I would recommend Briggs 206 , to be fast in those you have to be smooth and learn how to carry speed to keep your momentum up , its a great class to develope your skill and tires can last awhile to , i would race 3 weekends on a set , by the 3rd weekend they were starting to fall off of course but saved alot of money
Hehe. When you start off in this sport, it never occurs to you that your biggest expense is probably gonna be rubber. Do you really want to spend 210 bucks each time you put the kart on track for reals? Just on rubber? That adds up and over the course of a 10 race series, you are spending at least 2k just on tires.
Add in 2k for rebuild, 1k gas/oil, wristband fee, race fee, broken steering column, etc.
Lo206 makes this go away. Pump gas. No rebuilds, two sets of tires a season.
You can make 1 set work if you don’t have practice days. I average 7 races on a set of tires. Each race being 6 minute practice, 6 minute qualifying, 6 minute pre final, 15 minute race
Depending on the brand and how competitive you want to be, obviously…
This is on mg reds in the WF class. You feel a drop off after maybe 4 races but it’s very small
Honda CR125 will come in way below these figures, easily. Will it be as cheap as a 206? Of course not, but I’d argue that it’s the best bang for the buck in karting (and no oil changes every weekend!). Buy a used motor for $2k, do the top ends yourself, pay $1000-1200 for a full rebuild every season if you’re REALLY beating the shit out of it, otherwise go two seasons on the bottom end. Harvest used tires from the big teams after the big races for FREE (I realize that not all racers have the privilege of being near this type of track/event). Throw it in the back of the truck/van, and away you go.
Shifter racing doesn’t have to be as expensive as everyone thinks it is…unless you’re running KZ competitively…then you’re screwed 
The comments about the brutality of a shifter are totally accurate though. It ain’t easy, but that’s the price of admission.
even if they go stock honda , it’s not the best kart for someone to start off in , especially if they don’t have any experiance in them , it is just dangerous there is alot going on and there putting them selfs and others around them in danger , I’ve seen to many people buy a shifter as there first kart and stuff it into the wall or barriers ending with there kart being destroyed or injured , and then you never see them again
Totally agree, and wasn’t advocating that anyone start in shifters right out of the gate. The point I was trying to make is that I think sometimes shifters are portrayed as overly costly when that’s not always the case.