[Brian Wilson]

It has been my experience that the bigger the bumpers have gotten or the more coverage they have provided, the more contact there has become. With the vintage karts, and currently F1, the more open the wheels were, the more skill the drivers used in overtaking another driver. Seems that with the advent of bumpers, people have taken the Nascar moniker of “rubbin’ is racing” to heart.

Personally, I think the more bumper coverage you require, the lesser driver skills will become and the potential for serious accidents will rise. Drivers will just have the attitude that the other person will back off or get bumped off the track. Having someone with that attitude  bullying their way inside me going into a high speed corner is not something I relish.

 

 

 

[Brian Wilson]

Seat size and the person is all going to be individual. For example, I am 6′, 250 lbs. I am not fat, I wrestled in high school and college and continued to work out throughout my life. I currently race bicycles and ride at least 150 miles a week, usually more. I have a low body fat with a 36″ waist and 52″ chest with wide shoulders and no beer belly. The first seat I tried was the XLT which was very uncomfortable for me. The top of the seat came just below my arm pits and when I had my arms up or out to my side, it was fine, but when I put my arms down and tucked my elbows in, the seat cut into my horribly and was very uncomfortable. Wasn’t the seats fault, if I would have been just a hair taller or didn’t have wide lats, then it probably would have been great, just wasn’t good with my body style. Sent it back and for the cost of shipping they sent me the XL. I have glued pads to the each side of hip area that are about 1/4 – 1/2″ thick and I still have a little wiggle room throughout the seat.

Someone that is similar height and weight to me, but doesn’t exercise and carries the extra weight around their mid section will have a totally different outlook on the seat than I do. I don’t know your body style, but at your weight and height, I would suggest starting with either the XLT or XL. When you get it, throw a towel on the floor (to protect the seat) and place the seat in front of your couch or wall so that will allow you to approximate the position the seat will be mounted in your kart. Sit in it for awhile and see how it feels. If you don’t like it, just pay for the cost of shipping and get another size that will better suit you.

[Brian Wilson]

I have a used CRG front porch, complete with pedals and extended brake rods. I would recommend a Ribtect seat, but not the XXL. I’m 6′, 248 lbs and I have the XXL and it’s too big for me, I would prefer the XL. The seat is big enough that I could wear a rib protector/vest under my suit and not feel tight in the seat.

[Brian Wilson]

Any motorcycle or karting shop will have a fuel/oil mixing ratio cup or container. For fuel, I use two of the 5 gallon VP fuel jugs. One is for fuel only, the other is for mixed fuel. I try to guesstimate how many gallons I’m going to use the week, pour the oil in and then add that many gallons of fuel……sometimes this will go on top of a gallon or so of premix that was left over. If I need extra fuel for the weekend, I have the spare 5 gallon jug full, if it doesn’t get used, it goes into the truck or car after the weekend.

[Brian Wilson]

I have dealt with John before and I don’t get the idea he would send out product without payment first, unless it was an exchange. From my modest intelligence and reading comprehension skills, the title would tell me he received payment for the items before sending them out.

He probably sent out the items and then got a charge back from the credit card company because of fraudulent use of a credit card, stolen credit card or something along those lines. In the end, he got screwed…..it’s tough enough to keep a business afloat in the karting industry with honest customers.

[Brian Wilson]

I have seen a driver do donuts after a shifter race……but, it was after a cool down lap, not 50′ after the finish line in a turn with the rest of the field still racing to cross the finish line. I think he should have done a cool down/victory lap first and let the rest of the field come through. I think any race director in the US would also take issue with a shifter driver doing donuts 50′ after the finish line while others were still racing to the line.

[Brian Wilson]

The first race at OGP this weekend has become a day race versus the originally scheduled night race. Gates will open @ 7 am

[Brian Wilson]

The first race at OGP this weekend has become a day race versus the originally scheduled night race. Gates will open @ 7 am.

[Brian Wilson]

The race is still on and I will be there……..

[Brian Wilson]

It has to do with a bearing lubrication issue. I don’t know if it’s due to the heat generated or the rpm’s, but the only lubrication is via the fuel/oil mixture. I run two temp sensors, one for the water and one for the main bearing temp. During a long WOT run, you can see the bearing temp climb and as soon as you lift and the rpm’s fall, so does the bearing temp. When geared correctly, it’s never been an issue for me on a purpose built kart track…..but they do warn it could be a potential issue in a road course.

[Brian Wilson]

This is from my standpoint living in central Florida. I tend to see more stock motos than ICC’s….but I believe that may be a regional thing. As far as cost goes, that depends upon how competitive you want to be. Sure, you can run and ICC out of the box, but I believe most of the competitive guys put the upgrade kit on them that cost more. As far as run time  and performance, I have never run an ICC. With the stock moto, again it depends upon how competitive you are. There are guys that do top end rebuilds every 1-2 races, but I think you should be able to get 10 hours out of one. Some will say the cost of a rebuild is not worth chancing it and having it come apart at hour 5-10 and doing more damage.

 

As I said, I have never driven an ICC so I have no experience with one. But it pretty much holds true with any motor, the more competitive you are (or want to be), the higher your cost are going to be.

[Brian Wilson]

One change/addition to the rules per the tracks for insurance regulations. A FULL REAR BUMPER must be used, doesn’t matter if it’s plastic or metal, just needs to provide full coverage.

[Brian Wilson]

It has been brought to my attention by the tracks that they have one minor rule change/addition….a FULL REAR BUMPER must be used. Doesn’t matter if it’s plastic or metal, but it must provide full coverage.

[Brian Wilson]

You might want to venture down in into the 250 Superkart section of this forum….they use 6″ wheels. I’m sure they could give you a different take on them and the availability of them. The CRG part may be an issue though because of their front bolt pattern, but I do know they make 6″ wheels in standard and metric sizing.

[Brian Wilson]

Reliability is great and a true 100 hrs between service if it is driven according to the manual and even then, the service is not much. Mine is over with Richard being serviced right now. The aixro only has two issues, one if it is over revved and it’s a costly mistake. All the new ones come with a PVL ignition with a rev limiter, so over revving it is taken out of the equation. The second issue is if you run it at WOT for more than 10-12 seconds, but that’s never been an issue for me either. It is an engine for kart tracks, not road courses.

[Brian Wilson]

Question for participants on race dates. PBIR had to change the November 24th race date and we have a couple of options and I would like input to see what you would prefer. The only other date available for PBIR in November is the 30th, which is the same weekend as Thanksgiving, which may be an issue for those traveling or hosting company during the Holiday. The other dates are either going to be October 13th or December 15th. The other option is to move the Homestead date from October 5th to November 2nd and have PBIR on October 13th, which would put one race a month with a few weeks between races. I’m flexible, just want to try and accommodate everyone.

Here are the choices.

Calendar 1                                                                          Calendar 2

Ocala September 21st                                                   Ocala September 21st

Homestead October 5th                                               PBIR October 13th

PBIR November 30th                                                    Homestead November 2nd

Or we could put another date for Ocala in November and have PBIR in December and have a 4 race series.

Any thoughts or comments?

[Brian Wilson]

Marc,

The Rubig is not faster than the Aixro, at least not from the videos I have seen. Search  youtube and the are a few videos of the Rubig running against shifters and the Aixro. It appears that the Rubig is a monster when it comes to low end power and has alot of pull out of the corners, but is not as fast on top end. The videos I have seen show the Rubig opening up the slightest of gap out of a low speed corner, but all the karts either closed the gap and were on it’s bumper or pulled even with it or passed it in the straights. Never seen one in person.

Richard said he has a Aixro with only 4 hours on it for sale for $5,000. That included carb, pipe, PVL ignition, ceramic bearings/seals, engine mounts nad new Freeline radiator. Pretty much a bolt on and go package.

[Brian Wilson]

I went to the races, but couldn’t take my Aixro. According to the tracking info I have, my engine is still sitting in customs in NY where it has been for almost a month now.  As far as others karts, Brian D emailed me that a family member was having health issues and he was going to be out of state for the weekend and unable to attend. There was a grid of 13 or 14 shifters….if all were stock Honda, I don’t know. I do know there were no ICC’s.  Since my motor hasn’t cleared customs yet and still needs to be shipped from NY, doesn’t look like I’ll be making Homestead either.

I believe the lack of participation may also have to do with the lack of traffic on this new forum version. On the old forum, you couldn’t go 10 minutes without a new post being made in the shifter section, now you can go a day or more. Don’t know if it’s fewer members in general or just fewer active posters.

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