My son is almost 5, already got some instruction and we’re trying to find him a kid kart to get more track time with. The only trouble is there are no used kid karts in the area that I can find. There seem to be a lot of cadet karts available.
I’d much rather find a kid kart for him, but with pedal actions, etc, is it even feasible to outfit a cadet kart for him? My gut tells me no, but wanted to consider.
It depends entirely on the size of the kid. If he is very, very tall for his age, then it could be worth a shot. It isn’t uncommon at my daughter’s track to see 6 and 7 year olds move to a de-tuned cadet, so they can get acclimated to the new chassis. As a first kart though, that can be asking a lot of a typical 5yo given that the cadet will be heavier and take more muscle as well as making sure all the ergonomics work.
My local track runs both kid/bambino karts and de-tuned cadet chassis in the same ‘Kid Kart’ class. After witnessing a number of wrecks, flips and other general mayhem in the races, I switched my son to a cadet chassis as soon as I could. Most of the flips were a bambino chassis vs a cadet chassis with the bambino kart on the losing end.
Check your rule book to ensure cadet sized chassis is allowed in the kid kart class.
I’ve not noticed the same mayhem at my track, but I’d be fighting hard to have cadet chassis removed from the kid class if it was so apparent they are a danger. The KK chassis is the intended chassis, and, if I saw chassis that don’t even belong taking other kids out who did, there’s zero sense in having even more cadet chassis added.
Welcome Carey!
As Caleb mentioned, it will depend on the size of your son. I got my son a kid kart right before he turned 5, and he used it up until he was past 8, though he had started to grow out of it towards the end. He’s in a cadet now, with a pedal box to relocate the pedals, at almost 9yrs old. I have seen some restricted cadet chassis in the kid kart class at our club, so it’s not unheard of.
If you can find a kid kart, I think it’d be worth it to get him acclimated. We’ve passed the kid kart down to my middle son, and I have another son who will start driving in a few years, so we’ll get good use out of it.
Solution: have more kids to justify more karts. 