[Gary Lawson]

Argays 4cycle kart is essentially the same design as their 2cycle kart but it has a bolt on strut.  I’ve raced both karts and their isnt a handling difference. Also had a 4cycle thathad the factory strut welded on in place of the bolt on and didnt notice any improvement. Just get a quality bolt on and dont sweat it.

[Gary Lawson]

You have two choices. You can use a heavy dead blow hammer (my choice) or use a bent axle or jack handle to pry it. Easiest with the kart on the ground for leverage and you can stand on the opposite side.  Majority of the bending should be on the left strut to avoid engine clearance issues.

[Gary Lawson]

Briggs flathead for me in 1992.  The lo206 is the best choice for someone getting started especially if they dont have a prior mechanical background.  They are the closest to zero maintenance you can get for multiple years.

[Gary Lawson]

Yes it should fit without any modifications to frame or struts. Just get a Burris or black rhink motor mount. They have nearly infinite adjustment for any clearance issues. I just talked to someone that tested a 206 on a new FA and arrow x3 kart without issue

[Gary Lawson]

If you local track has a message board try to find someone nearby otherwise it’s not worth the shipping as mentioned.  You can find most 40mm axles for around 75 used.

I dont agree that the benefit of a 50 is because its softer. Most are 2mm thick and I have some 40s that are 1.75 mm. Not to mention to increased stiffness from the diameter. When testing both the 50 seemed to have more grip and stability without binding the kart.

[Gary Lawson]

The connection point will make considerable difference on braking power along with the change in throw as correctly mentioned above. The highest hole on the arm will give most braking power. The opposite holds true for the connection point at the pedal.

[Gary Lawson]

not sure how helpful this will be but the old style yamaha pipe vs the KPV was very even. I think the yamaha was usually faster. It had more bottom and more top but the KPV was faster in the mid range. I would think they will really do their best to not mess this class up. THey know it doesn’t have many mistakes left before it is extinct.

[Gary Lawson]

[quote quote=14661]Why the restrictions on laying a seat down?  I think it’s purely political and based on how it might change how ‘things have always been done’ and potentially hurt profits.  I don’t think it has anything at all to do with speed.[/quote]

Paul,

There is a lot of truth to this statement. Most issues came from racers/industry people complaining and not wanting to change or put effort into testing. Much easier to try to just get rid of people and change rules to exclude different things. Anyway, doesn’t matter at this point anymore.

To the topic of having a lower CG to lessen transfer and try to slip the inside instead of lifting it… although I appreciate and do attempt to try to understand a lot of the theory behind tuning/setup I will give you some of my feedback from my on track testing. The laydown seat is going to make less grip even if the inside rear may be engage longer throughout the corner. Spreading the load more evenly between the tires doesn’t make up for the lessened grip from the lack of load on the outside rear. The laydown seat is more advantageous when it is hot or you can use a soft tire. Cold weather and hard tires just doesn’t make enough grip. The rear lays too flat and it wants to push. Putting caster in to fix the push just causes the kart to oversteer from lack of wt transfer. Not being able to add seat stays to the seat also makes this issue more prevalent.

I believe the laydown style seat should be legal because it gives bigger drivers like me the opportunity to lower the center of gravity to similar to that of a smaller driver. I’m not looking for an advantage, just to be able to be equal. At a national track in the middle of the summer where the rubber lays down a bigger driver doesn’t have a chance against a smaller driver of equal talent. Me in my laydown seat would probably have a higher CG than 120 lb TJ with all his lead mounted low on the seat (not to pick on you TJ). As much of a pain as it is to lift his kart with all that lead (unless you have a great Kartlift), he can manipulate how the kart works by moving lead up and down on the seat. Sorry to go on a little tangent but it was along the same lines of the topic. Anyway, I have my newly designed seat that has gotten  plenty of complaints and scrutinizing already.  No one likes losing.

I’ll try to answer a few of your questions if you have them, Paul.

 

[Gary Lawson]

It will no doubt lower your center of gravity and decrease grip.  Not sure what rules you plan on running though. WKA does not allow a “laydown” seat anymore. Apparently it was ruining the manufacturer’s cup series as stated by some. The seat cannot have a continuous curve in the back. It must be flat and basically look like every other style sprint seat. Try to get around those rules somehow and their is even a maximum seat angle to the ground. I think around 47 degrees. Sorry to rain on the parade.

If their is no rule and you are struggling with too much side bite, hopping, or two wheeling, then give it a try. Some have a hard time adapting to sitting like that though.

[Gary Lawson]

If it’s in the rules I think he should be disqualified. I thought it was definitely way over the top. Celebrate all you want as soon as you get off the scales. For all I know the guy could have slipped some weight into his pocket. Not to mention how unsafe it is to stop on the racing surface. On that topic, I think their should have been a penalty at the pan am race at NOLA for the antics that went on with drivers in sr. max stopping on the track and playing games during the last timed practice. I found it humorous when it happened but it definitely wasn’t very safe.

Anyway, back to the celebration thing. It’s bad enough that their have been people that wrecked or swerved after celebrating when they win. Eventually it may turn into the NFL where they celebrate now after every tackle or catch instead of only during a touchdown. Next time I may a pass for 10th I’m going to give a fist pump to the crowd as I go by….A little exaggerated but if you went back to 1980 and showed an NFL player all the celebrating now they wouldn’t believe what they see. It’s embarrassing. Even kids at jr. high school games celebrate like that because it’s all they see on tv anymore. I guess I’m just old school. I only pose for David Cole. Lol

[Gary Lawson]

Some of you sprint guys are probably reading Valentin’s post thinking he is nuts but he is absolutely correct on how to easily shrink and grow a tire. Some tires are harder than others to grow based on construction. A Burris or dunlop are very easy to stretch a tire 1/2″ just by inflating it to about 50 pounds. Others like bridgestone are nearly impossible to grow more than an 1/8″ without using heat/ice bucket.

In regards to how stagger can be used in sprint kart it is pretty much useless. The reason why is because karts have so much caster and turns are generally so tight that the inside tire is unloaded very much or completely off the ground. In oval racing the driving barely turns the wheel and they don’t run more than 12 degrees caster typically. Couple that with how the inside rear can have as much as 175 lb of preload that tire will never be completely unloaded. The stagger is used to help turn the kart in the corner and the increased weight on the left rear helps the kart drive off the corner with more speed.

In sprint racing, like TJ said any more than approximately a 1/4″ the kart will pull excessively down the straights. A 1/2″ difference in stagger, front or rear, will cause the corner weights to be off by as much as 10 lbs in the front and rear.

Also, an oval kart typically runs 1 1/2″ front stagger and 1″ rear.  This much stagger naturally puts negative camber in the entire right side of the kart and positive camber in the left side.

[Gary Lawson]

Gary Lawson and either Colton Smith or John Dignan.

[Gary Lawson]

An interesting point to think about is how many changes being made to the gold cup are to make racing more cost effective. Switching to more stock gas powered engines that last longer between rebuilds without loss in power. Makes sense. Bolting an engine that costs less than $1000 onto a now $4000+ go kart with a 50mm axle doesn’t make much sense though. If someone shows up and dominates the next race on a 4800 OTK kart I don’t think the reaction will be to go buy one, it will be to quit. On the other hand, if the expensive Euro karts are not competitive they won’t waste their time competing either. The more I think about it the more it just seems pointless.

[Gary Lawson]

[quote quote=6735]Our 4 cycle guy has some questions. Maybe someone in the know (WKA person) can answer.
1. What is a CIK kart.
2. Does this mean a man cup chassis (CIK ?) can bolt on a 4-cycle engine and race?
3. Will a 4-cycle kart be allowed to run 50mm axel?
4. What is the definition of a Conventional kart.[/quote]

 

CIK karts have CIK  bodywork and nerfs/bumpers. Also the typical situp seat. Yes, a man cup kart can just bolt on an engine now and race as is.

I’m assuming the 4cycle karts can run a 50 but they will need to run CIK bodywork, situp seat, and the narrow wheels.

The conventional karts are the standard 4cycles you see with laydown seat, large nose, and wide wheels with 40mm or 1 1/4 axles.

[Gary Lawson]

Not sure why if they are going to open up the rules they don’t just allow either or and mix match if necessary. Any bodywork. Either style seat. Max width of 55″ for all karts. What harm would it cause? Then people are not limited in any way regarding chassis. Just have any 5″ wheel. engine compliant to the rules and race! the more rules you have the more people get left out.

[Author]

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