Let's talk about Seat Position

Yeah, quite old one, he has a FK4 which is relative new chassis that is not included, also two shifter chassis are not included Suzuka and Silverstone.

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There is an Australian firm at fastadjusters.com.au that provide innovative (and somewhat pricey) seat adjuster kits for many OEM frames. One of our excellent karter’s (and aerospace engineer) has installed a set and found them easy to use and very helpful in making quick changes to locate the ideal position.

I’ve been looking at those. They adjust for F/R bias, but not height. What is the 2ndary plate mount setup for the seat struts?

These are great to use. We can move the seat in 10mm increments very quickly. I wish they had vertical adjustment also.
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I suggested a square plate that would allow a 2D hole configuration to Fast. Was told that it might be doable, but they weren’t pursuing it at the moment.

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ikart had those 2D adjustable seat struts at one time. I’ll try to dig up a pic.

I guess it would be easy to cut a custom plate with the 10mm holes…

The plate would have for example a 3 x 6 holes with 10mm spacing between them. That’s for adjusting low / neutral / high positions.

You would only have to have a 10mm & 20mm extra "washer for the bottom fastening section.

no washer = low
10mm = neutral
20mm = high

“Washer”? You lost me.

Meant seat spacer. Didnt have the word before

I know this is a very old post. But I am 6’1 with long legs. and the factory setting has me jammed against the wheel. I had to move the seat back about 6cm to even get some room for my legs to clear the wheel. Is that going to mess with the kart handling? am i just screwed for being tall? (i could be off about the 6cm, i moved it about a pinky finger’s length back)

yes you (we) kinda are. At that height it’s not easy and seat position will always be a compromise. Before moving the seat, you can also work on a couple of other areas…move the heels further in front so that your knees drop (you can take the heel stops out and move the pedals as far away as possible or consider a porch extension). Another area you can tweak is the steering column. Get a custom column support to get it more upright/away from you, use a spacer and/or a different steering wheel hub with less angle. Small tweaks can make you gain quite a bit of space so you don’t have to move the seat too far back.
Tough to say how much is too much, depends on the chassis/engine/seat/your weight etc…too many variables. I think you can get better advice here if you tell us at least what chassis/engine combo you are running and your weight

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Some chassis will fit tall drivers better than others. My brother is 6’3”, so it’s always been a challenge to get him to fit comfortably without compromising performance. Higher HP classes will generally allow for a seat position that is farther back, but if you’re running a low HP class you may need to consider a front porch kit if Andy’s suggestions above don’t get you enough room.

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i’m running a 2021 kosmic (otk) chassis and a ka100. one thing about the kosmic is it has vertical mounting struts for the bottom screws so you can only pull the seat back a certain amount. and i have the seat level with the bottom of the frame bars.

and I weigh 200 pounds as of now. but I will drop down to about 190 or so for karting season next year

If you’re 6’1" you should consider an Emme (Croc Promotions/Magic/Race Factory/AK USA) or Factory kart; the seat position for them in either TaG or shifter has me stretching to my limit.

Id look at an extended from porch kit like @Muskabeatz mentioned. I’m a firm believer that seat position should not be compromised. I’ve had my seat in the wrong position before and fixing it helped my lap times tremendously.

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Does anyone know of an extended front porch kit for OTK? I have a 2019 Kosmic and at 6’2", seat all the way back against the engine side seat stay “bump” and heel stop all the way forward, my knees are still really bent. I actually don’t mind the bend in the knee too much but what I am finding is that I can’t brace with my heels while corning because my feet can’t bend backwards enough to move the pedals through the range while my heels are against the stops (due to the angle of my knees and shins). Also, its hard to keep my knees from flopping outward going around high G corners.

When I watch videos of drivers like Norberg and I see his legs are basically flat, the resulting angle of the ankle / feet looks much more natural and I see how you could actually brace. Right now, I basically have to brake with my whole leg and not just my foot pressing forward.

I am struggling with oversteer, so perhaps I could bend the stays out more and scoot the seat backwards a bit without compromising balance? The front porch idea seems nice but I can’t find anything that is off the shelf.

Maybe check out this thread:

I think our favorite vertically blessed Kartist, @GregF might know a thing or two about those porches.

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There really isnt a consensus over there in that thread. It sounds like the CRG kit might fit the OTK chassis but that is a $400 gamble I don’t really want to take.

I find it odd that OTK does not make an extension kit off the shelf.

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