To be fair kz engines are reliable. I don’t get the whole unreliable thing with them.
I do my piston 3/4 hours and 5 pistons to a bottom end.
Try a 100cc engine, there unreliable time bombs.
Not unreliable. The game is to master them. Thats the sport
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If you run them lean yes.
They are equal reliable as any other as long you check and take care of them.
Regularly beat the $hit out of my 100cc at 19k rpm. But at a slightly richer setting
Personally I don’t disagree, but the maintenance intervals, cost and consequence of missing that maintenance are hard to comprehend for most people. That’s where the reliability perception comes in. Rod bearing failure for example can be a pocket emptying event.
On 100cc, the likes of a KA100 should go longer than a KZ on maintenance. The 100cc engines from the last era of FA/FSA are a very different compared what’s run in classes nowadays. You can’t really compare them to…. well …… anything really. They were thoroughbred racing engines with almost no restrictions other than carb size and displacement. Even KZ has a lot more restrictions. Port timing and cylinder head volume being the most notable ones.
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Officially allowed as classes at:
K1 Circuit Whiteland
Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati
New Castle Motorsports Park
Music City Kartplex
SIRA Karting
More to come!
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I’d love to see this class in roadracing…might have to get one if that happens…
I suppose WKA would treat it like a CR80 for now?
In that case, no official class, but runs in “sprint open.”
Glad to finally see a decent paddle shifter option for karting! I’m so used to paddles that I sometimes find myself reaching for them when braking in my single-speed kart.
There was a period where I did 500 iraces over 6 months in the USF2000. Every time I got in a kart during that period, for the first lap of the session, I would try to paddle shift my kart, just out of habit. Was kind of odd, involuntary.
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looks great! @CrocIndy what was the thought behind no front brakes? Cost or to create a transition category between single speed and gearbox?
It’s a combination of things, really.
The main thing is that we and many others feel that standard rear brake chassis driving habits translate better into entry level cars. It also makes sure the kids don’t start relying on front brakes to dive bomb and learn the bad habits associated with that and taking it back to their single speed chassis.
It also has to do with cost factor as well. You no longer have to go find a shifter specific chassis and pay extra for that. You can drop this entire package onto anything you already have.
You can buy this new package for $4K, add about $500 for cooling, and slap it on your existing single speed chassis and be banging gears. That’s a significant cost savings.
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This makes suddenly a compelling offer to me. I really got addicted to KZ but this is too much for me to handle right now. I am considering this KZ Junior to get up to speed
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Another option for you if you already have a KZ is to run a restrictor on it to tame it down until you’re ready for the full anger of a KZ.
I know that you are centered on sprint racing, was there any investigation on the road race/car track side? All the shifters in CIK and laydowns seems like this might be a needed stepping stone. However they may require front brakes, because of the speed.
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@Vash_Stampede – These can’t be faster than the RR TaGs with only rears… I’d be tempted to get one if they make a class for us…
We haven’t approached the road racing aspect since we are sprint guys, but if anyone wants to share contact information for me to work with them on getting it set up, I would be more than happy to.
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Dart Kart Speedway Club Inc
[email protected]
419-565-5363
WKC
Bill Kassy (President)
[email protected]
Akra Road Racing
Van Gilder : 229-848-0483
Email : [email protected]
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As mentioned before, the Sprint Open class, both in AKRA and WKA, has a place for 80cc shifters right now. On getting a stand-alone class at Road Racing events, I do know there are a handful of Road Racers that currently race 80 shifters at these races, and I remember last season, a few of these drivers on Facebook were discussing trying to get a separate 80cc class started on their own. I recall that they needed to guarantee a minimum number of entries to get their own class. If I can find the names of a couple of these individuals on Facebook, maybe you get in contact with them, and possibly get something started on getting an 80 shifter class.
Since the number of 80 shifters at these races have been so sporadic, it’s tough to gauge how fast they are in comparison to the TaG 125s. But I think the TaGs may be a little faster in both top speed and lap times than the CIK-bodied 80cc shifters were, but I’m not sure about that.
Speaking to road racing\long track\car track here…
Usually TaG and 80’s are very close depending who’s driving.
The 80 shifter (depending on state of tune) will pull out on top speed IME. What it lacks in displacement it makes up for with gears and relatively high peak horsepower. I recall just touching 100MPH at gingerman in a tuned CR80 but I can’t recall if I had a draft or not.
I hope to see 80s grow. They really are a ton of fun, shifter thrills without the same beating on your body as a 125. Perfect for tighter club tracks and budget friendly when run with rear brakes only.
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Charles, I don’t disagree with you, I haven’t seen many 80cc in my region, but there might be some marketability for 80cc for those who have the older tag engines looking to upgrade but don’t want to break a rib with the 125cc shifters and perhaps the Cr125 guys that are running out of parts. I think the paddle shifts are a good selling point. I buy on the used marketing so it would be a couple years of growth before I can do it. I think at Pittrace that the 80cc might be faster because of the hills.
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TaGs are in the low 100s for MPH at Daytona, etc. I see these 80s about equal. KA’s are around mid 90’s.
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