[James McMahon]

Are you racing in the “Major Karting League” series with it? Concensus from those I’ve spoken to have said its certainly fast, faster than KF2 but answers on longevity are still up in the air. .

[James McMahon]

Here’s the owner and installation manual to get you started: http://www.rotax-kart.com/upload/files/1951.pdf

[James McMahon]

Where in NY are you based? Would you consider a Briggs World Formula?

It’s the same base motor as the LO206 (Animal\Intek) and is also a spec class, without sealing and offers umph on par with a can KT100.

[James McMahon]

How far are you willing to travel? Sandy Hook Speedway offers LO206. Check with them on entry levels.

In the absence of LO206 gathering momentum yet in your area, I’d recommend you look at the Briggs World Formula class. It offers reliability and ease of use comparable to the LO206 and is very popular in your area.

Unless you want to learn about (or have experience with) 2 strokes including jetting (along with consequences of getting it wrong = $$), carb rebuilding, mixing fuel and clutch tuning along with more frequent rebuild periods skip Yamaha KT100.

To me, if you are going to go to the trouble of learning those extra technical nuances, you might as well go with a TaG and get some extra speed for your trouble.

Starting off however, go for the minimum hassle, and max fun. LO206 or World Formula are where that’s at right now.

[James McMahon]

Yeah the only sprint asphalt track within 250 miles pacific junction that I can find is TNT Kartways.

Theres a total of 16 tracks within 250 miles that offer karting in sprint, oval or long track form. http://tinyurl.com/kbnnlnl

The LO206 is a very stable package, very low maintenance and makes it easy to just get out there and turn laps. Quite a bit slower than a shifter, but still offers great racing with a lot less work.

 

 

[James McMahon]

You’ll have more luck finding an “ICA” rather than Formula A in the US. ICA was more popular, based on the same 100cc, direct drive concept with a few provisions depending on the exact years you are looking at. Basically ICA is within 95-98% peformance of an FA motor and still gives the same great driving experience that FA offers with broad powerband, high revs and a light kart.

You might catch an unmolested example on bobs4cycle once in a while.

Otherwise if you are looking importing, on facebook lookup the F100 Buy and Sell group for aircooled and the “proper karting 100cc” group for water.

Prices are starting to creep up though…

[James McMahon]

Hot damn, that’s a big venturi. How’s partial throttle response.

[James McMahon]

David, lot of sensible things in that post. 

[James McMahon]

Welcome Cisco,

Not to be too preachy, but for sure, keep it for the track. Things can get bad, fast on the streets. I’ve seen even experienced racers get themselves into trouble driving on the street in less that 1000ft.

You’ve got some good options around you. There’s a total of 15 kart tracks within 50 miles of AMP. A lot of dirt ovals: http://tinyurl.com/oq4qlhw

Nearest paved oval is 169mi away from you: http://tinyurl.com/ppg8x2a

If you want to give ovals a try the “kart tech” group on facebook is worth joining: https://www.facebook.com/groups/259884964062537/

[James McMahon]

Make sure your permissions on the facebook photos are set to public as well.

[James McMahon]

I removed the LO206 tag from NJMP.

The B&S rules only cover the motor. I think it’s a given that Brad is going to stick with those motor rules.

The LO206 cup ruleset covers the B&S motor rules as well as an inclusive bodywork package. They have  and they have picked out a spec tire from Vega who are supporting the series with a credit per entry fee.

Talk to Greg Jasperson (LO206 cup) and or David Klaus (B&S). I don’t have any affiliation with this series, other than seeing it as a very sensible, holistic approach to LO206 racing.

My thought is that by using this proven approach as the template for your initiative you are more likely to find success in getting people onboard.

[James McMahon]

Looks like NJMP are offering LO206 in some form, as well as sandy hook speedway:

http://tinyurl.com/mat65ex

[James McMahon]

Respect for taking the initiative to try and pull something together.

My suggestion would be to take a look at the midwest based “LO206 Cup” for ideas. Their program is based in the Midwest and seems to be working very well. They have support from Briggs, a rulebook already done which accommodates both CIK and WKA bodywork and have a spec tire picked out with support from Vega.

http://www.206cup.com/

 

[James McMahon]

How far are you willing to drive? There’s 5 sprint tracks within 250 miles of Charlotte..: Click for details http://tinyurl.com/km46dz3
Sprint:
GoPro Motorplex, approximately 28.77 miles
Carolina Motorsports Park Kart Track, approximately 53.02 miles
Palmetto SuperTrack, approximately 73.11 miles
Atlanta Motorsports Park AMP, approximately 197.12 miles
Lamar County Speedway, approximately 245.59 miles

Nearest paved oval is Nashville fairgrounds, 338 miles away. Not sure what their kart oval schedule looks like though.

[James McMahon]

The only way you could run it on your shifter would be to enter the unlimited class. Would be fun to play with. Theres a couple of guys that have run the more traditional pumper style carbs on their shifters.

[James McMahon]

Love this. Nice job, it’s a lot of work.

[James McMahon]

I’ll preface this by saying I’m acutely aware of a producer’s goals for a show of this nature. That is to get people to watch it, not even to like it. But to watch it and keep coming back. That’s the modus operandi of “reality TV.

Now if I put my karter hat on…

I’m at odds with kartlife. Some exposure is good, sure, but I don’t subscribe to the “any publicity is good publicity” mantra. It doesn’t stand up against the backdrop of the information age we live in. Nowadays everybody and their sister has a platform they can leverage: Facebook, twitter, instagram, tumblr, wordpress/blogger etc. Reputation and perception is everything and spreads like wildfire.

The perception portrayed so far by the show about karting is:
It’s dangerous “touch wheels and you roll”
It’s about winning and only winning. Dont win? Don’t bother.
It’s lavishly expensive and money is everything.
It’s a stepping stone that you “use” to “go pro”.
Think about the demographic that this might appeal to? More of the same types. I take onboard what Tim Koyen said about some of the higher dollar “clients” being needed. That makes sense.
However that’s exactly why the growth in the sport, (aside from concession karting) is generally stagnated right now. There’s too much media/marketing emphasis placed on the stepping stone, short term customer side of the sport. The demographic we see portrayed in Kart Life so far. It’s short term gains. The sport would do well to focus in other areas in my view.

So will kart life help or hinder the sport? Certainly didn’t hurt reach for our facebook pages much. Although some of the comments from people inside and outside karting have been less than unsavory.
It will get (asphalt) karting in front of eyeballs thats for sure, again though the question is still . Beyond that that, it’s up to us to try and manage expectations and help people navigate the sport. Rob and Dave did well to get that article on TruTV’s Kart Life page and I have a couple of web ideas in the works.  It’ll be a fun journey while the show airs.

 

[James McMahon]

Can you tell us more about the project?

I don’t have specific performance figures for a 300ft, but I can point you to some tools you can use to get in ballpark.

http://www.baranidesign.com/acceleration/acceleration.html

Assumptions you can use:
Frontal Area: .570 sqM
C/D: .8

Engine power of course you will have to fudge because you wont be putting peak power down throughout the run.

[James McMahon]

Ted, I think the rationale for a secondary system is the sustained high speeds on bigger tracks. On a sprint track in an FSA you are only momentarily near your top speed. At road races you are at sustained higher speeds, sometimes averaging 85mph even in a TAG.

The dual brake requirement that the WKA insists on has always a barrier to entry for traditional sprinters. We already know this.

So the debate moves to safety. Start with good tech on a single system including verifying the backup cable is indeed effective. Without that a good, working, effective tether you can have a triple circuit and still be in deep, deep doo doo.

JMHO

[James McMahon]

Yep there’s a complete package listed for $5k in classifieds. You can barely buy a SKUSA ready CR125 motor for that!

[James McMahon]

Frankly I dont remember their site being updated regularly even before the board shakeup. Usually you’d find out about something from EKN first.

[James McMahon]

For me, not planning racing much:

2D2w: April 4-5 @ Hallet
CES: May 30-31 @ blackhawk

[James McMahon]

healthy thread going over at karting1: http://www.karting1.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17247&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[James McMahon]

It depends on the packages you are comparing. Reports are that senior can be nip and tuck, but Micro like Christian said is another story.

Austrailia and the UK have postponed introduction it until 2016 and I believe at least one US karting organization will follow suit.
France are running Evo as a separate class it seems.

[James McMahon]

Here’s a link if you have iTunes or an apple device:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/big-dreams/id951168476?i=955601260

To summarize I think it’s fair to say, so far, it’s every thing you could expect from a “reality” tv series. We have no control over the production or presentation of the sport.

So the question becomes, how can we leverage the exposure? Maybe a better question is, is it even worth putting time into given the tone it sets?

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