[Brock Weiss]

I went through the same thing you did last year and I tried everything you did. This year I went with a harder axle on the kart drives perfect and we no grip issues at all

granted we have a Tony Kart so we put in a hard axle and the kart has no binding or grip issues at all.

Im not sure which axle you would use to put in soft or hard as OTK karts are different than most. But basically what I’m saying is I had the same issue as you did the same setup changes as you and the. Finally I put a harder axle in and problem solved

maybe someone else can weigh in on if going to a different axle would help you as I don’t want to give you the wrong advice

[Brock Weiss]

Here is what I can tell you.  Tim and TJ Koyen are right on the Money. All race teams sell their used karts after a couple of races because people like me always buy them because they are cheaper than a new one and they make money off of them which is why you  see a lot of new two or three race karts for sale all the time.

I can tell you this. Skid plates make a big difference in how long the kart stays fresh. I had a two year old Kosmic Kart for my son and we sold it because I fell for the “Tony Kart Myth” and we bought a Two race old Tony Kart thinking it would be a rocket! Guess what it was the same as our two year Kosmic Kart. No difference in reaction to setup changes or speed or handling.

Now here is probably why. We always run “Kartlift skid plates on our karts” and the bottom of the kart doesn’t have any scrapes on it. On our new Tony Kart we put the Long Kartlift skid plates on and there are no marks or scrapes on the bottom and they float so it doesn’t bind up the kart.

Moral of the story. We take very good care of our OTK Karts and he does run in juniors and I would imagine it gets less abuse than running in adults and running it hard all the time.

So when you buy a kart know the history as much as you can and Check the bottom of the frame but personally I think all modern karts now days are going to the softer frames because the Tony Karts are so fast that it doesn’t matter which brand you buy the frames are pretty much the same as they are following the Tony Kart frames. Also the most important part is who drove it and where. I would never buy a kart that was in the Skusa nationals in Vegas but I would buy a kart that ran in the Route 66 class and was driven softer.  Hopefully that makes sense. Again I always try to ask as much about the history and how the kart was taking care of. The kart I just bought was driven very easy and was a backup kart and had no scrapes on the bottom of it what so ever and I bought it from Mark Coats and I asked TJ about Him and if he takes care of his stuff before I bought it.. TJ said that Mark only sells top notch equipment and if there was something wrong with the frame he wouldn’t sell it. I also asked Mark when I bought the kart what races it was in, who drove the kart and if it ever was in any crashes or spins.

Again my moral of the story is know the history. If it was driven by an adult racer that ran it at the biggest races and ran it hard I probably wouldn’t have bought it. The good news is there are a ton of used OTK karts to choose from, you just need to do the homework on it

And like I said my personal experience is there was no difference between our two year old Kosmic Kart and our brand new Tony Kart we just bought this year.  In fact to be honest our Two year old Kosmic Kart was faster by a just a little bit. It was about .2-.4 seconds faster when I compared lap times from last years data

[Brock Weiss]

TJ

what about the new Merlin Chassis that Franklin Kart sells?

dont know anything about them other than they win a lot.

could be the fact they have awesome drivers or are they a really good chassis?

There are a couple of Merlins at our track and they do well

[Brock Weiss]

It sounds like you have your mind already made up about the Tony Kart and OTK brand and that is fine but there is a reason why people drive them. My son has driven a few karts brands in the past and I can only tell you he won’t drive anything else other than OTK Karts.

I don’t think owning a Tony Kart is a status symbol to me as I actually think they are quite ugly if you want my honest opinion but they do work if you want to win races.

Many suggestion would be if you are looking for that .2 would be to keep with the CRG brand and try to find it that way.

I will say the Top Karts are fast are our local track but I’m not sure how much they flex and I’m not a fan of the quality of parts. With that said though the Top Karts are fast and the new ones are all 30 mm chassis all the way around which might help but I know nothing other than that.

i know my son tested the Top Kart when we were thinking of switching brands but he still preferred the Tony Kart over that  but again everyone is different

my advice is to see if anyone at the local track has something you could test out and see for yourself

 

[Brock Weiss]

You should have no problem getting two years out of a Tony Kart and still be competitive.  Just depends on how much racing and what level you are racing. We had a Kosmic Kart that was two years old and we traded it in for a new Tony Kart because I thought the same myth about Tony Karts and we are the same speed with a new one versus his old one.

So I guess I’m telling you we didn’t see a difference between a two year old chassis and a brand new OTK chassis in terms of performance

But if I were you I would just wait until TJ Koyen or Gary Lawsen weighs in on this as Im sure they will and listen to them as they are the almighty when it comes to things like this

never mind it looks like TJ beat me to it as he was leaving you a post as I was typing this. Damn he is fast both on the track on on here!

[Brock Weiss]

How far is Erie Pennsylvania from you? J3 Competition might be able to help. I know they sell Tillett Seats and they might be able to help. They also might know of a few kart shops in your area.

They are really are a great group of guys and I highly recommend them for anything. Ask for John or Jim if you decide to call.  Justin is the main tech guy but he usually deals with the racing side of the business.

Otherwise Comet is also a very good place to go get setup but J3 Competition might be closer to you and like it said they probably know someone in your area that you can go to.

the other thing you can check out is Kart Directory online.  It’s a new website that list hundreds of karting Related businesses with phone number and contact information.  I would also check that out

 

[Brock Weiss]

So we had our race this weekend and wouldn’t you know my son ended up taking P1 yesterday and P2 today.  We almost won again today but missed it by about 7 inches that is how close it was.

More importantly, we used our new KPV engine that Brandon at Comet Kart Sales built for us and the thing was a rocket!

we went from 14100 RPMS to 14800 just by switching engines.

I think the thing that makes me mad about this whole deal is that I called the engine builder in question and told him my issues with motor and even sent it back to him telling him no matter what we did we could not get over 14100 RPMS  and he sent it back saying it was perfect And there was nothing wrong with it And it was us for some reason even though I told him I had three other people drive it and they also couldn’t get RPMS

Well today proved that there was something wrong with it because we gained 700 RPMS using The Comet built motor and won yesterday and took 2nd today.

I just upsets me that I was charged $1200 for a rebuild and all I got was a pile of junk from supposedly one of the best engine builders in karting right now. You would think they would stand behind their work and still build a top level engine even for club racers

At least I have a new engine builder in Brandon and Comet Kart Sales as he really built a good engine for me and didn’t care if I was a club level guy or a national guy.

Needless to say I’m sending this other engine into Brandon to have him fix it and do a complete rebuild on it as he was also half the price of this other engine builder.

Alright im done being aggravated by this whole deal as at least I found a solid engine builder now that I can trust and will be sending all my engines to in the future

 

 

[Brock Weiss]

So we had our race this weekend and wouldn’t you know my son ended up taking P1 yesterday and P2 today.  We almost won again today but missed it by about 7 inches that is how close it was.

More importantly, we used our new KPV engine that Brandon at Comet Kart Sales built for us and the thing was a rocket!

we went from 14200 RPMS to 14800 just by switching engines.

I think the thing that makes me mad about this whole deal is that I called the engine builder in question and told him my issues with motor and even sent it back to him telling him no matter what we did we could not get over 14200 RPMS  and he sent it back saying it was perfect And there was nothing wrong with it And it was us for some reason even though I told him I had three other people drive it and they also couldn’t get RPMS

Well today proved that there was something wrong with it because we gained 600 RPMS using The Comet built motor and won yesterday and took 2nd today.

I just upsets me that I was charged $1200 for a rebuild and all I got was a pile of junk from supposedly one of the best engine builders in karting right now. You would think they would stand behind their work and still build a top level engine even for club racers

At least I have a new engine builder in Brandon and Comet Kart Sales as he really built a good engine for me and didn’t care if I was a club level guy or a national guy.

Needless to say I’m sending this other engine into Brandon to have him fix it and do a complete rebuild on it as he was also half the price of this other engine builder.

Alright im done being aggravated by this whole deal as at least I found a solid engine builder now that I can trust and will be sending all my engines to in the future

 

 

[Brock Weiss]

Thanks Chris explanation was very helpful.

Last question I have.  so if I have more grip in the front does that take away grip from the rear?

If I have less grip in the front does that add grip to the rear?

someone at my track said that is kinda how it works and I am just wanting to clarify that if you want to free up the rear then you could do that by running a stiff front end.

Or am I wrong on this?

just trying to see how the front effects the rear

[Brock Weiss]

Thanks for all the help guys I really appreciate it and TJ you are right as usual I always seem to make it harder than it needs to be. I think I just overthink things and always over analyze everything.  I probably get that from my job.  Maybe I should just stick with fixing people and making them feel better instead of karts.  Lol But seriously I really appreciate all the advice and I will try and keep it simple for the rest of the season.

Or at least until next week when I come up with another overcomplicated question that will have Ten questions for one answer

[Brock Weiss]

Again thanks for all the replies.

Walt I have a brand new Pipe this year that I use only for racing so it should still be good plus i also used my other pipe from last year that I clean on a regular basis but that is a good suggestion so thanks.

We will find out this next weekend if in fact the engine is the problem as I just got my second KPV Engine back from Brandon at Comet Kart Sales  as I did do what TJ suggested and found a different builder and Brandon seemed like a stand up guy and he didn’t charge me $1200 to rebuild it like this other builder did so I figure if we go faster and have no issues getting RPMS on that motor then we know the issue is the motor because I’m going to do a back to back test. If we go the same lap times and have the same RPMS and such the  we know somehow the driving went south.

Gary I agree with you on the HP think 24.5 seemed crazy to me as well. I even doubled checked it this morning and it it said peak HP 24.5 at 13100 RPMS. They just seemed unbelievable to me as I thought the KPV engine got only 20 HP on average I just was amazed since this is a top builder and seems highly respected in the karting community but sure enough it says it right on the Dyno Sheet 24.5 HP at 13100 peak RPMs whatever that means

Walt your right about the new customer thing. I probably messed up when I told the engine builder that we have only been karting for three years and we run at the club level  And that next year I wanted to move into the regional scene and then he national scene as I just didn’t want to throw my son out there in the big leagues until he was ready so he wouldn’t be a danger to other kids and so he also could hold his own against the other junior drivers but perhaps the builder did just what you said as I did tell him that I don’t have a lot of experience in the KPV engine and that I was still learning how things worked. So perhaps by me saying that to him he did build it safely but that really would sucked if that is what he did.

Even though we have been in karting for three years we have been successful in the short three years that we have been running. Last year we almost won the championship and was the runner up in his division and the year before that he took third in his class and he did this racing against kids that had triple the experience so we have been running well up until this year but unfortunately this whole engine thing has killed my sons confidence as he thinks he has lost his driving ability. He is 13 years old so he doesn’t still fully understand how engines can change from one builder to the next based on how they build it. Hopefully with the Comet Engine we will get our speed back and confidence and still have a shot to win the championship as we still have 11 races to go this year.

it just will make me extremely pissed off if I put that Comet engine and the thing is a rocket compared to this motor especially when I sent this motor back to the engine builder and he said everything is fine and it was a strong running motor  but like I said I didn’t want to name the builder yet until I can have more concrete evidence that it is in fact the motor and not his driving that has regressed for some reason as I want to be fair to the builder if in fact it is his driving but we should know after we take the Comet engine out and can compare

Anyway very good discussion on this and I’m greateful for all the replies

 

 

[Brock Weiss]

Thank you to everyone that weighed in here.  This is only my second year in KPV and third year in karting and I have learned a lot but I have so much more to learn.  Special thanks to Tim Koyen about tou can’t set the kart up at home and win the race in the garage.  My son actually is the driver and I’m the so called tuner and sometimes I think I’m trying to win the race for him and as a parent it is hard to not do that but It made a lot of sense with you cant win the race in your garage

Now if only I could remember where I heard that before? The words TJ come to mind! But seriously it makes a lot of sense and I have to force myself to follow that advice.  It is an easy trap to fall into some times for me

[Brock Weiss]

First off I want to say thank you to everyone that posted on here trying to help.  I really appreciate it and all your suggestions really helped as I tried all and I think I found the problem.  I was able to eliminate all the potential problems by trying all of your suggestions however this weekend I was still getting Min RPMs of 5500 and Max RPMs of 14100.  Needless to say we lost this Saturday in racing again by  mile.

However I was able to borrow a friends Carb because he said it could just be a crappy carb.  I never though about that because I bought one new carb and had the other one rebuilt by the engine builder.

Anyway I used a friends Carb that was rebuilt by Brandon from Comet Racing Engines and all of a sudden I gained about 400 RPMs Like Magic and we won our first race! The RPMS went up to 14650 max RPMS and was able to lead the whole race. I will have to do more testing this week to make sure they was the issue but it looks like I will be calling Brandon from Comet Racing engines and buying me some Carbs!!

 

it was amazing the difference in RPMS we gained just by trying the Comet One.

Quick question, can anyone explain how you adjust your carb at the beginning of the race? I have seen people do that and I have heard it is very important I am just not sure where you would start your needles and what you adjust once the race starts? I think you start your LOW at 2 and then adjust it to 2 1/2 when the green flag drops?

if someone could explain how do this I would appreciate it as I want to start learning this technique

 

thanks again for all the replies and let’s hope I found the issue.  Bad carbs?

[Brock Weiss]

TJ

i tried adding teeth today and we went from 14000 max rpm and 5000 low rpm to about 14100 max rpm and 6500 low rpm but we were slower because we got passed on the straights because it was a higher speed track layout.

The he leader is running a 76 for gearing and he is getting 15000 rpm and when we try the same gear we get 14100 max rpm.

I’m just at my wits end on this karting stuff.  Especially when last year we had no issues at all with lap times or getting RPMS where this year we can’t get any speed at all.

Is it possible to just lose your karting ability? The reason I say this is a sent the motor back to this engine builder and he swears it is a strong running motor and it is getting 24,5 HP on the DYNO.  Which you would think with that kind of  HP on a KPV we should be faster than what we are and the engine builder said we should be getting 14700 RPMS easy.

 

Problen is is we are not and that is where I’m confused as hell. I have had people watch Blake and they said he seems to be racing just fine

[Brock Weiss]

TJ yes I run a EGT sensor and it is usually around 1000-1050 area. I’m not sure what to do with those readings I just know you don’t want it in the 1200 range.

Jim yes the engine builder rebuilt the carb and I also bought one of his as well.  Last year I ran 1/8 high and 2 1/4- 2 1/2 low.

This year I have tried that but we were slower as I think the engine builder runs his richer because it does seem to have more power when I follow his carb settings. I have tried 1/8 high and 2 1/2 and we were slower so my data shows we have been fastest with 1/4 high and the 2 1/4 low..

I will Check more into the pop off thing and see if that is correct as I have the guy at the track rebuild the carb after every race weekend but he only does the gaskets and such not a full rebuild so I will ask him about the pop off tomorrow before our race

could fuel be an issue? I run 110 octane fuel that they sell at the track instead of the 98 fuel but I was running the same fuel as last year. Should I try and switch to the 98 or will that not do anything?

We are going out again this weekend for races so I will try and take extremely good notes and I will have a couple of people drive it Again and see what they get for RPMS and will compare that to what we run but like I said in my previous posts they also struggled to get over 14300 for RPMS and the engine builder said we should be able to get 14700 easy  for this motor and pipe and last year we even got 15000 RPMS a couple of times and almost always got over 14600 without blinking an eyelash

 

[Brock Weiss]

Here is what I know. I have the same driver 10 tooth as last year, same tires, same flex length, same carb settings, same gearing ratio, and the track conditions are about the same as I looked up the times we ran last year and weather as I keep detailed data.

TJ my carb setting are 1/4 high and 2  1/4 – 2 1/2 low which is what the engine builder said to run

Gary we were running a different chassis this year again I would rather not say what we went to in case it isn’t the chassis that is the issue.  However we ended up switching back to OTK  which is what we ran last year we had a 2012 Kosmic Kart and we went back to a brand new 2014 Tony Kart EVK  and the times got better but we are still off by .5 seconds. From what I can tell the driving looks good no different than last year but we just can’t get the RPMS

The only thing that is different is the engine builder but again the builder I used is probably one of the top three builders in the country so I just don’t get it as I also put three other people in the kArt and they had a hard time with attaining The proper RPMS just so I could eliminate the driver

like I said I even sent it back a second time and the builder sent me a Dyno sheet that said it was getting 24.5 HP with the peak at 13100…… And said the engine is top notch but I just don’t get how we are slower and we can’t get the RPMS that we used to especially when he tells me it has 24.5 HP which seems like a lot for a KPV

I bought another KPV engine as a backup and sent that in to Comet racing engines so Brandon can do a complete rebuild on it but he won’t have it done until middle of June and I have 2 more race weekends before I get that one back so I’m trying not to get killed in the points until then.

I figure if we get the Comet Engine back and we all of a sudden start winning again and get our RPMS and speed back then there is my answer. engine builder didn’t do his job but if we get the Comet Engine back and we are the same then it is the driving that fell off or something else

It is just frustrating when you don’t know what the heck is the issue. I guess the thing I will have to do is wait until I get the other engine back  and see if we pick up speed and RPMS Because I have tried everything else. Although I’m sure it could be a million other things as well.

 

 

 

[Brock Weiss]

$3500 OBO and comes with spare parts and extras

[Brock Weiss]

I kinda do the same thing as TJ.

I use goo-off first which does extremely well with minor scuff marks.

For more of the caked on tire marks I take a really sharp pocket knife and gently scrape it off.

Then I use either WD-40 or MAXIM “Sc1 clear coat” or MOTUL “shine and go clear coat” to give the graphics a nice shine and a little clear coat protection.

I have had no problems getting even the toughest of tire marks off

[Brock Weiss]

Our local track runs a lot of 4 cycle classes. They run L206, World Formula, and the kid karts.

You might want to give them a call and they might have something complete for you as I know they sell karts with the engines or without.  Problem is you would have to ship the kart down to you.  Otherwise you could look for something closer to you and go from there.

other people have said to find a local shop and see what they sell or the track that you are at and buy from them. I agree with that 100% because then you have the support that you need right there if something breaks and you need a part you can get it right away

I I know that there are a lot of good deals right here ekarting.com under the classified so check that out as  well as I have seen some really nice karts for pretty cheap.  Again you would have to find a way to ship the kart to you if they live far away. I   have bought three karts and I had them shipped to me with no problems so shipping really isn’t that hard

here is the link to our club if you want to call them or check out their website

Home

At our track I see mostly

OTK karts, Birel, CRG, and Intrepid karts are really good four 4 cycle and that is what I see most people run on the 4cycle classes at out track

 

[Brock Weiss]

+2 for TJ Koyen!

He did my helmet three years ago and it still looks brand new. I definitely recommend him. I am going to have him do my son helmet later this fall because he does awesome work. Plus he is the nicest guy you will ever work with.

I’m sure the other guys are good as well like TJ said but from what I’ve seen and heard TJ is one of the best

[Brock Weiss]

I think the reason no one had Duke is the Hate factor.  I found it interesting during the pregame introductions that all of the Wisconsin player were from Wisconsin and Illinios.  While the Duke players were from Texas, DC, Ohio, MN and I think FLORIDA so you know they have the blue chip players.

Anyway this has been really fun and thanks to Ekartingnews for putting it on.

by the way how do we get our information to you for the prizes or do you already have it from our registration?

Thanks again for putting the tournament on. It was a lot of fun

 

 

[Brock Weiss]

Thanks I will let my son know just to drive it and deal with it. Just gonna cost me a lot in tires

[Brock Weiss]

TJ what are MG yellow tires considered? Soft or hard and would MXC wheels work for them at a club with eight laps??? If they do great!

If they don’t then crap! I’m out $700

[Brock Weiss]

tri flow every time it goes out onto the track. No problems whatsoever

[Brock Weiss]

Why would the dealers drop their prices when they can make even more of a profit margin? It would be nice but again don’t count on it

the way to really save money is to buy your big ticket items from European kart dealers and then have them shipped here. Things like a ceramic rotor or a very good tire pressure guage.  Need a new helmut and race suit? Buy over there and then have shipped here. There are a number of high dollar items that can be hundreds less. At least that is what I have done and I have saved quite a bit on money.

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