[Patrick Roth]

Priced reduced again… :)

[Patrick Roth]

Email sent…

Patrick

[Patrick Roth]

Still available…

[Patrick Roth]

Mark,

For starters, I must say I appreciate the respectful and thoughtful debate rather than jumping down each other’s throats (maybe there is hope?). ;)

I think you hit the nail on the head in that mistakes and loss of talent moments will always happen.  I think the disconnect is karters believe we should be able to continue racing after contact without consequence, especially if it wasn’t our fault (how many racers actually admit that they made a mistake or could’ve taken a different approach?).  Formula 1, Indycar, and other open wheel racing have consequences because even a small amount of contact will tear up a front wing, puncture a tire, break suspension, etc, which virtually ends their race.  I think karting needs this type of consequence and a drop down bumper does it without requiring actual damage (the revised one that doesn’t flop underneath the kart).

It is my perception that bodywork was added to increase the safety of our sport as the consequences of contact were too severe; however, we now seem to be closer to concession karts where quite a bit of contact can be made without issue.  Many of the write ups for big races include big pile ups, red flags, injuries, aggressive driving penalties, etc.  I don’t see this changing until another major change is implemented that makes us adjust how we race to decrease contact.  The national level gets most of the attention because of the publicity but plenty of contact exists at the club levels too.

[Patrick Roth]

Mark,

While I see your point, I think it’s a bit idealistic.  A drop down bumper will change the way we race without muddying the waters with whether or not respect is present or not.  It will force us to develop different skills (ex: increased level of anticipation of what other drivers may do) and is independent of the “human” element.

Regards,

Patrick

[Patrick Roth]

The irony of arguing an unwritten rule against a written rule…  uh… sorry racingmom but the poor sportsmanship is clearly in your corner.  We all have to play by the rules, especially the written ones, regardless of whether we like them or not.

Racingmom, I’m not one that usually gets in this sort of debate but you touched a nerve. I suggest you focus on learning respect and fair play.  Our sport could use more of it…

[Patrick Roth]

1)  Drop down bumpers – It won’t be easy and it’s not fool proof but I’m pretty sure the status quo isn’t working very well.  Many aggressive moves are made because there are no repercussions… well, give us repercussions.  I despise rolling starts because of the bumping and the carnage that typically happens.  I can only assume that a drop down bumper is going to force us to give each other space which, maybe I’m wrong, sounds like a good thing…

2)  Consolidate, consolidate, consolidate – There are too many organizations, engine options, and classes.  The sport just isn’t big enough and it continues to cannibalize itself with every new flavor of the month that is added.  Personally, I think the best thing that could happen is for the larger organizations to sit down and really hash out a good long term strategy for the sport at both a local and national level.  If something doesn’t change it will continue to cycle as it always has with the winners, losers, comers, and goers…

3)  Respect – Much like our most recent presidential election, I see way too many racers/teams disrespecting each other, the officials, and the event organizers.  This “I’m going to take my toys and go home” attitude is sickening when someone doesn’t agree with a rule, an official’s decision, the way an event is run, etc.  Not sure how you change this but maybe someone will read this and the next time something doesn’t go their way they will remind themselves that this is karting and its supposed to be fun.

[Patrick Roth]

Price reduced…

[Patrick Roth]

Lowered price some more… :)

[Patrick Roth]

Please let us know how it goes when you try removing the seat struts.  I would suggest starting by removing the highest seat strut on each side.  If this gets you headed in the right direction than remove the seat struts completely and see how it goes.  If removing the highest seat struts doesn’t help than put them back on and try removing the lower seat struts.

[Patrick Roth]

How many seat struts do you have?  I found that when I ran the Ribtect I either ran only 1 additional strut per side and many times I ran without additional struts.  I even experimented with slight loosening of the mounting bolts (just enough so they turn a little by hand) without any struts.

I’m not familiar with the ikarts but if I were experiencing the same in my CRG’s than I would lower the rear ride height (axle up) and narrow the rear width… but I would try the seat adjustments first.

[Patrick Roth]

I would recommend sticking with the $3-$5 bearings available from any of the online kart part stores that advertise on this site.  A fancy bearing is not going to result in lower lap times and spindle bearings shouldn’t need replacing that often.  IMO, save your money and put it towards fuel and tires.

Cheers! :)

 

 

[Patrick Roth]

Ed,

Email with pics sent.  Yes, these parts are off of a CRG shifter kart.

[Patrick Roth]

A stock Honda does have a rev limiter somewhere in the 14k ballpark.  It’s not something you’ll hit during a race as you lose power around 12,400 with a 99 cylinder and 12, 800 with a 01 cylinder.  These are where you should be shifting.

You won’t be able to dump the clutch without stalling or bogging the motor.  During a start (after the motor is warmed up), a lot of people will hold the brake, mash the gas (let the rev limiter do it’s thing), let the clutch grab a little (you’ll feel the kart want to move) and aggressively let go of the clutch and brake to get a good launch.  Personally, I don’t mash the gas (to the rev limit) but I am in the 11k or so range when I go to launch at a start.

If the motor isn’t warm and you’re just pulling out from the pits than you should be much less aggressive.  The Honda’s are very very tough but beating on them before they are ready isn’t a good idea.

 

 

[Patrick Roth]

Like Freddy said, no worries… it happens.  Even if it is one of the chassis struts, weld repair should be just fine.  I’ve had several weld repairs from small tears (from bending to fit a new seat) to complete breaks (had a smaller diameter tube placed inside to maintain the strength) and never had any issues after the repair.

 

 

[Patrick Roth]

Lowered the price on the brake package…

[Patrick Roth]

Still available… lowered price…

[Patrick Roth]

While your questions are specific to a single track, I’ll throw in my two cents and would suggest a part of the country that has a lot of year round action at several different tracks.  It seems I’m always reading about great events in California, but Texas is a great location with several great tracks!  Houston has GCKI and the new Speedsportz track going up (MSR is rentals only).  Dallas has DKC and NTK.  Between San Antonio there is HCKC (New Braunfels, TX) and HOT (Waco, TX).  For a long weekend you can get to NOLA as well as OMC up in Oklahoma.  The point being is you have a lot of options in Texas and it’s easy to branch out to Oklahoma and Louisiana.

[Patrick Roth]

Prices updated…  I’m tired of looking at the parts… :)

[Patrick Roth]

Sold

[Patrick Roth]

Sold

[Patrick Roth]

My two cents… yes, it should have an effect; however, whether it is positive or negative is up to you and what you are experiencing with your driving style.  If it were me, I’d give it a shot and see what happens.

I do agree that you need to have the tuning in the ballpark in order to improve as a driver but I would speculate that most new drivers don’t have a clue what the ballpark is.  I’ve seen several people (including myself) start off karting and think that tuning changes needed to be made in order to go faster only to get to a point where the tuning is so far out there that there is no way the kart is handling properly in order to go fast.  Some of the best money I ever spent on karting was to buy a complete setup from a local racer who set fast laps in the precise kart I bought.  This forced me to learn how to drive and it also made me understand how the handling changes when tires fall off, the track changes, and the weather changes.  It also forced me to understand that I simply didn’t have the skill to feel changes due to small tweaks and the stopwatch is the ultimate measure.

 

[Patrick Roth]

Evan, I recommend the Ribtect 4 vest as it’s well priced, very durable, and the buckles make it easy to get the fit you want and hold it securely.  I’ve been using Ribtect vests for the last 5 years (tried another brand before and it failed within a few months) and the reason I’ve never changed is it simply works well.

 

 

[Patrick Roth]

The thing that sticks out to me is your hands are extremely smooth during your turn-in and I don’t see you trying to “jerk” the steering to get the kart to turn in more.

This combined with the things that stand out to me (short rear hubs, only one strut per side, loose rear bumper, and max rear width) as reducing rear grip, are what prompted my responses.

Cheers and please let us know what you end up finding out! :)

[Patrick Roth]

I think it will be telling when you swap over to new yellows.  (make note which end the fast drivers are wearing out first, front or rear tires)  I would suggest going back to a medium hub with the new tires and tune from there.

If it does continue with new tires than I would suggest doing the things to add rear grip by narrowing the rear, going to longer hubs, lower the rear ride height (axle up), and adding another set of seat struts.

 

 

[Author]

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