will actually be available and when people can get some actual info⌠Or even a pic? Pricing?
Figure you might as well make the freebie commercial post worth your time rather than relying people to hunt the internet for rando YZ pics and specsâŚ
Canât you at least get a top end rebuild out of it? Free advert?
While I am no fan of spec-classes, I donât think itâs fair to say âyouâve got no one to race againstâ. That can be said for every single classes that ever existed at the start. I think the 125s could get some of the Stock Moto market or whatâs left of demand for it. There is a âshifterâ culture in America that you donât really see elsewhere, hence why the Stock Moto class was quite successful.
The point of the 250 as far as I can tell is to deliver performance a bit better t than a KZ, but with less maintenance. I can see what they are going for with that. It might not be 250 National state of tune, but it doesnât have to be within a spec-environment.
I canât say whether any of it will be a success, but I can see what they are attempting to do. A full cadet-adult shifter kart structure. It makes sense
1 Like
Looks like a Raider Kart! My old team mate Phil Featherstone builds them. I raced 250 National back in the 80âs/90âs Long Circuit some of the best years of my life.
2 Likes
Haha thatâs funny. I raced 250âs in the UK for many years with the shifter push forward to go faster back to slow down. Now living in SoCal a friend bought a 125 shifter and knew I had raced before and asked me to drive it first to see how it went. Well I could not get use to shifting the opposite direction and came in after 5 laps shaking my head 
1 Like
Maybe itâs the difference in long course versus short course. In sprint youâre weight is thrown back and forward so much under acceleration and deceleration it makes so much more sense to pull for upshift and forward for down. All matter of opinion though.
3 Likes