rotax questions

[JOHN KING]

I race shifters and have thought about racing a rotax as a second class in the future. Now that people have some experience with these karts,can someone who is not promoting rotax answer some questions for me.Do they actually run for 50 hours with no matienance? What does it cost to run a season? When they do brake down,do you have to have them worked on at a rotax shop. Most important, I heard someone in the pitts telling his buddy he would personally work on his motor and seal it for him at the shop he worked at.To me it sounded like cheating was going on, is this common? thanks

[Andy Seesemann]

John,

I hope you meant "pits" when you wrote "pitts", because the latter is the proper name of the shop I work for. Since I do the Rotax motor sealing at the shop(which is the ROTAX service center for So-Cal) and I have never said or done anything of this nature, I know that we have never met.

ANDY SEESEMANN
PITTS Performance

[Marshall Mauney]

quote:

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Originally posted by JOHN KING:
What does it cost to run a season? When they do brake down,do you have to have them worked on at a rotax shop.

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Costs per race weekend for me are:

Fuel - 2 gal @ $ 4.50
Tires - BS YHCs @ $170.00
Brake Pads - @ $ 20.00
Entry fee - @ $ 45.00
Chain - @ $ 30.00 (about every other week)
Engine rebuild @ $ 50.00 (10 races, $500)
Odds & Ends @ $ 41.00

Total (estimate) $350.00

I've also run through the usual assortment of bearings, brake discs, drive gears and sprockets - not really very different from any other type of kart, although the small chain on the Rotax seems to wear quicker than a shifter setup. The brake pads wear quickly for two reasons. (1) Rotax is rear only, so all the wear is on one caliper; (2) I have the TrackMagic Brembo setup, which uses a really small pad, so the life is SHORT. I run new pads every race weekend, and sometimes replace them another time between races (depending on how many practice days I run.

As for engine life, I currently have in the 20-25 hour range on my engine, and I haven't seen any deterioration in performance - I qualified 3rd out of 11 last weekend at .13 sec off pole. I'll rebuild it at the end of the season, and I'm planning for the worst.

Hope this helps,

MM

[JOHN KING]

Andy, my bad, the question had nothing to do with your shop. Don't be so defensive,relax. Your right I don't know you and i'm not trying to put a face or name to the person who said what I heard.

[John Leary]

My Son has been racing Rotax since July of last year. With 18 races and the motor is still going strong. Pole and First place wins his last two races.
The YHC tires last 4-5 races for us, with Sat. practice too.
Haven't replaced a chain for a long time. Usualy run 91 octane pump gas @ $1.70 a gallon, 2 gallons are plenty for a race.
I haven't seen or suspected anyone of cheating, most Rotax racers are more laid back than most other classes. Just out to have fun on the weekend. Rotax racers spend a lot of time in each others pits, if they arn't pitting together, swaping tips and parts.

[Shannon Schmidt]

Cost per weekend for me:

1. Entry fee $30.00
2. Fuel (2 gallons) $10.00
3. Tires (bridg YGK) (every 5 races, and yes they do last about that long) $170.00
4. Chain (every few months as long as I don't throw it off) $30.00
5. Brake pads (CRG Twin Caliper) (every 6-7 races) $48.00
6. Sprokets (when I bend one) $18.00
7. Miscelaneous each week $25.00

Overrall, I spend about $250 bucks a month on my kart (as long as I don't break anything major). My biggest expediture this season has been on chains and sprokets. We have a very rough track and my old kart had a bad habit of throwing chains. Other than replacing chains and sprokets, I haven't had to fix anything motor related. I am on my third set of bridgestone YGKs. In case you don't know, the YGK is the tire you woll need to run at grand nationals. Not really sure why these other guys' associations are not using the YGK. My engine has about 20 hours on it and it runs great. The manual says you should rebuild every fifty hours, or about once a season.

You don't have to spend a ton of money to race a Rotax. The guy who posted first one here, in my opinion is over spending. But if you have the dough, why not I guess. Unlike shifter kart racing, the Rotax was designed to be fast and affordable. I tried to run shifters and I just couldn't afford it. So I switched to the Rotax and I run right up near the front and I don't spend a lot of money to do so.

GOOD LUCK!

[Jim Marks]

John;

Just for curiosity sake. Did you hear this conversation at Willow Springs....on a Thursday???

[Jay Sharpe]

John,
It sound like Brit is getting it togeather! I'm glad he's doing well. :p

[superfast]

John, there is cheating in all forms of karting. There is cheating in all sports. Especially with shifter kart racing. Whoever has the most money is probably going to be the fastest kart and usually wins. That to me is kinda like cheating. I see people at races who cover up their engine package, do you think they are cheating I do why else wouldn't they let you see what they are running. Personally I think the Rotax is a pretty cool package, but won't last here in So Cal. I know people who have been waiting to get parts for their broken Rotax for months. With only one distributor for Rotax parts it will take a long time to receive them and is going to cost a lot of money. Overall, karting is going to be expensive no matter what you have and the people with the most money in their kart usually win. (Wait a minute everybody has won some kind of title at least thats the way it sounds in the short time I have been in karting about 4 months.) If you have the money to buy one and race I am sure it is fun so go ahead and do it.

[Marshall Mauney]

After seeing several comments about 'overspending' I think that I need to clarify a couple of things regarding my earlier post about expenses.

Firstly, I have added in about $50 per race towards the 'rebuild fund'. This is a real expense, but you don't have to pay it until you send the engine in for maintenance. The worst-case rebuild scenario seems to be about $500. Since we have 11 races/year and I run a LOT of practice sessions between races, I expect to have used the lion's share of my 50 hours by the end of the season, at which time I'll send it in for an overhaul, rather than do without it in the middle of the season next year. It may not cost me $500, but if you're not budgeting for the worst, you're sticking your head in the sand and hoping for a miracle.

Second, I do put new tires on for every race. I didn't do this for the first few races, as I wasn't running them hard enough to need new ones. Once I started driving harder, I found that, (a) there is a small but significant difference between new and month-old, halfway worn-down tires, and (b) I use tires pretty rapidly. About half of the time, I have used up 70% or so of the tread in practice sessions, so it doesn't really make sense to run the tires for the race.

If you really want to go low-budget, you don't HAVE to run new tires; you can drive whatever you have to the cords. You don't HAVE to budget for annual maintenance expenses; you can drive the engine until it blows and then start saving up to replace it. I guarantee you that that is NOT the cheaper path in the long run.

My previous experience in motorsports has taught me to think in terms of: "If you can't afford to spend too much, you can't afford to run up front". I run my racing hobby like I run my business; it's better to spend a little more up front a a planned expense, rather than going cheap and having to spend more later in an 'emergency' anyway. You can definitely race with a smaller budget than I am using, but you will probably pay in the long run with either extra effort, untimely equipment failures, or slower performance.

Just my opinion - others may think differently.

MM

[Rob Martin]

John King I. (kinda sounds like royalty)

It may depend on your racing weight in the rotax setup.

Fuel, entry fees, travel expenses, chains, and brake pads are standard expenses that are not going to vary significantly between classes.

Tire economics will probably be more significant to you during the racing season than the actual maintenance cost of the Rotax.

The masters class has received a great deal of negative attention for the cost of tires when using the Vega XR's. Hopefully SSC will be resonable and select a different tire spec for next year in this class. If not, I believe participation will be way down.

The international class currently uses the more economical Bridgestone YGK's. They cost more up front but last significantly longer.

Some local clubs have adopted their own racing weights and tire specs that greatly reduce the cost of running the Rotax in competition. Typically they are a compromise between the two established Rotax classes.

If you are just running for fun or seat time get the Rotax, jet conservatively and run the MG yellows for a great high reliability, low cost package.

[Bill Wright]

Once again I see a post about people waiting for parts? What parts? I have had NO problem getting parts??

Bill Wright
"Get on Course!" with FK www.formulakart.com

[Steve French]

Bill

I seem to remember that some of us did have to wait for some parts ! so let's not generalise

Steve F

[Bill Wright]

Steve,

The key part of your response is "did" have to wait for parts. That was 6 months ago? And it was only a problem right after the holidays. As you know Europe closes down for weeks during the holidays. Shortages are not uncommon, and are not unique to Rotax product.

However, with 1st and 2nd quarter U.S. Rotax engine sales up 81% over the same period last year, I can understand why there may have been a slight delay while supply caught up with demand.

Bill Wright
"Get on Course!" with FK www.formulakart.com