Have raced Senior Rotax in the past but quickly got tired of the local dealer side of things, especially in this internet age.
Looking to get back into competitive 2-stroke karting it and wanted to know who the major online US retailers are for karts and parts, and what brands they carry.
I understand that some people even import parts from europe to reduce costs for less time sensitive parts.
Which retailers are being used for this?
Of course, any comments regarding who’s pricing is more competitive is welcomed.
I understand the “local track” and “local brand” mentality for parts availability and support, I just don’t want to do things that way this time round, it’s not for me.
I may end up running one of the local brands any way, I just don’t want to rely on local dealers and their pricing. I just don’t think it’s necessary in this modern e-commerce age.
Only one I know of stateside is Comet Kart sales, but even they don’t advertise their chassis pricing and state “please call us” to get pricing on karts. Tired of feeling like I’m dealing with a damn car dealership to buy karts and parts.
Karts and their parts are small enough to all be dealt with online, even shipping a chassis can be easily done. There must be others that share my frustration.
I’m kind of in the same boat. The local shop here won’t answer their phone or email and has secret store hours or is only there by appointment only. Even after a “hey, I’m new to karting and have a couple grand to spend on safety and support gear,” they’re still impossible to get ahold of. I guess they don’t want to deal with someone that hasn’t dropped $12k on a new kart.
So, I spread the love around between Comet, Shark Shifter, Karts LTD, Acceleration Karting, Precision Karting Technologies and Italian Motors. They’ve all been responsive to my emails and phone calls, have answered questions, followed up on emails and messages, and are very easy to work with.
Thanks for that list Ji, very helpful, will browse them when I get a chance. I know the feeling, I’m in a major metropolitan area, very competitive with lots of big spenders, I’ve seen how “help” was prioritised and biased when I needed a hand.
I’m still trying to decide on a chassis brand. Online parts availability will ultimately dictate that. What do you run?
In response to TJ Koyen from my duplicate thread, without going way off topic there are many factors why I don’t want to deal with a local dealer, the largest being time and cost. At the end of the day I just need parts, not tuning support or help. I don’t have deep pockets so savings are savings.
I plan to keep a full stock of spares including a frame so I’m not too concerned about that.
So far we’ve got:
-Comet Kart Sales
-Shark Shifter
-Karts LTD
-Acceleration Karting
-Precision Karting
-Italian Motors (ItalKart)
-Koene
Keep them coming, very helpful. Have lots of browsing to do now.
I run an '05 Tony Kart Krypton 125cc shifter and just picked up a turn-of-the-century era CRG with a Rotax Max 125 TAG for my wife to get accustomed to karts with. Parts availability for both is rather scarce, but they’re out there of you research deeply and make phone calls.
My advice would be to not worry about what brand you get as they all seem to lose support after around ten years old, but to get the newest that you can afford.
My limited experience in kart ownership makes me think that owning a lathe and end mill wouldn’t be a bad idea if your kart is approaching 20 years old. Others with far more experience may very well correct me on that point, but that’s just my perception.
That’s enough for me! Funny though- when I clicked that link, the only results it brought up were my post and yours and I had a laugh about not many sources online. Then I hit refresh and saw the real results. Thank you!
I have found karters hoard used parts. It’s rare to find what you need, used, in circulation. That coupled with the fact that racing creates a lot of parts with no usable lifespan left.