[brian downing]

No, I don’t believe this is normal. A disorganized shop, or a disorganized businessman is not someone I would want to do business with. A clean, well organized shop, with prices labeled and items well displayed is a good sign, though only one. You need to find out from their customers.

The dealers I’ve met have a presence at the local track. Many can’t afford to own brick and mortar shops any longer with all of the online competition (which also provide very good service). Head to the track where you plan on racing and talk to the local racers. Find out what they run and who they do business with. The best indication of a business’ attention to detail and integrity will be word of mouth from those who’ve used their service.

Personally I’ve managed quite well, buying karts, and parts, online but I do all of my own mechanical work. cometkartsales.com, tsracing.com, ladspec.com,  amongst many others offer online services and parts.

[Stu Hayner]

Dan,

I believe I stopped at that shop a few months ago. Your are right – a bit disappointing.

I love to see what the other shops are doing to help me get better. I visit 2-3 shops a month, and to be honest, most are pretty close to what you describe.

I’ve been karting for over 30 years, and recently opened our own shop in Orange Ca. There’s a few that are nicer, but we are working to fix that. To be perfectly clean and organized is quite difficult, but we are trying.

I specialize in helping brand new to karting guys, and I have to admit, I do my best to get them to come down and sit in a few karts. It is so much easier when they can touch and feel.

We have brand new Birel and the all new American built iKarts assembled and on display, but also have over 60 used karts to pick from.

I spend over 6 hours a day on the phone – trying to explain this that / differences in karts – flex / engines etc. I’m sorry to say that many of those calls fall on deaf ears.

In most cases, you ARE better off traveling to the shop in person. Once you establish a good relationship, the calls get shorter and the guy on the other end knows he’s not just wasting hours on a guy who’s dead set on only spending $400 on Craig’s List junk.

If ever in SoCal, drop by. I’ll spend any amount of time you need – promise!! I hope you find some beautiful karts and very clean kart shop. If you’d like to see pictures, text me or email me.

714 305-612three

Stu

Good luck finding your kart.

[Cory French]

Dan,

If Stu is anywhere close to where you live……take him up on this offer!  He is will not steer you in the wrong direction.  Just like everything else, karting is about the people.  Good luck and welcome to the addiction.

[tony zambos]

Dan,
A little more research on your part may have a great benefit. Visit the track you plan to regularly plan to race at. If you have other tracks available to you, visit them also. Figure out which classes you’re interested in. While at the tracks, find out what vendors the racers are using and if there is a shop that supports the track. So you’re not surprised, you’ll probably have to purchase a pit pass to get into the track. The shifter karts will look interesting, but stay away from them to start with. After you’ve learned chassis setups and how to race, if shifters still look interesting, go for it.

I’d say most kart shops are very small businesses and the people in them work long hours. Emails probably are not high on their list of priorities. Visit the shop in person, that way you can size up the shop and the owner can size you up. And you should call first as the shop maybe on the way to a race or coming back from one.

[Daniel White]

Hey Dan, if you think THAT website / shop is bad, you ought to check out the Birel site ha ha.

[Dan Maloy]

Brian –
Good advice about talking straight to the racers at that particular track. And, thanks for the specific websites you’ve had good transactions with.

Stu –
If your shop is clean, well organized and your website is up to date, in my opinion you are miles ahead of others who don’t. It’s not about the customer being a snob (and I know you know that…you “get it”), it’s about the business owner winning the TRUST of a prospective customer. A messy, disorganized shop, continued preoccupation with other things after a customer walks in, a non-functional / out of date website all screams “I don’t care”; either about their own business or about you as a customer. Either way, to me as a customer, that isn’t good. Good luck to you in your business! I would love to give you a call and get your thoughts on a few questions.

Cory –
No, unfortunately Stu is over a thousand miles away. Thanks, though, for your vote of confidence in him.

Tony –
I’ve done a ton of online research in the last few weeks and am doing more. Driving my wife nuts. (Guess the addiction is already well under way!) The track right outside this guy’s business IS the track I’d be primarily racing at and as far as I can tell it’s the only one (track AND karting shop) in this very large city. I had planned to see this guy and his shop in person even if he answered all my questions via e-mail since I wanted to see in person what used karts he had as well as maybe sit in a brand new kart or two (I’m guilty for getting weak in the knees over the thought of a new kart) or MAYBE….have been able to test drive one. Thanks for the pit pass and shifter info. Was leaning towards starting in shifters, not out of pride, but out of cost….thought it might be cheaper to buy a shifter (once) instead of buy a TAG kart and then spend more money upgrading to a shifter. However, the other employee at this shop told me that all the newer karts from this company I’m interested in are made to accept a shifter setup so I might buy a shifter kart and temporarily pull off the shifter hardware. We’ll see.

Daniel –
Guess I won’t be buying a Birel!, ha! ha!

Anybody else want to chime in? Do kart shops generally help out newbies in terms of getting the kart put together or (if used) getting it in working condition? I mean, how much hand-holding do they generally do for new guys?

[tony zambos]

Dan,
Our last two karts have been shifter chassis and we’ve run TaG with both of them. The upside is the shifter chassis is it has the pivot points for the shifter leaver, comes with a shifter lever, shifter rod AND front brakes. The front brakes are not a liability for us as we road race/enduro where front brakes are allowed. Many sprint classes do not allow front brakes but you might be OK with them on a shifter. Be sure to read you track and class rules.

As for support, the kart shop owner will help you out. You probably won’t ask any question that he hasn’t answered before. He’ll answer your questions and do the same for the new karters after you. At the track, some of your competitors will help out if asked.

I don’t advocate this, but you might want to get your wife involve. You’ll need a hand to get your kart from the racing surface onto a stand. Also you’ll need someone to keep track of changes to the kart. Pen and paper is a good tool to have. Things get hectic in the pits between practice sessions and someone to take notes will help when you reflect back on a day of racing.

[Troy Berry]

Hi Dan,

All kart shops are small, and most struggle to make any real money. Most just keep it barely going because they love the sport.  It’s just a lower volume thing than say a motorcycle shop. Some are more organized than others, it mostly depends on the volume of customers for your area. A shop like Comet or Stu’s shop in so Cal has a larger amount of people racing in their area, so the shops are going to be nicer for the most part. Talking to the other racers on a race day will be way more valuable to you that the kart shop to begin with. Go to a race and ask a bunch of questions. When you decide to buy a kart and get out to the track, the other guys in your class will be the best place to get help for the most part. You may end up buying a used set up to get started anyway, many do. It is easier for most to start with a complete package and add or change things as you learn. Some of it depends on your mechanical abilities. Even if you have the money for new,  you are still going to want to get a test ride or two from some of the guys who race at the track. When it come to getting what you need from the shop(karts, motors or parts) it’s simple.  Money talks. Karts and parts cost money, and time is money when your doors are open.  As long as you are being a reasonable customer and not asking for anyone’s valuable time in their shop working on you kart for free, then you will likely get all the help you need.  If you are at the shop and spending cash, then some added questions and advice is usually a part of the deal.  Welcome to the sport.

 

[Curtis Cooksey]

Kart racing is a small industry and most kart shops don’t have a showroom like a motorcycle shop. If you are 130 miles from a kart shop you should look at http://www.shopakr.com  Acceleration Kart Racing is just the click of a mouse away.

[Curtis Ruth]

http://www.innovativekarting.com/theshop.htm

 

This is my shop.  We offer a full retail counter, service department and complete machine shop for karting.  Do your research, visit your track you plan on racing at, and speak to the guys who have been around a while and really care about the future of karting in the market.

These guys can help guide you in to having a ton of fun.

[Joey Guyon]

Dan, this is a great topic as many newbies experience questions like yours.

 

First its your money. Spend it with a shop you are comfortable with. Make sure their business practice matches your expectations. If not make sure they explain their business practice.

The shop appearance is a small part of things, but as many shop owners should take note – it is very important and sets the tone for the clients opinions.

Now as to your question of hand holding. Great question. Firstly a proper shop should either sell you an operational kart and then offer advice as post sale service. They can offer mechanical assistance for a fee and coaching as well.

If you buy a roller from them they should be extra patient in your ten visits to buy parts and recieve guidance in assembly (at a distance).

If you buy a roller or parts on your own or online they should offer you service at their shop rate for every minute.

In the end you should get a good kart together, the shop should pay the rent, buy some bread and order some iiTunes for their kids.

[Rod Hawkins]

Dan,

If you are coming from other sports like I did, the eye candy at shops is very disappointing in karting. The money and population just isn’t there to support it. I also ride dirt bikes, mountain bikes and surf. I love to check out equipment before I purchase. If you are looking for a local kart shop to compare to a motorcycle super store, or bike shop, it just is probably not going to happen.

Stu has a couple new karts and a BUNCH of used (but nice) used karts (used isn’t even a good word. Think of them as certified pre owned. Almost. He usually takes them all apart, powdercoats them, gets all the parts running correctly and sells them. Then he will go to the track with you to help tune it). I live in SoCalif and was surprised at the inability to walk into a shop and get tempted to buy something. I had been to several and stu’s is the best, but it still isn’t like a motorcycle superstore if that is what you are expecting, but you get way more than that in someone who will be straight up with you and talk karting and support his product.

[Author]

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