[Tim Koyen]

IAME X30 Junior Qualifying

1. Steven Dial 1:05.963

2. Jack Dorsey

3. Michael Paterno

4. Austin Schaff

5. Max Piechel

6. Sam Paley

7. Maks Kowalski

8. Tahlon Yockel

9. Zander Taylor

10. Cole Sensel

[Tim Koyen]

Yamaha Sr. Qualifying

1.  Collin Griffin 1:12.365

2.  Josh Fierke

3. Dakota Pesek

4. PJ Lyda

5. Carter Pease

6. Adam Crepin

7. Jake Venberg

8. Killian Keaveny

9. Jeff Lyda

10. Aaron Bromberek

[Tim Koyen]

Kid kart qualifying

1. Aryton Grim

2. Austin Olds

3. Sean Dixon

4. Indy Ragan

5. Gage Spann

6. Ethan Pogue

[Tim Koyen]

I can make you stands like that, but why?  Those are an old style for karts with narrow rear bumpers.  The newer style stands that we make are for both full width rear bumpers, and standard ones.  The only reason to buy one like you pictured is if you have a low roof and you need to get the kart as low as possible.  I also make a double version of these stands that stores karts bottom to bottom, as well as a hanging version that hangs the kart from the nerf spuds and not from the axle, which can be a problem with soft axles.

Give me a call or email at the shop 877-777-8020 or tim@kartlift.com.  I can let you know what the options are and get you setup with the right stand for your needs.

 

Thanks, Tim

[Tim Koyen]

If installed correctly, plastic skidplates will not affect the kart’s handling.   The key is to make them free floating, so they don’t create a bind.

[Tim Koyen]

Someone above mentioned 5/8″ bolts.  Don’t use 5/8″.  I think they meant 5/16″ or 8mm.  More smaller weights seems to allow the seat to flex more.

[Tim Koyen]

Dan-

I would say the tuners were giving you decent advice.  39% on the front is on the light side.  I’d try to get that up a few points.  TJ is right, a guy your size should have the opposite problem.  Your kart should be over flexing.  It’ll be interested to see how the IKart handles someone your size.  You may need to try several different seats to get where you want to be.  In addition to being too far back, perhaps your seat is too high.  You should have it as low as possible, with the bottom somewhere below the frame rails, maybe a couple cm or so.

I just googled Twister seat and that thing looks super stiff.  It looks like a flat, or oval kart type seat, which isn’t what you’re going to want in a Yamaha sprint kart.  Most oval kart seats don’t really need to flex, as they aren’t really integral in the chassis function.  They’re more a place for the driver to sit and keep his/her weight down low.  The Tillet T8 is going to be a way better application for the Ikart or the Margay, for that matter.  If that doesn’t work for you, contact me and we’ll see if a DeepSeat puts the weight were you need it, yet still keeps you comfortable.

One big thing, is to make sure the seat isn’t in a bind when you install it.  It should sit neutral in the kart when you tighten up the bolts.  Make sure you bend all the tabs so they are parallel with the seat surface, and fill any gaps with spacers or washers before tightening.  You definitely don’t want the seat to be pulled in any direction when you tightening up bolts.

[Tim Koyen]

I think Roadrace events should hire some reporters and get some promotion and airtime.  It might bring more interest to that genre of the sport.  It seems like sprint racing is the only group that hires professional reporting staff.  Maybe I’m wrong, but I see and hear very little about racing on the big tracks.

[Tim Koyen]

Obviously they aren’t following the published order at the sprint track.  Is there somewhere we can find the correct order online?

[Tim Koyen]

Some people still do this.  I guess its different by manufacturer.

[Tim Koyen]

Good to hear this is still going on.  You might want to get the website updated for this year though.

[Tim Koyen]

I’m not an expert, so don’t go by anything I say, but some top builders have told me that its all in the carb on the X30.  Can’t do much to the engine itself, so what little you might be able to get, is in the carb.  This is all subject to change though, as the builders keep working on it and pushing the limits.

[Tim Koyen]

I’m not an expert by any means, but that does look like an HDC-5B.  If it is, it should handle 8k and the SR-Y pipe.  I think some of the parts are interchangeable with Comet’s Patriot clutches, including the friction disc.

[Tim Koyen]

I couldn’t agree more with Ron on the value of the Yamaha EF3000.  I got mine second hand a few years ago.  Starts every time, runs A/C, and is very quiet.  Couldn’t ask for much more.  There are other decent generators out there, but for everyone’s sake, so don’t buy a POS that is so noisy that no one wants to pit by you, or worse yet, you torture those that HAVE to pit by you.

[Tim Koyen]

Vortex has had some demo karts setup with DVS engines at the last few USPKS events.  I think it was unanimously like by all the drivers that drove it.  No idea on longevity though.

[Tim Koyen]

Most sponsorship in karting, at least at the local levels, is more a nice guy type thing.  Someone is a friend of the family, or works at a place, or something like that.  Just throwing some money or product at you because they want to be part of the “team”.  The value they are getting for their money is in the spirit of giving.  I agree that a website is probably a waste of time and money, particularly because social media has all but replaced them for this kind of thing.

As drivers get more experience and travel around to where lots of eyes are seeing them and their sponsors, then there is a possibility that a sponsor could realize some actual monetary value out of their deal with your driver, but this is still pretty uncommon in karting.

I don’t want to sound negative about getting sponsors in karting, but its important to be realistic and understand that very few of these deals are really benefitting the sponsoring businesses, other than making them feel like they are part of something unique.  If your approach gets you money by filling their need to be part of something, then go for it!  If people want to give you money to hang out with you, by all means, let them.

The real sponsorship in karting is getting free stuff from kart companies that want you to use their products.  I would guess that 90% of the “sponsorship” in karting is this type of deal.  Very few people, in the overall scheme, are actually getting cash to put toward racing, unless its done by Dad’s friend, or uncle Ron’s biz, or something like that.

Good luck and have fun!

[Tim Koyen]

Anyone  has the ability to go out and buy all the brands listed above, yet so few do.  Even fewer are running up front with them.  If you want the European brands that have thousands of hours of engineering and testing behind them, then be prepared to pay for that.  If you don’t think its worthwhile, then buy one of the other brands.  There is something available at all the price points.

Are the OTK or other Euro or imported karts worth the extra money, apparently most karters think so, or we’d be seeing fields full of the other locally produced karts instead of those brands.  If you don’t think its worth it, or your financial ability, or driving ability limits you, then buy a cheaper make.  I doubt that you’ll have less fun because your kart cost less.

It costs money to produce high quality stuff with precision over and over.  But you also want to know that each kart you pull out of the box is going to work correctly and consistently.  At least its not a bunch of cheap crap made in China.  Although, for what it’s worth, some of components on some very nice karts, ARE made in China.  Which just goes to show, that with right engineering oversight, CNC machines located in China can produce quality product.

[Tim Koyen]

If you guys had watched the video on the Tonykart factory, you wouldn’t be asking why karts are so expensive.

[Tim Koyen]

I didn’t know there were any bodies left in the US that allowed helmet mounted cameras?  Most series that I know of only allow kart mounts.  No one should have a problem with this rule.

[Tim Koyen]

Given that your kart is an OTK product, and you suffered that much damage in a crash, you can probably assume that is has a bend of some sort in it.  Usually a hit that’s hard enough to bend a steering shaft is going to tweak the chassis somewhat.  The good news is that the OTK karts bend back fairly easily and once straightened, should be just fine.  Someone with experience with those karts should be able to get it straightened back up fairly easily.  Snipers can detect misalignment, which can sometimes be due to a bent frame, but OTK karts bend at the waist frequently and it isn’t always visible on the lasers, yet the weights will be way off and the kart will pull to one side.  Find someone with OTK experience, as those karts don’t scale the same from corner to corner and don’t laser equally from side to side when they are new, so you need to know what you’re doing to get it back to where it once was.

[Tim Koyen]

None of this weight business was really an issue when there were light and heavy classes.  Now that the concept of heavy and light is gone at the “national” level, and we’re all in a heap, the lighter guys just have to make the sacrifice to allow the heavier ones to be competitive.

[Tim Koyen]

Higher class weights are great for business, but bad for backs.

Looking at Lynn’s pic, its easy to see one reason that the weights are so much higher now, the karts weigh so much more.  Lots of superfluous plastic bits and extraneous “safety” equipment, such as sidepods.  Add on all the useless electronics of today’s engines and you’ve got yourself a lead sled.

[Tim Koyen]

Sometimes I forget to charge mine for a few weekends, so I know I can get at least that many days out of it.  I usually go with higher amperage batteries, but my stands do work fine with the cheaper ones.  I can’t really vouch for how many years a battery lasts, as I haven’t really kept track of it, but I know multiple years.

Interestingly, we have a battery that we use to test all the stands when we build them.  The stands aren’t loaded, so the draw is much less, but that battery could easily cycle 50 or more stands up and down a few times in between charges.

It is true though that batteries that aren’t of the deep cycle type aren’t designed to be fully discharged, but there shouldn’t be any reason why you wouldn’t get a couple years out of a regular lawn mower battery, if you charge it once in awhile.

I know of a couple guys that have battery tenders mounted right on the stand and just plug the stand in after every weekend.  That works nicely.

 

[Tim Koyen]

Boy Walt, you’re an expert on everything aren’t you?  I apologize for my products not meeting your specifications.  Perhaps you could manufacture and market something so I can complain about it?

[Tim Koyen]

Its not unusual to get some wear on the inside of the clutch cover, although yours seems a bit excessive.  Often times the retaining clip will get weak and slip out of the groove, allowing the driver to wander on the shaft and possibly grind the chain on the cover.  There is a spacer that can be used in place of the retaining clip.  I don’t know the part number, but its an IAME part.

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