Are you Brand Loyal?

Keith Bridgeman · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 7:54 am Post subject: Are you Brand Loyal?

I bring this up because I'm always curious as to way people by the chassis they do.

Also many racers now switch brands every year or switch shops at the drop of a hat. If your a Ford guy, your pretty much a Ford guy. If you love Ducati, you stick with Ducati. If your a Porsche guy, thats your thing, If your a Honda Motocross guy, I bet you stick with it and it becomes there brand or their identity.

This doesn't seem to apply in Karting much or maybe as much as it use to be.

What is the driving force behind your reasoning buying what you are racing.

- Is it because you have always run the brand you have and like it and wouldn't switch no matter what?
- Is it because your local shop has this brand of kart. Love the shop and the people and like the kart or maybe your indifferent about the kart brand?
- I got the Kart I have because of the price but could really care less what I drive?
- You like the looks of it?
- Its ugly and nobody supports it but I'm quick in it?
- A kart shop told you it was fast?

There are so many off-shoot brands of karts out there. Why buy a Kosmic when you can just buy a Tony Kart? A GP / DR instead of a CRG. There are so many odd brands, why would you buy these. And most likely its from a shop that has a two year shelf life.

Back in the day when I started Karting I ran Trackmagics and did for a decade. Mainly its because Trackmagic was doing great in SKUSA mostly in Shifters. There drivers stuck with them for years. They had cool looking karts and a cool image. I've not found a good replacement for them yet. I guess that sort of thing matters to me, does it to you?

For me Now I would say its about supporting the shop and the support and not so much the brand.

What are your thoughts
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Michael Taksa · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:14 am Post subject:

Price of kart and all the spare parts is important, almost as important as having the local "support" for parta/setup during the race weekend. And the initial deal on the kart is big for me. Also there are some karts that feel better for specific drivers. I would much rather drive a kart that handles well on different tracks with "neutral" setup then spend a day adjusting for a specific track. Having said all of that, if the local shop sold kart that could not compete, even if they were less expensive I would not buy them. However if a shop offered a kart for free, even if it is somewhat less competitive, its a different story.

Dan Haynes · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:03 am Post subject:

Our first switch was due to trackside support. The kart we started on was a used kart just to get started in 2 cycle racing. The following year we bought a brand new kart with trackside support but very costly to maintain/replace parts. The last one was bought because they are relatively cheap compared to the others and they will last much longer than the others we have owned. We had no trackside support locally but we have enough experience to tune on our own and I tried to stock up on spares in case we needed them.
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Blaise Haynes
#3 Arrow X1-CIK
TaG
Cook Racing Engines Parilla Leopard

Alex King · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 11:10 am Post subject: Re: Are you Brand Loyal?

Hey Keith - that might be true. But it is also true that the dealers themselves (or some) switch brands – even importer as well. Kart businesses are not perpetually committed to a brand, so we should not expect the kart consumers to be.

PITTS is one of the oldest kart shop here in Southern California, they are a DR chassis. And J3 Competition appears quite stable as well, they deal with Kosmic – both have more than two years. I bought a Kosmic. I did so because of the looks and because it was also cheaper. The FA chassis appeared to be the most expensive of all OTK line, followed by TonyKart. And if they are all exactly the same except for the looks (which I like Kosmic the most), it made sense to go with Kosmic.

Michael Knauf · Joined: 31 Oct 2011 Posts: 58

I am not necessarily brand loyal to anyone or anything, although I always have some preference towards certain things. I think educated consumers these days buy based on what best fits their needs for the money. Brand loyalty is ridiculous. In terms of cars every manufacturer makes some that top of their class, and some that are bottom or mediocre. Some manufacturers have a better record than others but I don't think that necessarily means what is new will be good or not, management and philosophies are constantly changing in today's marketplace...

For instance I used to think Ford produced some of the worst cars on the market, now I feel they are by far the best out the 'Big 3'. What changed? Their management.

As far as karts I could care less what it looks like. It has to work well and be competitive. Parts should be easy to come by and reasonable to buy.

I should add I've never bought a new kart, so kart shops never influenced my decision. It was always other racers and results. If you have to have to the newest, latest, and greatest you will always take a gamble. Same goes for new models of vehicles or phones. Do you want to be the Beta tester? Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes not. Depends on how much you are willing to gamble.
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Mike

Kerry Matthews · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 11:59 am Post subject:

Like Michael above, I've never purchased a new kart. I'm on my 5th used chassis at the moment. I bought a used Birel as my first kart. I was told by fellow racers that at least I was on good equipment, as Birel was a top line kart. I've stayed with them for the past 6 years, just as I have with Fords for 30 years. The local shop provided EXCELLENT trackside support at the local sprint track, and that helped. I ended up buying 2 TaG karts, switched to road racing, and have since bought 3 shifter frames, going on my 4th. Since I recently just tacoed my Birel frame, I started thinking about possibly switching to another chassis, most likely a CRG, as I would be able to get some good chassis tuning help from SwedeTech, whose top riders all run CRG's. But the fact that I have almost 3 complete karts worth of Birel parts in my trailer makes switching chassis a financial nightmare, due to replacing parts.
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Jeff DeMello · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 5:58 pm Post subject:

Nothing to worry about Kerry, after your first race on the new kart you will have all the spare parts you need after the wreck Shocked

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Jeff DeMello
Emmick F125 Pavesi

Brad Johnson · Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:17 am Post subject:

My first new kart was a CRG, the shop I dealt with sold them. I liked that one and the next one came from the same shop but it was a PTK, when CRG made them. The last one I bought was a used one but it was also a CRG, I guess I like CRG, but I knew this one was at least fast at the hands of it's previous owner. Not so much with me behind the wheel.

If I had the oppurtunity to drive a Birel and be fast maybe I would switch, I don't know. The nearest shop now only deals with Birel, but I think there might be a CRG outlet nearby soon. We'll see what the future holds.

At one time I really wanted a Trackmagic because they were making good showings and were made here. Seems like they flourished in the shifter classes and at the time I wasn't that far up the ladder so to speak. Always have loved the logo too!!

Mark Erpelding · Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 10:41 am Post subject: Loyal

I am Loyal to my brand " Absolut" I have found other vodka's have an aftertaste.... As far as karts I look for Results, value, trackside supports sometimes you need parts.. The fun per dollar equasion went out the window when we got out of rental karts...
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