[Ted Hamilton]

Could be a police / security training layout too.

[Ted Hamilton]

Another option might be one of those hitch-installable cooler / motorcycle haulers (wire mesh on a rectangular frame.)  Shoot, I put my kart on a hitch mounted bike rack to get it home (7 hr. drive…)

[Ted Hamilton]

Ambrose —

Technically, it’s still foldable (the tongue is the only truly “foldable” part… I assume they intend for it to be set on its’ rear and the tongue folded back under….that would be possible with mine, but it’s now heavy enough that it would require 2 guys to do so.  I will say that the extra structure stiffened the kit quite a bit — it’s really a light-to-medium duty trailer….that said, I’ve hauled 2 buckets of sand on mine (around 1500#) with no issue for a short haul.  I did use good trailer grease and check the bearings and lugs often.  Since my wheels fit neatly under the decking, I didn’t install the fenders.  I will say that the lighting harness isn’t 100% compatible with all others, but I modified it so it works…  YMMV.

[Ted Hamilton]

Clue me in to why a “small engine” gauge is needed — pressure is pressure, right?

[Ted Hamilton]

Ambrose — I bought a Harbor Freight folding trailer with 20% off for around $280, their heaviest (rated 1800# payload) and built my own 6′ x 8′ deck on top for another $100 in materials, and added stake sides. It hauls my karts, a microsprint, and dirt/gravel, etc. when needed… Might be a good option for you?

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[IMG]https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/q81/p240x240/1901305_10100567833533889_936758259415640636_n.jpg?oh=7e1318bd61dc369667dae42c8a949917&oe=54EE30E1&__gda__=1420485988_bfab36f939abf86b86f56f170f7cee5d[/IMG]

[Ted Hamilton]

There’s a book by Bob Bondurant on race karting too —

Had some good info.

[Ted Hamilton]

Contact Mike Clements — he might have one if it hasn’t sold yet.

[Ted Hamilton]

Perhaps, but I think that thread was talking about to the bottom of the plug hole, not top (~2cc difference).

[Ted Hamilton]

Don’t forget seat positioning and effect on Vcg either… Us American drivers are slightly different build and size than the Euros they pattern those seats and dimensions after at the factories… :)

[Ted Hamilton]

QUALITY guage neccesary, and a fresh battery on starter when turning it over to test… or so I’m told. The figures I was hearing on Bob’s were around 200, with ring job and/or rebore when it was below 140…

http://karting.4cycle.com/showthread.php?11090-kt100-port-timing — post #6

and depending on your application, this is interesting reading too:

http://eknclassic.com/viewtopic.php?t=98674&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=kt100+open&start=0

[Ted Hamilton]

Lenny — I’ll do this if you can take PayPal +3%.  Do you still have that Titan ICA I sold you circa 2003-4? :)  Thanks, ~Ted (ted@hamiltonhelmets.com)

[Ted Hamilton]

I can probably do that…  where are you located, and will you take PayPal +3%?  Thanks. ~Ted

[Ted Hamilton]

Honda CRX Gen ii with urethane bushings, Si model, and good rubber.

[Ted Hamilton]

I may take some flak for posting this, but it’s my personal observation, so…..

The old forum, while very basic in format, was very discussion based, and as a consequence it was to 2-cycle and sprint kart racing what Bob’s 4-cycle is to dirt oval 4 stroke racing.  There was a diverse and pretty vocal subscriber base, and there were commonly 200+ posts for me to catch up on if I missed a day of browsing.  Due to the sheer numbers and volume of regular posters (vs. lurkers), questions were answered quickly (and usually accurately.)

This new site is not, IMO, a forum-centric site.  It’s much more media and press-release friendly, with the forum retained as a nod to the tradition of the old site, and to provide some means for archiving the old information and generating some more current info.  Whether by design or simply unintended consequence of stylistic choices, the new forum section is harder to post in, harder to find information in, and less comprehensive for the moment, but it does have the added benefit of posting (third-party-hosted) pictures and such.

My observations are not to “bash” the admins — they simply made a choice in the best interests of their business and trying to focus on serving the karting media needs instead of letting us forum posters largely control the site content (by volume.)  I would bet that David or  the other admins would concede losing a large percentage of the posters, but would point out that what’s here addresses many other needs — such as what race results are, what races are coming up, and what’s generally going on in the karting industry.  Those questions were often lacking in answers / content on the old site.

Personally, I preferred the classic site as I’m a old BBS guy.  If you don’t know what a BBS was, you probably like the new site better. :)  All that to say, regardless of all of our format preferences, kudos to the EKN staff for maintaining a place where we can still meet….and here’s hoping we can turn the new site into what the old one offered PLUS the new benefits too.

~Ted

[Ted Hamilton]

I’ve also found on indoor tracks that body weight is a HUGE factor, as is ambient temps….on cold days the heavier guys were insurmountably faster as they could get more heat into the tires…  On warmer days, my lighter weight / better acceleration won out.

[Ted Hamilton]

I interpreted what Walt was saying as this, with a few other things I’d try.

[Ted Hamilton]

IMO, the formula for growing karting is easy to state:

— Make it as few rules as possible (to allow the easiest chassis prep and wide variety) and

— Make it as cheap as possible while maintaining safe karts and stringent on-track behavior.

Accomplishing that may be harder…

————————————————————

Hard tires are a mixed bag in my book….if you can find a compound that wears slowly but also is fairly resilient to heat-cycling, then you have a winner… But if it doesn’t heat cycle well, then hard tires are actually worse as you have to buy a new set every raceday to be the fastest…

One thing that would be interesting is to revert back to VERY hard and NARROW tires… why not run LO206, Animals, etc. on 4.5″ tires up front and 5″ tires in the rear?  Let people slide around a little and learn to drive with both feet and the wheel…

For safety, mandate nerfs and a full-width rear bumper, and the usual safety wiring, but other than that, why any other rules?  The VKA guys have proven that modern day tuned C-Opens on vintage chassis don’t have fatigue issues, etc., so I’d think any modern (late 80’s – current) chassis should be just fine.  Do a brake test, and let people have at it…

Oh well, I should just let this thread die since it’s now well outside the original question…  Thanks all,

~Ted

[Ted Hamilton]

It would be cool if they made a Mini Glen copy of the full size course in 1/5 scale in the infield for the karts.  Like Charlotte, it could double as vendor / RV / other event access roads.

[Ted Hamilton]

Andy —

I presume that WKA could choose the CIK/FIA spec and make it mandatory, as WKA is the ACCUS rep for CIK/FIA in the US for karting…  But……the KF package wasn’t received well, even by the Euro’s, and particularly not here except for the FWT participation.

I have learned from running several orgs that whenever ANY change is made, people will complain and some will walk.  Doesn’t matter what the change is.  So, that being the case, it’s wise to make decisions that benefit the org, explain the road map so those with no axe to grind can follow along, and simply ignore the axe grinders (or if they get too bad, file for slander or issue a cease and desist order.)

I’m no so sure that the powers-that-be are making decisions for the good of karting so much as for the good of their pocketbook.  Some may mean well but be too insulated from kartings’ history or national conditions to make a well-informed decision.  Or perhaps they have a different goal in mind than maximum participation…

Anyhow, this thread has evolved into more than a discussion about GoPro, so perhaps it’s better to start a new thread about what the populace want from karting orgs…

Good luck with your racing, whatever type and organization it may be… ~Ted

[Ted Hamilton]

Gif —

Yeah!  Something that didn’t make deals with vendors, have too many classes, and listened to its’ members?  Something that viewed karting as an end AND a means…. And also offered International campatibility in classes in addition to local domestic options?  Where would one find such a thing? ;)  And how would such a thing enforce track compliance?

[Ted Hamilton]

Finch — yes, probably the rich ones will.  There’s no way to stop that.  But us cheapskates will buy older used tires and prep them back to competitive or buy take-offs from the big races, or plenty of other more affordable options.  By having less rules, you create less hassle and more options.  Especially for club racing where costs dictate turnout (The National level drivers already know and pay the costs…)  That’s all IMO, of course.

As to various tracks with different rules, I don’t think there’s a good solutions short of a monopoly on tracks, or more forward-thinking promoters.  If I was going to build / run a track, I’d actually try to copy my competition (if they were doing well,) so that our businesses would build each other.  It’s like fast food and coffeeshops — they’re all in the same area because that’s where people go for that commodity — you can be different, at least for a while, but you’d better be prepared to expend more effort, and possibly fail.

 

 

[Ted Hamilton]

Not OPEN open, spec the duro, leave the brand open.  Big difference.

And if you spec a tire that doesn’t grip virtually the same over its’ full lifetime then the person with less heat cycles has a better tire — same dilemma even with a spec tire — the rich will buy new ones every race, the budget racers will be stuck…

Whereas if you just spec the duro, I can check it myself and run whatever I want.

Though I no longer have them, at the end of the STARS! WKA event at BeaveRun in 2001, I collected 92 tires from the trash bins, plus some bodywork.  I matched the tires by brand, size, and condition, tested them with a durometer, and didn’t buy another tire again for the next 5 years.  That’s budget racing.

[Ted Hamilton]

Gif — sounds like you stirred up a hornets nest at one point…hope you didn’t get stung too badly.

Maybe once the fad wears off for the rich playboys the hemorraging of $$ will promote more sensible club-oriented thinking…

 

[Ted Hamilton]

Andy —

Thanks for your input.  I would tend to agree with you if we were talking about racers who had a kart just sitting idle that was out of spec and they didn’t want to be hassled to change it.  However, if each local track (CMP, Barnesvile, etc.) specs a different tire and has different chassis rules, than that makes it impractical for someone to make the trek to do double duty or occasional vacation racing.  I’m not going to invest in a set of tires for a one-off race…but if I know I can use them for practice and racing anywhere in my region I’m more likely to make the jump to purchase.

Personally, I see no benefit to the plastic rear bumper other than enriching the bodywork manufacturers….

And spec tire rules only save money if the track runs a parc ferme and does a group buy — otherwise they’re WORSE as you’re forced to buy fresher ones with less heat cycles to be more competitive.

In general, the easier you make it to race, and cheaper, the more people will do so.  IMO.  That was the basis of my email…  I’m sure promoters are in a situation where they get complaints either way….that being so, pick the cheaper method. :)

Guess not a lot of GoPro drivers feel like answering… I’m legal either way, so no real skin off my nose.  Cheers,

~Ted

s

[Ted Hamilton]

Be advised that WKA will be switching back to the can in 2015…

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