New Member Welcome! June 28 - July 04, 2021

Big welcome to our new members for week: June 27th - July 4th!

@David_pankratz
@george_pierce
@Rich_Matyiku
@Scenario7
@Matthew
@Saul_Rodriguez
@Eric_van_den_Hout
@kznewbie
@Formula1
@Jason_Somers
@Ryan22
@Chris_Russick
@Alex_Bunch
@Ej_Paustian
@Deathedit
@WhiteCityDevil
@Guyteau_Bayard
@Ben_Lawrenson
@rodrigo_loh
@Aaron
@Johannes_Hoha
@Krohsis
@Grant_Nicholson
@guille_Folgueral
@kareem_spearman
@dannyjf1
@69superb
@Tony_Davis
@Paladichuk
@Paul_Sarcia
@Augustus_Abercrombie
@Behning37b
@elOrtizEs
@praison_molisakul

Thank you so much for joining the Kartpulse community.
Introduce yourself below! Tell us a little about how you’re involved with karting.

Hello,
Thanks for the add. I’m mostly here to learn as much as I can before getting into the sport. More than likely will be getting myself a kart to race the Box Stock Honda class at Sugar River Raceway in Broadhead Wisconsin (I’m 31 and don’t plan to be very competitive) as well as getting my three boys (currently one, two and three.) into kid kart racing as they turn five.

As of now my only experience is SRR’s rent to race karts which I have driven once or twice a year during private events over the last 10 years or so. Mostly ran at the back of the pack of guys who run there more often or leading the pack of guys like myself who only do it during those events.

Thanks, Mike.

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Welcome Mike,
Good call running yourself as well as your boys. It is great father-son/daughter time, the best, even! Enjoy.

Welcome Mike.

Just wanted to note, Sugar River appears to have a 206 class as well. Have you considered getting into that rather than the Honda? Only reason I ask is because the 206 is the most popular entry-level package in the country right now, so if you wanted to go out to another track like Badger in Dousman and race one weekend, you could race it there too. The Honda class is really only going to be a thing at Sugar River.

I’m not sure on the price difference between the two packages, but just thought it was worth noting.

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I have been considering that as well, it’s nice to have options. I believe the Honda to be the cheaper of the two new so it really comes down to what I can find when my search for a kart becomes more serious.

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Welcome! Okay, I have to comment on your Avatar Pic. Where did you find that gem from the 90’s?

It was sent to me by a friend from an app I believe. It’s my favorite movie of all time, don’t judge me lol.

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Hello everyone, and thanks for allowing me to join the group.

I’m here to get some guidance on a couple karting projects, more on that in a minute.

I got my first taste of karting in the late 60s when my dad got me started. After about 2 years, I got interested in motocross and left karting. When my son showed interest in karting in the late 90s, we were off and running again. My wife and daughter had their own karts, but only played on open track days and they never had a desire to compete outside of family. My son competed for about 3 years before he decided to take up downhill mountain biking racing. During that 3 years I competed occasionally, but nothing serious. I think I entered 11 races over 3 years. I spent most my time pit crewing for my son.

I’m pretty good 2 stroke tuner having done so in motocross, learning from my dad and later in life when I was involved in motorcycle road racing in several classes including racing a TZ250. All 4 karts we had in the late 90s were equipped KT100 motors, so I’m familiar with them for tuning and rebuilding. My weakness in karting is chassis setup. So I will be drawing on all of you Guru’s experience there.

I now have a soon to be 6 year old granddaughter who is showing interest. Last year we got her a small side by side 90cc kart. She has learned steering, braking and throttle control. In a year she has out grown the performance of this kart. We took her to a kart race in April and she was very excited watching the other kids racing. This is where I will need some help getting a decent kart, used, for her and likely will need some help with setup.

Finally, for me I plan to come back into karting as well. I would like to go the shifter kart route, but likely I will start out with something in the 125cc size minus the tranny, (don’t think there are 100cc classes for adults anymore, right)? I would want to buy used, so I would need help with which brand is best for availability of parts. I restore vintage MX bikes as a hobby, so doing a frame up rebuild would be fun and hopefully keep the price down some.

Sorry for the long intro. I’m excited to learn from you all, and maybe meetup for some races in the future.

John

Welcome back.

Actually the largest, most supported “senior” classes these days are still 100cc karts, with the fairly new KA100 package being insanely popular at the moment (30-50 karts, even at club level in some places). Air-cooled, single-gear, on-board starter. Reliable, foolproof, and easy. Definitely what I would recommend.

If you’re looking for something faster (enough to scare you a bit), the X30 is the popular 125cc single-gear water-cooled option these days. Obviously more expensive, more complicated, more moving parts with water pumps, radiators, etc. You tend to burn through consumables like brake pads and tires at a faster rate as well with more speed.

With regards to building a kart… Even if it sounds like a fun project to build a chassis up from the ground up, it’s not usually recommended, as it ends up being more expensive in the long run to source all the parts. Proprietary hardware and bits and bobs can add up quick and make it a nightmare to get it all assembled correctly. Better off finding your local karting shop and seeing what they have available for used gear. Most shops have a good selection of used karts, from bare chassis to full package. That’ll help you on the right foot to establishing a relationship with a known shop too, where you know you can get parts and tuning advice for your specific kart brand. Nothing worse than having your fun day at the track cut short because there’s no one to sell you a new spindle a specific axle key when you break something at the track.

Thanks for the feedback, TJ Koyen!

Your thoughts make sense, and this is the reason I came to this group. It is easy to make mistakes getting started.

I will checkout the KA100 package.

You may already know this but in the abscence of a bricks and mortar store, most kart sales are through teams. Typically teams are dealers of certain chassis/engines and are good sources for new and used gear. Also, since you bought from team, can get service as well.

I didn’t know that. I have always bought parts either at stores or online. Thanks for the info.

I would definitely go with whatever chassis brand is best supported at your local track.

At 6 years old, she is pretty well limited to a “kid kart”, however there are a few different engine packages running these days. The most common is the Comer 50/51, then there is a Honda 50 and an IAME Bambino package as well. Check what the rules are for your local track.

As for you, If you plan on being her crew chief you may also consider an LO206 package. Very popular and extremely low maintenance. That way you are not having to fiddle with much between heats. If you want more power there is the 100cc air cooled on board starters like the IAME KA100 and the Vortex VLR100 (slightly less power over the KA). Next up you have the 125cc TaG (“Touch and Go”/onboard starters) like the IAME X30, Vortex RoK GP and Rotax Max Evo to name a few. They generally very in performance and adjust overall weight to compensate. All single gear, centripetal clutch driven with higher running cost respectively. Ask your local guys what they run and what is popular. Best bet is to find the largest fields and go have fun. You can always upgrade your engine down the road.

Thanks Greg,

Over the last 24 hours I have been checking out the closest tracks. The most active is a little over 200 miles away. We have some local activity here in Vegas, but nothing consistent. So the track in Fontana Ca. is the closest. It appears for me and where I want to start will be the KA100. As for my granddaughter, I need to do some more checking, but the Comer 50/51 or the IAME bambino are possible, so thanks for that suggestion. I’m surprised what small karting engines cost, a 1000.00+ for a 50cc engine, wow! We most likely will start with used, makes the most sense for both of us.

I appreciate all the suggestions. It is surprising how much karting has changed in 20 years, but much is the same.

What is the standard for rules in karting now? I found the NKA rule book, but is it the standard? Fontana doesn’t link to a rule book on their site.

Oh, I watched some of your videos, and subbed. I like the dual rental cart you and your daughter were in. It would be good to find that for my granddaughter to give her a taste.

Welcome! Is the name a reference to the book? If so, good choice.

Acceleration Karting is based in Vegas. A one-stop-shop for everything you need karting wise. https://www.accelerationkarting.com/ You may want to check in with them as far as what is running in your area and what used equipment is available. I would expect buying through them could come with a lot of support on and off track at no extra charge.

I still buy most of my consumables from DKC (a local kart shop) even though I don’t run a Sodi Kart that they Deal in. Even bought a new seat from them recently and Mike (the owner) brokered a deal for a gently used engine for a 20% savings over new. He is a wealth of knowledge and information!

Keep us up to date on how it goes.

Thanks for the suggestion Greg. I talked to them a few days ago, and they told me that LV was a ghost town as far as karting for the most part They suggested Fontana as the closest club track with good activity. But I do plan on going to their store next week. They have a few used karts there, so maybe I’ll get lucky. Fingers crossed.

Yes it is. It’s one of my favorite books, I even managed to get a signed copy when Eric came to a small book store by my now wife’s college, I had no idea he was there just stopped in the store by chance.

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Good taste. I highly recommend the 206 if you ever want to expand where you race. Easiest and cheapest way to race. Great competition everywhere as well