[Greg Lindahl]

You MAY want to put elastomers between your cooling fins to dampen noise.

[Greg Lindahl]

Air boxes help a great deal.

Attention should also be paid to your exhaust exit. The sound sensor is at the exiton the right side of turn five. Point exhausts out the left side and down. Bring materials to build “widgets” for deflecting sound and plan ahead.

I was called out on my laydown kart two years ago and adding a simple exhaust deflector at my exhaust exiting the right side pod was enough to pass. I was NOT using an airbox because it doesn’t fit in my bodywork, but I brought it just in case I had to modify things to use it. You would be wise to have airboes mounted to be certain that you’ve done due diligence ahead of time given that you’re traveling a great distance.

We’ve had very little problem with sound at LS, but it always pays to plan ahead.

[Greg Lindahl]

Numerous people have purchased used karts from the UK.

The more you know about what you want, the better you’ll do with the search. As you likely know, NCK has several knowledgeable racers in the class you’re looking at.

Hope to see you in a SK soon!

[Greg Lindahl]

And then there’s the matter of air motion not causing issues and the patience it takes to string a kart.

I like using a laser level for much of the setup including chassis level.

[Greg Lindahl]

T’hill West is huge fun. There are challenging corners with two heavy braking points where your newbies can learn a great deal.  Late apex’s abound, teaching patience.

[Greg Lindahl]

+1

If you’re losing motivation with sprint racing, road racing is the “natural” progression in this sport.

Road racing allows you to use your hard-earned knowledge, experience and equipment to drive at outstanding facilities and transfer that knowledge to larger vehicles, or, keep your money and enjoy racing with your current and new friends.

[Greg Lindahl]

My sprint and road racing karts are unpainted and have been for several years now. Living in the SF Bay Area, they’re still not rusted in any meaningful way.  Use WD-40 or other similar chemical on the frame regularly and you’ll be fine. While you’re at it spray the pipe and other ferrous items, sans the brake rotors, etc.

[Greg Lindahl]

Have a look at Wilwood’s offering as well.

[Greg Lindahl]

I like their construction/engineering ideas.  Proof is in performance.

It’s very easy to poo-poo anything different.  Anyone can do that.  It takes independent confidence to try new ideas.

Maybe they’re training drivers for the new Nissan LMP1 car, set to race at Le Mans in a couple of weeks.  Quite similar dynamics.

[Greg Lindahl]

Thank you very much, Jim and team!

What a nice day at the track.

I’ll support these mid-week events whenever possible.  They are the very best preparation for race days and a great break.

Greg

[Greg Lindahl]

Do we need to register or just show up?

[Greg Lindahl]

The above advise is a good idea if you’re physically capable.

The Hegar starter is very handy and advisable to save your back.  It will be much faster than re-starting yourself.

[Greg Lindahl]

My race partner has the Hegar starter on his CR125 and it works great.  No more of the back breaking stuff for he an me.

This gent is not small and we’ve been able to mount the seat and get the balance correct without a special mount, but we’ve been creative with the seat.

This is not an inexpensive sport, but it’s an inexpensive motorsport.

[Greg Lindahl]

+1 Matt

What matters is that the tires are the same when at full running temperature.

[Greg Lindahl]

Hi Patrick.

Google cylinder wall air drag (intake tubes to airbox vs. carb venture cylinder drag).  Interesting in that intake area is not all there is to air passage into an airbox.

Google intake airbox design (size and shape effect a<span style=”font-family: Calibri;”><span style=”color: #000000;”>coustic </span></span><span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman;”>pre</span>ssure timing affects).

Karting air filters have incredibly large filtering surface area.  No other asphalt-based motorsport that I’m aware of has such large filters.  If maintained, are they necessary?  I’d like to see real comparable data on this. I’ve tested with large and small filters on George Banke’s dynamometer (back to back in 2001 on modified CR 125) and found no difference.

Great info out there.  Focus on reading technical information, not opinion, hearsay and grapevine views.

As is often the case YMMV.

[Greg Lindahl]

Ace.

I think I have one of the seats you’re referring to as well.

I cut all that stuff out and located the headrest in the tail bodywork.

You could drill large holes in the excess f’glass and lighten the seat as well.

[Greg Lindahl]

I have a set of 415 chain size counter shaft sprockets, 40mm axle hub & sprockets and chain, if you’re interested in a pursuing lighter chain.

The system works fine with no obvious shortcomings.

The system is lighter than 428, but just as strong in tensile strength.

The 415 chain is in very common use in 125 & 250 cc motorcycle road racing.

Courtney Concepts built the systems, as I recall.

Please PM me if interested.

Greg

[Greg Lindahl]

Hi Dennis.

Responded to your PM.

Thanks,

Greg

[Greg Lindahl]

I start my CR80’s with a nut on the ignition side.

My DeWalt doesn’t have quite enough power to do the job all day, but the Coleman does.  I use a very small Li Ion battery making the starter very light.

[Greg Lindahl]

I have one on the right side that works pretty well.  Really need a left one to allow for a clear view.

They are a safety item for me; I can tell if someone is coming up on the side and hasn’t entered my peripheral vision.  Helmet openings often block some peripheral vision and add to the potential issue of turn in on an overtaking kart.

Also, it’s helpful to know where you are in the “big” picture of your race.  If someone is back there it is nice to know.  Many drivers have lost races because they continue pushing when there’s no reason to.

Information is good…

[Greg Lindahl]

Gents.

Is the resurgence with stock engines?

[Greg Lindahl]

I can only tell you what I would do if that was mine:  Send it to a reputable engine rebuilder and start anew.  The reason for this is that it appears to have not been apart for a while and you aren’t certain about its life.

When parts break they cause far more damage than a rebuild costs.  And, you can start a regular schedule of maintenance based on hours of use.

Send all the parts because the piston may get reused because it “looks” pretty good (did you clean the top?  Usually there’s little blow by until there’s carbon on the top).

[Greg Lindahl]

We can still purchase brand new Honda CR80’s as kits or parts.

I now recall something about the manufacturing tolerance issues.  A restricted input would be fine as long as it was a large as possible.

There’s even a rumor of a bolt-on electric start being developed…

[Greg Lindahl]

Ted.

Bring your kart to the other NC and race with us!

[Greg Lindahl]

I very much agree with you, Ted.

Here in Northern California we still have a few active modified CR80 sprint and a road racing karts.  High maintenance.

I think the issue with this class is modification.  Now that the stock Honda CR125 class is popular, a stock Honda CR80 class seems a natural.

I have a modified CR 80 on a sprint kart and a stock CR80 on a laydown road racer.  I road race both karts.  The stock engine is low maintenance. Only the stock reeds are a high frequency item (~2 hours of road racing).  The modified engine gets a new piston every 1-2 hours.  The stock engine gets a piston every 3-4 hours.  I have never had a piston failure, for good reason.  When the modified engine loses any expensive parts, it will be parked and I’ll stay with the stock CR80 laydown only.

Stock CR80; Fun, fast (enough) and low(er) cost!

[Author]

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