[Jim Derrig]

qualy:

Ham

Ros

riccardo

Race:

Ham

Ros

Riccardo

 

[Jim Derrig]

Need your location, age and prior racing experience before we can be any help.

Also try to use paragraphs, periods, and commas once and awhile ;)

[Jim Derrig]

Ricky,

I’ve been thinking about your control set up.  From your description of your condition, you can only tighten and relax your biceps for arm movement.  For example, you could tighten your biceps to curl your forearm up at the elbow, but to return the forearm to the original position you can only relax that muscle and let the arm drop by its own weight.  You could not force the forearm back using your triceps.

Is this accurate?

I’m wondering because your original post mentioned a push-pull throttle-brake set up, but it sounds like your arm could only accomplish the pull and not the push (or visa versa)?

Maybe not the end of the world, as we could just make it spring loaded to get force in the direction opposite to the direction  in which your bicep can move your arm.

The steering would be a bigger problem.  Would you be able to use muscle power to turn a wheel in both directions with one arm?  The guy in the You Tube video had pretty good arm motion and appeared to be able to use his triceps.

 

[Jim Derrig]

[quote quote=26056]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.[/quote]

[edit:  for some reason the system says Greg wrote the above although Bernie clearly did]

Sorry, not buying is one.  Where did you get that the Leopard no longer is made?  I can still buy a brand new one.  As for the 2009 upgrade, it wasn’t “forced” on anyone, as you can still buy new parts for an old model Leopard and I’m not aware of a single karting body that required a switch to the 2009.

I don’t think the X-30 is a Leopard replacement.  It’s an attempt to respond to the lower revs, less vibration, and longer service intervals of IAME’s chief competitor, Rotax.   It’s hardly being “forced” on anyone.  It’s an option to the Leopard, designed to grab some market share from Rotax.

I’m not seeing any planned obsolescence conspiracy theories here, and I don’t see how IAME has the market share or organization to “force” anything on anyone.

 

[Jim Derrig]

Ya, I think the old Speed TV had a series in which Winfield was one of the featured drivers.  Looking at the set up, it appears to use the brake system in which a master cyl is integrated into the steering wheel hub.  Usually, this is used for hand-operated front brakes found on some TaG karts.  I’d wonder if it had sufficient volume for a front + rear system, though I imagine it has enough for a rear-only system.  The italian motors system uses an external master cyl and might have a higher volume piston.

Anyway, now you have the blue print.

[Jim Derrig]

P.S.

Don’t know if you’ve ever watched the movie Faster about Moto GP (it’s on Netflix), but toward the end there’s a neat bit about how 3-time world champion Wayne Rainey, whose legs were paralyzed in an accident, switched to racing karts and really enjoyed it.   Like you, he had to modify the karts to operate with hand controls only.

Italian motors sells a hand-brake with the master cyl mounted on near the steering hub.  It’s for operating supplemental front brakes on a TaG kart but I don’t see any reason it couldn’t be adapted the run a rear brake too (most TaG karts don’t run front brakes), just by re-routing the brake lines.  You’re half way there and the hand throttle should be a breeze.

http://www.italianmotorsusa.com/collections/brake-systems/products/complete-front-hand-brake-system

[Jim Derrig]

I’m in Seattle.  There’s plenty of karting action around here.

In Spanaway:  www.psgka.com

In Kent (no 2-strokes though): http://www.pacificgp.com

In Sumas (near Bellingham):  www.simaracing.com

Shops include Kart-o-rama, http://www.mcssl.com/store/kart-o-ramainc

and Steve Perdue’s shop, http://www.nwracekarts.com.

Both of them are in Auburn.  Italian Motor’s shop in Sumas is massive (for a kart shop), but it’s a bit of a hike from Gig Harbor.  www.imusa.com

This should get you started.  Let me know if you need more info.  Incidentally, most of the karts on the local Craigslist are garbage.  You’ll be WAY better off talking to one of the above shops, especially with your needs and planned mods.  Steve and Italian Motors always have some good used chassis hanging around, as their race teams tend to race new stuff and then sell them after a few races.

 

[Jim Derrig]

Hi Ricky.  I’m in Washington too.  What’s your location (city or county)?  I’ll try to steer you in the right direction (no  pun intended).

[Jim Derrig]

Gonna stick with my previous picks:

Hammy, Rosberg and Vettel, 1-2-3 in quali and the race.

[Jim Derrig]

[quote quote=24707]Congrats to Jim, perfect race results, just mixed up Nico and Vett for Q, otherwise he would have max pointed  [/quote]

Right, which got me all the way up to the middle of the pack.  I hereby withdraw my stupid vote to have round one count (I received the fewest points for Melbourne) and vote to start with round two.  :)

[Jim Derrig]

Quali:  Hammy, Nico, Vettel

Race:  Hammy, Nico, Vettel

[Jim Derrig]

Agree with TJ and Tony, except that I honestly don’t think that from the point of view of a newbie, the driving styles will be all that different.  At least, its not like the difference between a TaG and a shifter or a TaG and a 100cc Yamaha.  I think at this point you are concerned about subtleties that won’t mean much at your level of experience and the more important question is whether you can find something in your price range that is supported at the track you will be racing at.  Try and find something that already is set up to be fast at that track so you don’t spend your first year scratching your head and wondering what to do to make it fast.  And that is supported by a kart shop you trust, because these are racing machines and they WILL break and you apparently won’t be able to fix it yourself.

[Jim Derrig]

MX bikes have suspension and padded seats.  Its pretty much a solid path from the motor to your body in a kart, which has neither.  Isolating the pipe won’t do much as the motor itself is mounted solid to the frame, which mounted solid to the seat. A Tillet padded seat (Model T7, I think) is an option if it’s really driving you nuts and you can find one that fits.  Believe it or not, a TaG kart with a Leopard motor is even worse.  You’ll get used to it.

[Jim Derrig]

Just start the season now.  Agree that picks should carry forward from the last race unless they are changed.

And how about a contest for best description of what sound the new motors sound like?  Sick chain saw?  Garbage disposal full of rocks?

[Jim Derrig]

Thanks Greg!

Qualy:

1.  Hamilton

2.  Rosberg

3.  Alonso.

Race:

1. Hamilton

2. Alonso

3.  Vettel

[Jim Derrig]

Modified honda CR 125 shifter, also called  “learning to swim by jumping into the deep end of the pool.”

[Jim Derrig]

Here is a link to kart tracks around the US:

http://www.uskartingnews.com/tracks/links.aspx

I think you need to get a better handle on what you intend to do with the kart.  A competition kart is NOT NOT NOT for driving on back roads, cul-de-sacs and parking lots.  It’s a serious racing machines and, frankly, if you “can’t figure the steering out,” there’s a significant chance that even the parts you think you’ve “figured out” aren’t put together quite right.  This isn’t adding up to a good ending.

You need to pick a track, go to a race as a spectator and ask lots of questions.

Don’t feel bad.  I had years of experience working on cars and it still took me 2 years before I could put a kart together right enough to race it.

 

[Jim Derrig]

Tell us your location and we’ll tell you where to look.  Best idea is to buy something already set up for the track you’ll be racing at.

[Jim Derrig]

The short answer is there are none.  The frames sold for shifters are the same as the ones sold for TaG.  The difference is based on the stuff bolted to the frame.  Besides the obvious difference of the motor, the biggest difference is that shifters alway have front brakes while front brakes are not legal in some TaG racing series.  The rest is pretty much motor-related stuff, e.g., radiator, battery for electric start, axle keyways set up for different sprocket position, etc.

[Jim Derrig]

This sort of logic only works if you assume we are in control of our karts at all times, which clearly is not the case.  The solution is to make vehicles that can be safe in INADVERTENT contact and to enforce rules prohibiting DELIBERATE contact.  This makes a heck of a lot more sense than deliberately making the vehicle less safe in order to incentivize good driving habits.

Yes, indy and F1 cars are open wheel without “bumpers” but let’s agree that most of us are not at that skill level and are more likely to initiate contact with mistakes and misjudgments.

If more danger made you a better driver, then Sebastial Vettel is crap, since he races with a full coverage helmet instead of a leather cap.  And then there is the well-established record of open wheel aces coming over to NASCAR and kicking the pants off everyone (not).

I don’t see much empirical support for the notion that less safety teaches better driving.

 

[Jim Derrig]

What the heck, I’ll play devil’s advocate.

The logic of “less safety equipment means more safety” makes no sense.  If that was the case we should get rid of helmets and require everyone to race barefoot in shorts and Hawaiian shirts, because then everything would be REALLY safe, right?

If the problem is that everything becomes so safe that people will start banging, then the simple solution is to make “avoidable contact” illegal, with an automatic DQ for the person initiating it.  I’ve been in exactly one series where the race director had the guts to enforce this rule and you know what?  We didn’t try to hit each other.  Amazing.

Of course, some sore, DQ’d loser inevitably will whine, pack up his equipment and leave vowing never to come back, which apparently is enough to cause some promotors not to enforce such a rule.  My choice is to avoid a series run by promotors who let nut cases run other karters off the road.

Having said this, I think the current level of protection is fine, as the full width rear bumpers pretty much eliminated 90% of the potential for flips from wheel contact.  So based on empirical (albeit anecdotal) evidence, I don’t see a need for more bumper coverage.  But this “we get more safe by taking away safety equipment” stuff is just wacko in my opinion.

[Jim Derrig]

Joe, you don’t need the front porch extension.  I’m 6’2 and have run for years without one.  It’s nice for comfort, but it won’t make you faster.  Any CRG kart should be able to accommodate a xxl seat.  It definitely is worth the money to have a local shop install it for you.  Seriously, don’t try to save money on this by ordering on the internet and installing it yourself.

As for the chassis’ age and whether a chassis “will handle right for a big guy,” don’t worry about it until you’ve run a few races and started to post competitive times.  Right now, it’s all about getting laps.  These are pretty basic machines and the subtle differences you read about won’t make a difference until you’re up at the pointy end of the stick and battling for hundredth’s of a second.  I started out in a 10-year-old dinosaur and regularly beat guys in “latest and greatest” karts while we all we’re running in the middle of the pack.  Could the chassis have been better?  Yes, but at our level of skill it still was competitive enough.

Quite worrying and get out there and race.  :)

[Jim Derrig]

Dan,

Seems like your starter is seeing too much load and is disengaging.  Pull the spark plug and see if the engine will crank with no compression.  If not, you’re looking at some sort of internal engine friction.  Try and turn the motor using with a socket wrench on the sprocket nut.  If it won’t crank that way you might have assembled the top end incorrectly.

[Jim Derrig]

Larry,

Thanks for hosting the Podium Picker this year once again.  It’s nice to match predictions with a bunch of racers and I appreciate the work you do.

[Jim Derrig]

Vettel

Webber

Rosberg

[Author]

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