I agree that he should stick to whatever is supported in his area (Which I thought KZ was), particularly with regard to the choice of engine.
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I didn’t think the ES was allowed in KZ classes. But you could remove the starter of course if the rest conforms, and I’m sure some clubs/tracks would accommodate it too. But the RoK gets in as-is.
The NHKA is pretty accommodating when it comes to classes and engines. If someone were to come with an oddball motor (within reason), they would find a place for it,
X1’s current rules for their Shifter Class are odd. Besides the Stock Honda, and true CIK-Homolagated KZs, they allow the old Sonik Shifter, and the Maxter MXE in their class. But no sign of TM KZ10ES or Vortex Rok in their ruleset.
And yet, I’ve seen Vortex Rok shifters race there as recently as a month ago. So I guess their class guidelines at that track are somewhat loose.
–C
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The #'s are horrible at X1 and I won’t get into why but they’re definitely not turning anyone away! I know I’d be able to run the stock Honda at NHKA events but I’m going to get bored real quick racing 2 people, I’d rather run WF against 25 people. I’ve got some time to figure it out, worst case scenario I’ll stick to WF and run 206 at Rock Island and Indy.
I’m in a similar situation. Great group here running WF but I’m wanting to run something else as well.
I haven’t done a road race so wondering if I tried that if I would be really into it and would satisfy my desire to change things up.
I talked with one of the HPD (Honda Performance Division) Reps several years ago during the SCCA Runoffs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. At that time he told me Honda had already ceased production on the 125 cylinders and parts. Whatever was left in their stockpile would be enough to satisfy the market for a few more years at the national level. Regional and Clubs could continue much longer.
I think this is why SKUSA began the shift to the IAME Shifter toward the end of 2018. They had already been developing it for two years prior. This to me says they knew it was coming and were trying to get ahead of it. Already in bed with IAME in the X30 program, it makes sense to implement another stock program with them in the shifter category as well. All of the infrastructure is already in place.
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Agreed, Honda CR125 is a slowly dying class.
In my experience shifters are too much work for technical sprint tracks, TAGs are much better as you get to use both hands. If you have a fast wide sweep track, shifters can be more fun.
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Really depends. Just because it has a gearbox doesn’t mean you can’t run through an S in a single gear. Shift timing is a thing, & it’s also a lot of fun. Never understood the dislike for gearbox engines in kart circles, & probably never will, either.
Getting the gearing right for the track makes a huge difference also, so you’re not shifting mid corner.
That depends on the track layout. I started with a CR80 shifter where I did need to change gears to stay in the very narrow power band. This would not be as much of an issue if we were allowed to use paddle shift, but for whatever reason the organization banned that. That’s possibly why there are no more shifters running at that track as an X30 TAG is on par time wise with a IAME 125 anyhow and cheaper to maintain.
Yeah that prettymuch echos what I’ve heard from HPD. No doubt that was a part of the decision to go IAME. I think stock had run it’s course for SKUSA in the pro tour, but there’s life left for it in road racing and local\regional sprint… if people want it to keep going.
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I’m guessing that the ban is in reference to non-manual paddle shift units like the Mechatron ME1. Manual shift should be GTG. I actually bought a manual paddle unit called ShiftMN that uses a push-pull cable. The only problem is that it’s apparently designed for RR motorcycle engines, & so the cable orientation rotates the shift shaft opposite that of a shifter motor (ie. L paddle shifts up, R paddle shifts down), so I need to modify it to switch that around. But it’s 100% manual.
Sorry to jump in late here, but if you want very competitive racing not too far from Boston, NH area then try TAG at OVRP and/or the F Series Gearup. Mostly, teeny boppers racing but I raced the Gearup series a couple of times this year and it was fun and not too crazy.
I had given up Senior racing over 10 years ago because of all the crashes but these two series do not seem too bad. Each has 20-30 karts at each race. Enginewise – X30 is the only real option. Not much KA100 in either of these series yet. Gearup also has a pretty sizable shifter class. There are two – Formula Shifter which I believe is Rok Shifter and Stock Honda weighted/performance adjusted and KZ shifter. Not 100% sure of the numbers but seem to have a good turnout most races. Check the results on Speedhive.
Isn’t a 36hp rok engine now useable in fseries?
Curious how this will impact things
ROK Cup USA
has announced a move to Vortex-only engines for the Florida Winter Tour and all ROK Promotions events in 2021. This removes the KA100 engine from 100cc categories and no
Briggs & Stratton Racing
categories provided at ROK events.
One of the kids just got a rok for his new setup (first kart) for f-seriesand got yelled at by the lads in our discord group. Apparently the rok is maintenance-heavy and expensive to run. The engine in question is quite a bit more powerful than x30 so it seems odd to have it in that field.
Rok GP has its own class - F125, the former Leopard class. I believe they had 7-8 drivers in most races and I think it will grow in 2021. I heard from some of the participants that carb is a bit finicky but other than that their experience with the new package was good. Lap times at 15 hp heavier than an X30 (380 Rok v. 365 X30) were not that impressive though. Same tires.
Ah thanks. The kid will be glad to hear that. So no more leopard for Gear Up and instead they adding this to state champ as well?
I’m wondering how this move will affect their 100cc class. I know in 100 Senior, most of the field was on KA100’s. The Junior was predominantly VLR, but right now I don’t know how many people would feel it’s worth it to buy a VLR to run ROK Cup if they’re coming from KA.
Not to mention, the VLR is a significantly less reliable engine than the KA, at least in my experience. A couple people I worked with got VLR’s and had constant issues with getting the engine to start, and had to send in the motors to get rebuilt more often than I had to for a KA.