[Bernie Baldus]

Do you still have these?

If so, please send details on the 2016 and 2017 Woltjer motors.

bb@landsurvey-co.com

[Bernie Baldus]

If we put everyone listed in a barn during their prime 20 + years:

with 3 karts (Dirt, Sprint and Road Race) to tune and setup themselves.

My money would be on Haddock.

 

bb

[Bernie Baldus]

You need to contact AIM.  I have a MyChron 4 with predictive laps.  All the way around the track it is telling me how this lap is going, compared to the best time of the session I think.

I don’t know why, I have others that do not have the function, but this one does and I am guessing it is just in the Firmware.

[Bernie Baldus]

Lynn Haddock has won multiple IKF duffy’s in all 3 catagories.

I think those came in different years, but he is listed as an IKF Expert in Road Race, Sprint and Dirt.

[Bernie Baldus]

Sounds like it is too rich.

When you ease off the throttle, you are sticking the needle back into the nozzle and decreasing fuel flow.

Try a bigger needle, lower the needle, smaller main jet.  You are close, not way off, just a little rich.

What needle, nozzle etc.. are you running?

[Bernie Baldus]

Ian,

Is this the Formala Y direct drive pipe?

Bernie

[Bernie Baldus]

Ace,

Sounds like you have the Chicago Karting Slingshot like Austin says.  CKI’s by John Klutz are narrower.

It isn’t the end of the world if the tires stick out a bit, you just have to cut out so the tire doesn’t hit the nose while turning.

[Bernie Baldus]

A big source of instability has left WKA and is now at AKRA.

Good luck to DKC,  really, they are good people with a large following and I hope it works out!

bb

[Bernie Baldus]

My advise,

Get yourself a kart as well.  You will have fun and will be able to help the kid out more with the knowledge you get from driving and setting up your own kart.

Teach your kid to do his own work on his kart (as much as possible.)

Enjoy yourself.

Life lessons and experiences can be great from karting.

I am 49, I started at 8 years old, my Dad still races, my son in College still races.  My grandson is almost 3 and hopefully has karting right around the corner.

Enjoy your time.

bb

[Bernie Baldus]

Chris,

If you are bringing the Open laydowns that is really exciting.  With all the Reed Jets and Opens running at this event I believe it could quite possibly make HPT the largest “Open” event anywhere this year.

You will love the track layout, everything is the same as the last time you guys came except the front straight and rear straights are a little different, and the track is smooth because SCCA takes great care of it.  You are gonna have some fun, HPT makes for great racing whether in a CIK kart or a laydown.

We usually have a big dinner for all Saturday Night up at the Pavillion.

It will be great to see you guys again.

PS.  Speed limits are probably higher now so hopefully you guys can avoid those issues.

 

Bernie

[Bernie Baldus]

Yellow springs with that gear ratio.

Tungsten weights if you have them.

 

Bernie

[Bernie Baldus]

10-12 on the Castor, try 10,

Negative 1/2 on the Camber,  Go Positive if you are wearing the fronts out!

Straight up on the toe.

bb

[Bernie Baldus]

Ric, congrats.

Why do you think it is stiff, what did you do?

What kind of spindles and front brakes do you have?  Did you model the kart after any others?  Anything krazy up on the front end?

What are you planning to run, Open?

 

Bernie

[Bernie Baldus]

Hey Paul.

It sounds like everyone is arguing here, but more than likely everyone is in agreement.   That is the beauty.  A guy full of flaws can somehow win all the races.  Why?  Because he just drives.  Which means he drives the kart he has and the track he is on.  No 2 corners are identical but many corners are similar and the approach can be the same.  However, if the kart isn’t set up for it, then we have to adapt to make the kart work.

As for WoO sprint cars, it really isn’t entirely different, but if they were to let go of the steering going down the straight the car would go left into the infield, so it is different.

So, Drive the kart, drive the track, change the kart and drive the new kart and drive the track.  If the track changes, drive the new track and drive the kart.

Remember, some people don’t understand what they understand.  They just drive and do quite fine with that sometimes.  If a person needs to understand, that is fine too and in the long run that may get them farther.

We have to feel the kart on edge and drive it there.  Some do this better than others.  What you are talking about, if I am understanding you, might help you with the chassis setup.  Being able to break all this down can help with chassis setup.  And, IMO, getting a kart through the corner is always the same, whether 4 cycle oval kart, sprint circuit racing road racing, shifter or cadet etc… it all just happens faster or slower depending on the corner and the speed.  Some will certainly disagree with this, but that is my opinion.

Since I have been driving karts for almost 43 years, I thought this might help in your thought process.

I think about the kart in this way.  The weight on the tires rotates around the kart during a corner.  If you think of what happens to the kart when you scale it and turn the wheels you can see this.   And oddly enough, cross weights show up on scales whether they are for a kart or not.  Anyhow, I think of how the weights change as you turn the wheel and the order in which those changes happen.  This doesn’t necessarily make me a better driver but it could, and it could certainly make me look like a better driver if my kart is setup better than everyone elses.  I am going to oversimplify this, so no need for everyone to beat me up here.

Take a left hand corner.  The wheel turns left, weight on the left front increases (also on the left rear but ignore that for now because I am thinking in microseconds) the weights then rotate clockwise around the kart and as the kart turns the weight shifts to the right/outside front then clockwise around the right/outside rear then clockwise around to the inside rear (which is unloaded if the wheel is turned.) but is the last to load as the wheel straightens out!  The beauty of a kart is making all this happen correctly.  This also works for me to identify an issue with the kart.  By breaking it down this way, we can possibly see an issue in a certain part of the turn and therefore adjust the kart or the driving to compensate.

So, entering the left handed corner, you want to do your arc and the kart won’t turn in like it should, where is your problem?   You are turning into apex and the kart won’t turn, where is your problem?  You are mid corner and the kart is sliding, where is your problem?  You are coming off the Apex on the gas and the kart is sliding, where is the problem?  You are coming off the Apex and the driver in front of you yanks you off the corner, where is your problem?

If you are mid corner and off the gas and sliding, where is your problem?

The arc illustration link is probably a really fast line, particularly onto a long straight for a time trial, why?

 

Peace,

Bernie

 

 

[Bernie Baldus]

Jim,

I hadn’t read the Tom Kutscher interview, interesting.  So, the Leopard is done and the X30 will be spec in 2 years for SKUSA.  Hard to argue with the success of SKUSA over the past few years.  Although, it is still a pretty small portion of the US Karting market.

Anyone have any information on how the KPV is going to be handled?

I still see puppet masters here.

The Tag idea, with all its messes, worked in my opinion because it was a grass roots ground swell.   Greg was there (and still is), I think he’d agree!  We here in the US thought it was our idea!  I thought IAME got a pretty good share of that.

Rising tides float all boats.  When the tide goes out, like it is now, we find out who is swimming naked!

bb

[Bernie Baldus]

 

The 09 Leopard came in and was a surprise to all the organizations.

The fact we can buy IAME’s old products “new” here in the US is part of the problem.

Tag was/is a great idea, IAME started with the Leopard, then came 09 Leopard, now X30. If history tells me anything I would guess IAME already has the replacement for the X30.

Tag for Rotax hasn’t changed much in 10+ years and I think this is a different picture than IAME has painted with their Tag over the same 10 years.

bb

[Bernie Baldus]

Center drill countersunk bits will also work.

No need to file the bolt.  With a steady hand and the bolt in the vise, use the Center drill to start your hole, then change to the bit you want to drill through with.

Center drill countersunk bits are available from harbor freight and elsewhere.

bb

[Bernie Baldus]

Hi Greg,

I don’t think this is going to save the Karter any money.   This probably is not any better for Karting than paying higher taxes.  And there isn’t much we can do about either.

I guess we will see won’t we.  But most interesting to me will be what will happen to the Komet KPV??????

The Leopard is basically gone, but we can see from History what IAME is doing.  Tags came in around 2003.  Lots of engines came in,  rules were put in place, and the Leopard was a good motor and got most of that market share.  Then production on the Original Leopard stopped and in came the 09 Leopard.  Forced upon the US and we had to simply adapt.  Now IAME has stopped producing the Leopard and is exporting the X30.

The original IAME built engines for the US Market, not the other way around.  (The rules were basically 100cc’s for $100)

Ever since, they have been dumping whatever they want on us every 3 years or so.  This is why there are a lot more Karts with Yamahas, Briggs and Clones in the US than IAME products.  IAME has left all the importers holding the bags with inventory on obsolete products.  IAME has left the US karter holding the bag on motors where production was replaced by a “slightly” better product.  (Have they ever fixed that starter issue?)

According to my Dad, George Russell used to sell motors from his shop at little or no profit because he knew he would make $15 a piston.   Long term thinkers is what we need!

Bb

[Bernie Baldus]

Jim White,

Jim Russell Jr. just received 30 new Reedjets this month (I think close to half are already sold) , so he is on board with supporting them.

 

bb

[Bernie Baldus]

It is possibly no coincidence SKUSA approved the X30 and all the long time importers get ousted all in a matter of a few weeks.

To me, IAME represents vigorously the short sighted 3 year obsolescence side of karting.  The Leopard and KPV isn’t enough for them.

bb

[Bernie Baldus]

I think a lot of people might be ok with the thread insert.

Some would say it would be stronger than the original threads if done properly.

[Bernie Baldus]

On a deal like this it is all he said she said, unless the seller video taped everything and the buyer shot video opening the package.  I had a similar deal, I sold an iphone, upon receipt the buyer claimed it didn’t work.  I refunded and he returned me a box of breath mints.  I now had no phone and no money.  The buyer had the phone for free.  Lots of scammers out there, buyer (and sellers) be aware.   Paypal stepped in for me!

 

bb

 

[Bernie Baldus]

Agree with all, old tires are tough to work with, especially as old as these sound like they are.

Try checking the air pressure as soon as you get off the track, with the tires hot, bleed the pressure down to what you go out on and and see what that does.

Example, if you go out on 10 pounds and come in and the pressure is 13, take them down to 10 hot.

 

bb

[Bernie Baldus]

Thanks for pointing out who it was that spun Kelly.  Guess that puts me into the hall of Shame.  My kart handled great in a straight line, that thing was jumpin off turn 6.  After Sunday’s race at least I have a starting point for next year and maybe we can give Brad a real run to remember after dominating the past 2+years. Nice job Dad.  Lindsay will be up there next year as well.

bb

 

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