[Evan Fraser]

I believe the caster/camber measurements with neutral pills depends on the manufacturer.  My CRG at neutral is the factory “ideal” setup, and it has a little bit of positive camber when on the stand.  Keep in mind that resting on the ground with the driver in it will cause the tires to lean in (negative camber) a little bit.  On the ground with me in it the tires are likely standing straight with zero camber, at neutral settings.  If your kart has Sniper compatible spindles on it you can leave the lasers on with the kart on the ground and your son in it to find out what the difference is.

What kind of Kart is it?  What kind of caster/camber pills?  Does it have sniper compatible spindles?

[Evan Fraser]

And therein lies the problem.  Perhaps the intent of the program was honest, but a few bad apples take an otherwise level playing field and tilt it.  Status quo.

[Evan Fraser]

This is good food-for-thought Glenn.  I’m thinking of going LO206 for a year to relax a bit.

I agree with Timothy but I also agree with the old saying, speed is money.  The practice of buying a pile of engines and cherry-picking the cream of the crop isn’t new, and when an entry-level class like LO206 is being run at the National level where the money is then this is going to happen to the class.  Even if it weren’t running Nationals someone’s always going to try to find a way within the rules to make their motor faster.  That being said if you’re just going to race club then who cares what the rich guys do?  Buy a “club-level” motor, some oil and a couple sets of tires and go race affordably.

Locally in Vancouver since the demise of the World Formula LO206 and TKM are our only 4-cycle options and most of the guys that race them can’t afford to buy 25 motors, so how good or bad your motor is is just a lottery and the playing field is level.

That dealer of yours sounds a little shady though.  I’d want a race package in the box that hasn’t been tinkered with.  I don’t want all the “bad” parts that he pulled from the “good” motors and used to make a Frankenstein’s Motor.

[Evan Fraser]

I agree.  Organisation.  Clear scheduling.  Solid communication.

And THE TRUTH.

[Evan Fraser]

Daryle’s point is right on the money.  It’s not just about the Modesto GP but all kart racing.  The drivers need to be taught good racing from bad racing from the get-go, whether they start young or old.  I know enforcement is very difficult with the speed of these events so it falls to us, the drivers and coaches, to try to keep this sport clean.

Jordan is an excellent driver.  I’m much slower and held him up for 3 laps once and didn’t get any more than a couple of taps on the rear bumper.  That comes from good coaching.

[Evan Fraser]

Welcome to Sprint Karting!  I’m glad you’re keeping a good attitude and keeping your chin up.  I started out just as you did, with an old wreck of a 2002 Tonykart Mitox with a Rok 125 that needed a lot of work.  For three years I towed my kart around with my car on a 30-year-old boat trailer (converted to haul karts) and was intimidated by all the big expensive rigs.  Soon I learned that my fellow racers really aren’t that scary, and many of them would happily help me out with questions and tuning issues.  Make some friends, have some fun.

In terms of tuning, obviously gearing is going to depend heavily on the track and the power curve of the motor but on my old Rok I ran 13-80.  I think the guiding principle is you should be hitting the rev limiter at the end of the front straight.

Glad to hear your brakes are better.  I had an incident where a fitting blew off and I had no brakes.  It was messy.

Regarding your carb issues.. I don’t know a lot about the Tillotsen carbs but the principle is the same.  Ask around for a good basic setup (needle position, main jet, emulsion tube, idle jet etc.) and then tune by your pants.  I set mine to factory once and it was so rich it barely ran.  Also I noticed in your pictures you have a conical air filter on your intake instead of a silencer.  I’m not sure that would make a difference but I’d still buy the proper intake silencer.

Best of luck and keep us posted!

[Evan Fraser]

I will await said columns eagerly.

[Evan Fraser]

I was quite curious myself.  I didn’t see much on Facebook, but I was wondering after Rob’s Morning Coffee column if things turned out as he had hoped in terms of driver conduct.

[Evan Fraser]

No one?

If you put yoke lasers on the chassis, should they be pointing dead straight at each other with no deviation?

By Yoke I mean the C-section, where the Kingpin goes through so you can check the inclination of the kingpin at the front hubs.

[Evan Fraser]

Very true, it’s not just the bumping drivers that are going to land on their head.  I’m just saying I can see where Bob is coming from that removing the rear bumper will probably reduce the amount of ramming as it will make the cost that much higher.

You’re right.  If the issue was ONLY sportsmanship with no additional risk I’d say remove it.  However while the removal of the bumper may force some drivers to drive with a bit more respect for the consequences of ramming someone, the risk is too great.  I’m going to commit and say: Keep it.

In my response to David I was saying not whether to remove or keep it, just that if they decide on one or the other that it should be consistent.

[Evan Fraser]

Juniors are some of the most aggressive, fearless drivers I’ve ever seen and so the most likely to run over someone’s tail in my opinion.  If they learn in their first 8 years of driving that they can run in to the kart in front of them without consequence, I’m not sure that they won’t continue trying to do so despite the lack of bumper in senior.  I opine that it’s all or nothing.  Remove it from all of them or keep it for all of them.  Or maybe keep it in Cadet, as those are just little kids who should be kept as safe as possible, and remove it from Junior on up.

[Evan Fraser]

I have to admit Bob (and the other well-written replies) you’re swaying me to the no-rear-bumper side of the argument.  What better way to learn not to be an ass than to land on your head?  If all we’re doing is trying to encourage better, more sportsmanlike driving then I agree.  From a safety perspective though anything that helps prevent head-and-neck injuries should be encouraged.  I wear a collar even though they’re not mandated, and will likely be buying a 360 device.

Where the CIK is concerned though the rear bumper now becomes a liability issue.  If they remove it then they’re knowingly risking more rollovers and will be blamed for someone’s child being injured.  I don’t see that happening.

[Evan Fraser]

Bob Vehring: Having been on the enforcement end of the operation I agree that you can’t see everything or even a significant portion of the race.  Most incidents I’ve had to report I only saw after they started to happen and these were incidents that occurred in just my corner.

While enforcement is the ideal solution, it’s also unrealistic to have 100% enforcement even if you have full course coverage, as a CW’s first concern is safety, which is why we’re having this entire discussion as someone (CIK-FIA) has tried to present an alternative to mitigate the issue.

As you say the answer is fairly simple: Responsibility rests with the driver.  Responsibility cannot however be forced.

[Evan Fraser]

That’s a pretty cool little track there!

[Evan Fraser]

Interesting idea John.  Personally I like the bodywork too, both look and function.  I’ve had plenty of small side-to-side impacts that would’ve been worse without the pods, and enjoy how close it lets you get to the other karts without fear of tires connecting.  Having said that I’ve never been side-swiped out of a corner.  I’ll come back and rant when that happens.

[Evan Fraser]

tl;dr version: Shoving is a problem, this solution isn’t ideal but at least something is being done.

Personally I have noticed a tendency for the higher level drivers to be far more aggressive with bumping and shoving in corners.  I also have a fair bit of experience in turn marshalling for sports cars and know how hard it can be to determine who hit who and how best to penalise them.  Down here at the club level in BC we’re lucky just to get enough people to wave flags, forget about rule enforcement.

While I like the fact that the pushing and shoving issues have been noticed and the CIK-FIA is making a move to limit it, I too think the new front fairing system is open to exploitation.  Having said that I think after a few pileups forcing half the field to come in for a reset the drivers will learn to be a little more careful in the first couple corners, and repeated complaints of brake-checking would lead to the offender being watched more closely.  Unless of course the driver being “brake-checked” is actually ramming the driver in front.

The ideal solution is better enforcement.  However, brake-checking with the new system should be pretty obvious to an observer who knows the track and the offender can be penalised accordingly.  Incidental contact is something the drivers will have to sort out between themselves, or perhaps learn more to keep their head up to predict whether the driver in front is going to need to slow down for some reason.

Edit: I suppose I should address David’s original question.  Should the rear bumper be removed?  It would have to be removed from every level of the sport, otherwise drivers moving up to the top level would have no idea how to race without it.  I would say no, keep it.  Majour collisions and up-and-overs may be rare but they have the potential to be very damaging to driver and kart.

[Evan Fraser]

Thanks David.   He’s just looking to get practice as a newbie and I think having a more consistent tire, even if it is harder, will be of more benefit for the time being.  I’ll let him know.

[Evan Fraser]

Started at age 26 after a lot of volunteering experience around the local sports car track.  Vortex Rok 125 on a 2002 Tonykart Mitox.  Broke a lot, learned a lot.  If I were to do it over again I would start with (and recommend) an LO206, it just wasn’t very prevalent at our track at the time.

[Evan Fraser]

Awesome, thanks.

[Evan Fraser]

Hi Bob:

A lot of the Formula K / ROK GP drivers at my club use the Unipro kits, mostly the 6003 or 5003, and absolutely love them.  The price point is up there but apparently they’re built very well and very easy to use compared to an Alfano or MyChron.  When I have a few extra dollars I want to pick up a 3005 kit (RPM and Laptimer) which is in a way more affordable price range.

[Evan Fraser]

I’m stealing this idea.

Thanks Eric.

[Evan Fraser]

Got a friend of mine to buy a Birel MX32 with a Leopard on it, took him to the track and let him out on it yesterday.  I think our TAG class may have a new entry.

Also showing my kart at a car show my sponsor puts on on Sunday.  I think for next year’s show I’m going to try to put up a media board with some good grid and action pictures.

[Evan Fraser]

Karting pictures on your desk at work? Yes
Have you been known to turn any racing conversation into a conversation about karts? Yes, I try to do it less as it annoys people
Do offer to help new people out getting started? Always
Do you attend the local club meetings? (Are you on the board?) Yes, No
Do you volunteer at the local club? Yes
Do you donate used equipment to the club?(Old chassis that could be used for an Arrive-n-drive) A helmet, so far
Would you race 2 classes if they needed another kart? If I could afford it

What do you do? I loan my Kart trailer to the club as a recovery trailer for larger events such as the Can-Am and IKF Gold Cup, it’s great for quick recoveries

[Author]

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