[Peter Zambos]

They’re not always.  For instance, the default shifter model for OTK and Italkart are their 30mm versions.  There are so many other factors involved (seat position, seat stiffness, axle, hubs, etc.) that you could either one to work as long as you’re not either a very skinny driver or a very large driver.

The 30mm will feel more lively.  All things equal, it’s more flexible, so you’ll feel the track more, the inside rear will pick up faster, and come down faster.  It also comes down to your style as well.  If you’re used to muscling the kart into the corners, a 32mm might be better for you.  Conversely, if you rely a little more on finesse, then the 30mm will be more appropriate.

I would discuss your needs directly with the CRG importer.  As they get feedback both from their dealers and the factory, they should be the best candidate for accurate knowledge for their line.

[Peter Zambos]

No offensive to Jim, but in my experience, the position of the rod upon the master cylinder lever makes a considerable difference in brake effort and feel.  It’s basic mechanical advantage stuff.  The higher you go on the lever, the easier it will be in terms of over-all force required, but the pedal will have to travel farther.  Due to the need for more pedal travel on the higher point, drivers tend to report an increase in pedal “feel.”  It’s a driver preference, but getting it to where the driver likes it can result in better lap times.

[Peter Zambos]

The Cruiser has been used in both shifter and TAG categories, so the construction is appropriate for both.  Other things to think about: possibly removing the 3rd axle bearing.  You could always try running it loose before taking it all the way out if you’re uncertain.  Also, you could try moving the seat forward a little, as TAG karts don’t need as much weight over the rear axle as a TAG does.

[Peter Zambos]

You should really consult Leatt directly for sizing.  That being said, make sure you are trying on the brace with all of your gear on, as that will make a difference.

Also, I don’t think it’s the wisest to purchase your safety gear second-hand.

[Peter Zambos]

[quote quote=18753]Also, avoid cheap aftermarkets, never had a failure with OEM sprockets. [/quote]

+1.  Used an aftermarket drive sprocket once.  Literally.

[Peter Zambos]

I’ve used the SK5, the older-than-current Arai, and can concur, that they fit glasses nicely.  As I had used that helmet for quite some time, and wanted a change, I picked up a Shoei X-12.  Also accommodates glasses very well and is vented better than the Sk5, so better for those dew point days that lead to foggy glasses.

[Peter Zambos]

Regardless of why you think iKart should make their own components, the head of iKart already was a racing component manufacturer making parts for Indy Car, USAC, etc., so the equipment and skill set were probably already well inlace to CNC a couple of small kart components.

[Peter Zambos]

Even if I hadn’t found out about this late, there wouldn’t have been even a slim chance that I could have gotten free from work.  That being said, I didn’t know about Bingo’s injuries.  My family’s thoughts go out to him and his family and we wish him a speedy recovery.

[Peter Zambos]

Mike, we’ve had nothing but good results with Jet-Tech.  We did not go with their weather station.  Sadly, I can’t remember what we went with and I don’t live with the kart.  Maybe my dad will chime back in.  The thing to remember is that the software is only as good as you calibrate it, so pay attention to the directions. At best, you’ll need three practice session, but, more than likely, you’ll need a good portion of a day’s practice.  Since we’re still old school, and like to check plug color, too, I’d recommend lapping a while per session and coming into the pit fairly hot, so that you know you’re plug color is accurate.  Of course, stop watch, throttle feel and your ears will also help.  With Jet-Tech’s help, very soon we would show up on a morning and say things to each other like, “this feels like a 158 morning.”

[Peter Zambos]

I wouldn’t mind one bit!  I wouldn’t even have to get a hotel room.
If this were to ever happen, I would petition for us to race on the south course.  When we had our one event there we utilized the north course.  Though the racing was great, it had all to do with the depth of field in the TAG class and was in spite of the very simple layout of the north course.  The south course looks like more fun.
Before anyone says, “hey let’s run the combined track,” we can’t.  The Autobahn is required to have at least one of the courses open to it’s members at all times.  At least, that was the case last time I cared to inquire.

As to less, but bigger events, well, we have one part of that equation for next year.

[Peter Zambos]

I think T.J.’s had some experience with it, if my feeble memory serves.  You could PM him, or maybe he’ll just miraculously appear…

[Peter Zambos]

No, that is not normal.  Any amount of water is wrong.  That is, as long as it’s not raining.

[Peter Zambos]

Hmm.  Okay, I hadn’t seen Lake Garnett before.  I hold the same position, Jeff, I don’t think I could run that track with some of the obstacles that lie just off course.

[Peter Zambos]

Jeff, Kelly, I actually see both of your perspectives. Though I did mention that uneven transition at the mile, I didn’t see that type of facility as being inherently unsafe. In fact, if one wanted to measure the distance from the racing line to the wall, there would be less distance at GingerMan than at Gateway at their respective last turns. On the other hand, at permanent road courses, there is typically something that slows the progress of the kart before the wall, making it more accommodating to the exposed nature of the kart driver.

So, as a result, I do somewhat agree that a track and it’s limitations must be respected. However, some accommodations can be made so that when the almost inevitable crash happens, the resulting injury is not as great.

Let me also state this: Kelly, the two facilities at which KART/MARRS and C.E.S. held joint ventures, Gateway and Iowa, the accidents resulting in injury there were indeed not directly a result of the track and at no point did I ever feel we were competing under unsafe conditions at those tracks. Kelly, you and KART/MARRS have, by my observations, always acted in the best interest of the karter.

As a participant, I would welcome the idea of our two organizations holding future joint events, as long as there is a good mid-way point for the vast majority of our members. In fact, it’s a pipe dream of mine to have a Midwest karting event that would bring together KART/MARRS, C.E.S. and MKC for something that would be like the S.C.C.A. runoffs. Even better if there was no involvement of the WKA.

A middle-aged boy can dream.

Cheers,

Peter

[Peter Zambos]

Sadly, running on the infields of ovals will, more than likely, be out for a while still.  Now, I speak in an entirely unofficially capacity (btw, I always do, as I’m only a participant), but the primary reasons we don’t run at such facilities anymore are cost and safety.

My understanding is that these places charge quite a bit for their tracks.  As our numbers aren’t what they used to be, we can’t really afford to have the series continue to take another hit in the financial berries.  If we’re able to ever get those numbers back up again, maybe, just maybe we might see them come back.  The same goes for Joliet.  I’m sure if we had numbers like we did in the late 90s, that track might’ve been on the calendar for more than one year.

Concrete walls hurt.  There are a few of us that have become more intimate than we ever planned with concrete walls, and, as a result, there are some reservations when we go to speedways.  Chad, I don’t know the exact reason why we don’t go to Milwaukee, but the Mile is a venue at which a few of us had a rather disagreeable meeting between karter and wall, one of which ending with a long hospital stay.  The transition between infield and oval was never really smooth there, and that transition had a habit of launching karts directly at the wall if taken just so.  I really liked the Mile as well, mostly because of the good, close racing I had there, but also because it often fell on the same weekend as the Harvest Fest.  After you wipe the grease off your self (or not), you could walk through the tunnel and  replace that wrench in your hand with an elephant ear and a microbrew.  Heaven.
If we ever can get back there, I’ll volunteer to bring a bag of sacrerte and a shovel and finally fix that thing myself.

Cheers,
Peter

[Peter Zambos]

To add to TJ’s response to caster and rear tire wear, I’ve found that the inside of the rear tire tends to wear significantly more on the inside shoulder when I’ve been running too much caster.  Granted, the tracks I run on aren’t very tight, so you might actually want that on the twistier tracks.

[Peter Zambos]

Tread looks good.  If the graining was significantly more, then you would be getting them too hot, or if the graining was less, then they’d be too cool.  Color looks good.  Doesn’t look like you’re running too much caster as evident by the rear wear.  Honestly, if your kart is feeling good on both entry and exit, I wouldn’t change it JUST to keep your tires wearing more evenly, but would recommend swapping the left and right front tires.

Keep in mind that what works well for tire longevity doesn’t always work well for handling and speed. :)

[Peter Zambos]

Max width for a TAG is 55 1/8″, so, in a perfect world your trailer would have a rear door that would be at least a little wider than that.

You’re right about removing the wheels at the end of the day being a pain.  Our current trailer was purchased when we ran a different class, whose requirements meant that the overall width was narrower.  We can’t get the TAG in there without taking off the rears and the pods, and it really gets on my nerves.  Sadly, trailer budget = $0.00 at the moment.

Cheers,

P.

[Peter Zambos]

Actually, there are two tools that you need that have not yet been mentioned.  When you inflate the new tire, you want to constrain the tire around its tread, so that, when you pump it full of air, it doesn’t over-expand, leading to inconsistent tire diameters and possibly damaging the tire.  There are a couple of different versions of this that you could use.  The first is a hard tire band.  Two of this type can be found on this page:

http://www.cometkartsales.com/store/tools/tiretool.htm

There’s also the soft trap.  The best strap that was ever made was constructed by Exotic Toy Builder, who also made the Tire Whiz mounting tool.  If you ever come across something made by ETB, buy it, as he no longer makes kart tools and his stuff was always top-notch.  Since you can’t go back in time, here’s another example of the soft strap:

http://host0114.csmhosting.com/IW_Products.m4p.pvx?;MULTI_ITEM_SUBMIT

Some people just use a tie down strap.  If you go this route, make sure you put a towel between the tire and the ratchet, so that it doesn’t dig into your tire.

Another tool you’ll need is some sort of waterless lube, to lubricate the inside of the wheel so that the tire will bead up nicely.  There are dedicated lubes for this, but you can also get away with WD40, as it contains no water, and also is designed to displace water.

[Peter Zambos]

2 questions.

Why would a diffuser not work well without a wing?  My grasp of aero suggests that if you were considering a rear wing, you wouldn’t have to any longer after putting in a diffuser.

Question two is: if you want a cheap, easy and perhaps more durable solution in place of a homemade diffuser, couldn’t you put in a row of small naca ducts into the belly pan at the rear?

[Peter Zambos]

Matt’s probably right. That’s the way that many Rotax users utilize to get a feel for their jetting.

Your clutch is not disengaging at high revs when you release the throttle. Your RAVE should have nothing to do with that, too. It doesn’t matter if your carb was “tuned,” you still need to match the air quality of the moment. Under the same air conditions, if you went up one jet size, the issue would most likely be gone.

[Peter Zambos]

The brake redundancy may make the class less of a risk to the underwriter of their insurance, thus keeping down cost to the org as well as their risk. If this is the case, it would be better if they talked directly with other orgs to find out how they approach the issue.

[Peter Zambos]

The manual for CES/TAG is free, Colm.

For the record, CES doesn’t require front brakes OR a dual system, but I think we’re getting off topic here.

[Peter Zambos]

Morgan, I’m glad you had a blast, and I hope that we see you in the next season.

I interpreted the original question as meaning support from the sprint clubs that exist in the same region as the corresponding road racing series. Back when I was a lot yonger, not only did my own sprint club recommend that we check out RR, but even shut down for that weekend to make the decision that much easier. All this for an event that was being put on by another club. Of course, this was back when all you had to do to a sprint kart for road racing was to change the gearing.

Out of curiosity, how what is the level of support, coordination and cooperation between sprinters and road racers in other regions outside of the Midwest?

[Peter Zambos]

I can’t speak to what happens everywhere else, because I do all my racing in the midwest.  I’ve raced with KART in the past, when CES held joint events, and, from my perspective, were a joy to race with.

To the point, however, when it comes to my part of the country, what has hurt the sustainability of road racing is a lack of interaction between the local tracks/clubs and the regional road racing.  So, my answer to the question posed is no, road racing cannot survive without the clubs.  Karters, almost invariably, start at the sprint level (as they should) and then get introduced to road racing at some point, hopefully.  If there’s no interaction between the clubs and road racing, there’s no one to replace the inevitable drop outs when karters retire, have kids, get divorced, lose employment, etc.

The national series that comes through my neck of the woods has certainly done nothing to foster growth in participation, and, arguably, has actually harmed it.  I’ll stick with having a regional series run by people who actually know what karters in my region want

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