Hey everyone, trying to get more data on these engines. Does anyone have any idea how many race hours these engines should last? These seem to be cheaper initially, but I’m getting a tent program quote that is telling me that it will need to be rebuilt for 1500$ in the middle of a season (or essentially, just a new motor). Sounds pretty steep and sorta sucks if they can’t even last a full season without a rebuild.
Yeah that’s BS. I don’t have one personally but have been doing allot of looking into them. At most it would be a mid season with about a 600 rebuild. A top end with carb rebuild for around 350-400 would probably be sufficient, depending on how many races are in your season. Vortex/Tony Kart is not going to produce an engine that is meant to be thrown away after 5-6 races. Sounds to me like someone is trying to sell you something more expensive than a VLR.
What I am told is that due to the rebuild time/labor, that is why the rebuild cost for the VLR is higher.
And yes, the motor I am being sold in question would be more expensive than the VLR. It’s a Rotax motor.
Given their primary mechanical similarities, I would imagine the rebuild periods and expense to be near identical for the KA and VLR.
The frequency of a rebuild depends heavily on how much running a “season” looks like for you as well as how competitive you need the motor to be.
Usually the order to replace things is to do a piston after x time then every second rebuild to do the bottom end. I can’t imagine a piston/top end and a hone being more than $250. Some people will do that every race, that doesn’t mean it’s necessary however for performance or reliability. It’s just what some people do because they can and it’s a great psychological advantage.
I will say, for most people, $1500 half way through a typical season does strike me as, eh, excessive let’s say and surplus to your requirements 
The truth always lies somewhere in the middle.
Lets just assume the company in question is being “overly proactive”
Oh boy. That makes me a bit sad. I really liked the guy I was dealing with too. Hmmm.
Ask for more details is all I can say.
Yes sir. He’s telling me 8-10 race hours before a rebuild…so now I’m asking him why the rebuild costs so much.
EDIT: 1000$ for a top end rebuild every 10 hours, 500$ for a bottom end rebuild every 15 hours, but since its a 5 hour difference they save time/labor by doing it all at once (1500$).
What do you guys think?
And these quotes are for a Rotax Max?
I just had a lot of that work done on my (pre evo) Rotax Max due to water pump failure and preventative maintenance, and it didn’t cost that much even here in New Zealand.
I also believe these engines are designed with reasonable length rebuild times.
Or are you only looking at VLR rebuild frequency/cost and comparing to the quote for a Rotax kart?
No, these quotes are for the Rok VLR.
Essentially, the starting price of 1550$ for the VLR is appealing compared to the 4100$ price of the Rotax, but I am being told the long running costs will be expensive for the VLR.
Top end rebuild price sounds excessive unless there’s something very specific about about the VLR that makes it almost four times the cost to do it compared to any other 100cc aircooled motor. I would estimate about $250 for that, without skimping.
Call around for other quotes 
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1500 for a rebuild? Just buy new motor for that. In fact I’ll give you 500 for the vlr when you get to 15 hrs on it
Yeah I’m shocked at the high rebuild prices hes quoting me. He’s my tent program so I don’t really know if I could just have the rebuild outsourced or something.
Where are you running at?
The plan is F-Series State Championship in NJ.
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Yeah I think somebody is trying to sell you a Rotax.
No way the rebuild cost on a VLR is 1500, that’s insanity.
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It’s too bad, I really liked the guy. Haha.
I think you got that backwards. Your need a top end mid way, bottom end at end of season.
It is true that rotaxes have very long service intervals compared with two stroke in general.
I suspect that directing you to the rotaxes guarantees a field. It’s not clear yet how
many folks will get on the vortex deal. It is a compelling deal.
Upon searching around, I did find out that the VLR should be similar to the KA in durability and rebuild costs, so that’s definitely one thing I’m glad got clarified. But yes, I am aware in this specific area X30/Rotax is the way to go for fields of competition.
If you’re able to, you can avail of a season pass and basically get the VLR for free. So that’s a thing
The thing is we literally have 2 folks in kt100 and another 1 or 2 on Briggs. I am really hoping that we get a bunch of folks.hopping in this. The problem is that I have no idea if we’ll get a field. So it’s hard to.recommend the.engine if there’s no clarity around if it’s being snapped up
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