I am looking to buy a new LO 206 and not having luck finding one. We have a local BS dealer and karter and he is being told April, but he has doubts as he can’t buy several of the parts he needs either. Are others seeing this? It was even speculated that they may allow the Tillotson 212 to run with the 206 as AKRA is doing. This is from their website.
Our all-new TPP-212RS was deveveloped in partnership with the American Kart Racing Association (AKRA) and RLV to run in Briggs LO206 classes. TPP-212-RS As a part of the new program, the 212RS will race in the same divisions with the Briggs LO206 in next year’s AKRA / Hoosier Kartsport National Road Race Series, and Tillotson engine rules will be included in the 2023 AKRA Tech Manual for speedway dirt oval 4-cycle racing. The engine was extensively tested to provide same speed and performance as the 206 — no more no less — right out of the box so you can bolt it on and be competitive in any race following the AKRA rules. Like our 225RS, the engine features our own enhanced Tillotson® block and cylinder head, each produced from a single cavity mold for consistency and optimum performance, a PVL digital coil limited to 6,000 rpm, our own FM series racing carburetor and a billet conecting rod and flywheel.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens, especially as 206’s priced at $300 over MSRP are appearing on the market. Looks like the Tillotson is only considered for road racing as far as pavement goes.
I’d be curious to know exactly what kind of testing was done, but it’s unlikely we’ll ever find out. That said, what really matters is how it plays out in the marketplace and on track. Given the different RPM limits, I think it’s inevitable that there might be a track bias, hopefully it’s pretty minute.
There is an MSRP on prepped and ready to go engines?
I haven’t seen anything drastically different price-wise that wasn’t second hand. No reputable shops or builders have raised prices anymore than Briggs raised our prices as dealers coupled with shipping companies increasing our shipping cost.
He’s talking about the $900 in-box engines on FB yesterday. This price gouging has been going on for 18 months+
OP, Everything besides complete engines is easy to get. All accessories available, as well.
As for new engines, BS is literally 2 years behind on my orders. I don’t think I’ll see more than 2 new engines in the next 6 months. Their production and allocation has been terrible.
Is anyone privvy to what parts B&S are finding it hard to acquire? I know at one point it was PVL coils as PVL was going under, then were bought out by Tillotson Ironically enough.
Heads, coils, short blocks, rods, cranks… Same ol’ same ol’.
Some stuff allegedly January availability, some stuff April, some stuff no eta… Then they’ll be available for a couple weeks and back to out of stock after everyone tries to catch up on 6 months of backorder…
I’m still pretty sure we just aren’t a priority for Briggs as a company.
My two unsolicited cents - I’m really surprised that the availability issue that lo206 has been suffering for a year-plus hasn’t gotten more attention as a potential threat to karting itself, let alone specific karting series.
I’ve been running a TAG for several years now and started looking several months ago for an lo206 and just couldn’t find a new one for over 2 months of dog-hard looking (worst yet, lots of flakey interactions with people who wanted to be able to promise the hope of one, but who ultimately never contacted me again, assumably because they couldn’t get any supply).
There were a couple used ones, but a) used wasn’t very appealing to me, and b) they were asking as much or more than new! I finally gave up the search altogether and bought an offroad toy instead.
Also, the fact that someone may or may not be able to acquire all the parts separately to cobble together an engine means, not-much, to someone who is new to the category. I’m an experienced karter and I don’t personally want to put my stuff together that way, so I can only imagine that such a suggestion must sound out-of-the-question to a new comer who needs/wants a turnkey solution.
Worst of all, these barriers of entry are occurring in the very class which is supposed to be the most accessible, financially and convenience-wise, to newcomers.
I’ve been on the side of the supply chain issues for manufacturing through all of this the last few years. While I cannot speak specifically to why Briggs is still having issues, I can say that supply is much better than it was 1.5-2 years ago.
Hate to say it, as I’ve been a huge supporter of Briggs and understand the situation but if you’re still in the same boat as you were when the pandemic started, you’re doing something very wrong.
I deal with 40+ week lead times every day with minimal problems after we got past the bull whip. Should have seen most issues clear up by Q4 2021 They either don’t have a plan or they aren’t able to plan because the corporate production management side isn’t allowing it.
Manufacturers everywhere are building record numbers of product….
Here’s the thing, Briggs had a supply issue EVERY winter/spring pre-pandemic. There was 2-3 months where our distributor was out of engines and parts to ship us from like February to late April every year. Most people probably didn’t notice because the bid shops were already having a running stock.
It’s like they just didn’t produce/order at all in the winter because they “had stock” and every spring went, “Ope, look what happened.” and never changed their process.
Pandemic time, it bit 'em in the back end and they still haven’t recovered for whatever reason. The coil thing, ok, I get it, but they’re always short on all kinds of stuff with long lead times.
We’re a high priority for Briggs - the 9000 LO206s they sold in 2020 saved them from bankruptcy - but the foundries in China that make their castings have been stalled first by Covid Zero measures and then by employee absences due to Covid.
If anyone from Echo or Ryobi is reading this, please contact me or Willy Musgrave, we’ve got a BIG gap for you to fill.
I would think 206 is one of the most profitable arms of the company. Its stability that makes the 206 a winning combination. I dont think they would be delaying on purpose as it has let in competition that would otherwise have been crushed early.
No one said they’re delaying on purpose, but I also can’t fathom that in the grand scheme of things at B&S that the LO206 is their main priority.
Regardless, my point stands that they have always had a severe lack of stock planning in the off-season that ALWAYS caused a shortage every year and it compounded immensely with the pandemic supply chain issues and this is what we have now.
Having worked in that market, it would have been sweet to have made that a possibility. However, unless your plan is to gang up a few chainsaw or string trimmer engines to make a decent power output, there’s probably no justification for outdoor power companies to touch racing anymore.
It’s “worked” for Briggs so far, but the low cost small (<225cc) engine market is now a race to the bottom on the commercial side. It’s essentially go electric or go to Asia. To develop an “OE level” spec engine like the low cost 206 that the US market desires takes the investment that only the large OEM’s can stomach. To copy/clone it is cheaper by far but there are plenty of other options that no intelligent fish would swim in that pond.
Tillotson will likely fill that gap the best of any if they can stay in front of the issues that every other high demand item has faced the last couple years.
