I took my 4yr old and 6 months (37" 30 lbs) to OKC and did put him in about 8 of 1 on 1 training (coach van is great). I then got him a ninebot go kart pro to drive around a large parking lot.
once he turned 5 I took him to united karting in DC where they have a karting university with bambinos . after his first race in a rental I got him his own 50cc Honda compkart .
the coaching helped a lot !
before gas karts he’s been in power wheels , 6-24v, crazy kart and a plastic wheel radio flyer go kart.
I took my daughter out to the track yesterday and I have to admit I’ve been chasing my own race schedule so I haven’t been consistant taking my 7 year old to the track, as its been a few months since she was last at the track.
I think painting the pedals helped, as we didn’t have the issues that we did previously where she forgot which one did what. It was a practice day and there just happen to be an 8-9 year old on the track, and I think she noticed how quick he was so she decided to pick up the pace. Which resulted in a few spin outs, but she was suprisingly unphased!
She turned so many laps she ran out of fuel twice. I think she turned laps for about 5 hours with a few breaks in-between and by the end of the day she didn’t want to leave.
Now that I have her more confortable with the kart, I need to figure out the crosswalk to get transitioned into racing. I could put her in a local, but she’d get her doors blown off and I don’t want her to get discouraged. So I thinking maybe get her into a formal race school where she could learn/ race against kids her age with her level of experience?
My personal opinion if she’s had enough practice to where safety stuff is good, and you’re not going to have any issues with the gas/brake then get her started at the local level. The important thing is not to put any pressure on her to go faster or achieve a certain finish or anything. Keep it fun, celebrate the little achievements and when she is ready to push it and put in the time to get faster nurture it. Don’t get discouraged or be hard on her (seen it) when she slips back though, because kids are so up and down at that age they can just be off one day (or session) to the next.
Good feedback. I was on the track with her for part of the day so she could get used to being on the track with other karts. There was a 175, 125, cadet LO206, and a KA100 all turning laps with her. She wasn’t getting rattled when passed, which was nice to see. I actually think it was the presence of the other karts that were driving her to want to stay out there.
My local has a relatedly new (and slowly growing) cadet Lo206 class, I think its only 3 maybe 4 karts strong. But these kids have been racing each other for years in another engine package, so the experience level these kids have is impressive. In most circumstances, I would have trouble keeping up with them.
Wow
Always surprises me when I hear of such mixed age/class practice. Here we don’t allow more than an age group difference on track (i.e. cadet/jr & jr/sr, kid kart is always alone), this is also dictated by our insurance but I do know some places just don’t follow the everything their insurance stipulates. The fact that she wasn’t rattled by all those karts blowing by her is a good thing. Fortunately for us our club has a rather large cadet 206 group where we’ve been able to have a novice cadet 206 (with smaller slide and limited gearing) for the past few years, and then the standard cadet 206.
So my 6 year old’s birthday is this Tuesday, so I was putting her kart together which has been challenging to get things to line up and not rub on that #35 chain. Between the chain clearance from the engine mount, the sprocket clearance from frame, and clutch rubbing on the that seat. Its been alot more challenging to get everything dialed in, which is strange cause her older sisters kart went together easily, and they are the excact same kart. But her sister is on a #219 which was more forgiving in tight spaces. Didn’t think it would make that drastic of a difference.
But i have it almost there, but when I opened the decal kit, it was missing the front valance decal.
Well I guess on the bright side I’ll be able to make out who is who on track now, but that still sucks. Got the NOS chassis second hand so its not like I can reach out to TB and complain. Trying to figure out what to do about that one.
And the reveal for the birthday girl! Her kart number will be 503 since her birthday is technically 5/3- but I’ll be out of town for work, so we are celebrating early.
Recently my daughter turned 9 and aged out of the cadet class and moved up to sportsmen. Yesterday was her first race (small field of 4) but funny enough the sportsmen’s class at my local is currently all female. Can’t say I’ve ever seen that one before.
So my daughter was able to pull out P-2 to my suprise, but I was even more suprised after she pulled off track. The last 3 laps of the race she kept going off track in corner one. Watching from the sideline I thought she was over cooking the corner, but realized soon thereafter her mechanic failed her miserably.
So her front wheel bearing blow out and the wheel was floating on the spindle with bout 4-5 inches of side2side play. How she even finished the race is beyond me, but she did. But now, being a piss poor mechanic, I have some questions as to the repair.
I know the bearing is shot and needs to be replaced, but I don’t know what size bearing to order?
Wheel is also shot, but there is no sizing indicator. Is it the same size as an adult front rim?
She is much more of a dare devil compared to her sister. This one within 10 laps started pitching and sliding the kart, pushing the limits. Spun out 4 times, went off track 4 times going to fast into the corners. Night and day difference as her big sister drove way more conservatively (and still does).
But this was the daughter I initially thought would enjoy kart racing.
I think she turned laps for about 5 hours with a few breaks in-between and by the end of the day she didn’t want to leave.
How she even finished the race is beyond me, but she did. But now, being a piss poor mechanic, I have some questions as to the repair.
