[Cris Schureman]

Well-

There you have it.  Thanks Stacey.

Can’t imagine what CRG was thinking in the first place when they canned the PSL / CRG USA model.  By my estimation it was the most successful deal they had going globally.  Now PSL is selling more Birel product than anticipated and it sounds like CRG-USA will soon be Brand X-USA.

That worked out well……………………..

[Cris Schureman]

RW is probably (my opinion) a stop gap and agreed to by more than just K1.

Total speculation until something solid is announced.

I do believe that CRG is making a major change. If this change happens and it improves parts availability and timely shipments it will be good.  I was asking if anyone else has heard anything- I guess not.

Maybe Walt’s eloquent response is the best “who cares”.

[Cris Schureman]

LOL “who cares”.  Probably a couple of dozen dealers in North America for starters. Add to that a couple of hundred people who own a CRG kart.

CRG will probably follow the OTK model. Factory owned inventory stored and distributed out of a warehouse direct to dealers. Partner up with someone that has experience to manage it. CRG captures the importer margin and all the dealers pay the same price. To the racer- probably harder to get a “deal”.

It is no secret that CRG’s market share eroded substantially after they pulled the plug on PSL.  I understand PSL’s biz has grown  this year with Birel. It is also no secret that CRG dealers are having a problem getting the parts they need in a timely manner under the current arrangement.

 

 

 

[Cris Schureman]

Racing in Vegas this year keeps getting more interesting.

Probably old news to most of you-

I just read the new series (US Open) is changing the date of the Vegas race due to scheduling conflicts with the Rotax race in Portugal. No reschedule date has been announced yet.

Making a change like that can’t be too easy for a promoter, especially in Vegas. I can’t believe they did not recognize this as a potential conflict early in the planning stages.

 

 

 

 

 

[Cris Schureman]

Looks like the Riviera is closing May 4th.

LV Revealed (online rag) is saying it will be demolished late summer early fall.

Racing in Vegas will be interesting on several fronts this fall.

[Cris Schureman]

 

Business is business. The big teams and shops need more revenue opportunities to survive so I completely understand this whole thing. Some of these guys have several hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in trailers and inventory. If the ROI is not there or you are losing money-you need to fix it or close the shop down.  This is their fix.

It is all economically relevant.

 

 

[Cris Schureman]

Tim:

I would love to see a real kart engine (ROK or even a KZ) be the motor of choice for a new national series.

Those “ready-made followers” that you speak of on the shifter kart side all OWN stock motos.

It all makes sense when you see the names associated with helping put this together. Stock Honda is a big part of their programs.

 

 

[Cris Schureman]

 

This/ it will dilute the kart count for the Pro Tour. Kind of sad really but the whole thing should not be a surprise. The Pro Tour has been very successful and we have supported it from its (most recent) inception. It has been a hell of a ride for us  but I don’t have a dog in this hunt now as we have no plans to run stock Honda this year. We will support the Super Nationals in KZ.

The elephant in the room –

A promoter / series owner (who makes a living doing so) has to operate as a dictator, pure and simple. He cannot make everyone happy. It is not a club or a non-profit organization. It is a business and making a fair profit is the priority.   The definition of fair  is different depending on who you ask- the racers, teams or the series owner.

After a few years, “customers” start to think they are getting charged too much to race, paying too much for tires, getting raped on pit space fees, the list goes on and on and on. It turns into “the promoter is greedy and does not give a damn about us”. I have heard this crap at the races for the past 2 years, it was amplified this year and got really intense after Modesto.

This is a quasi revolt pure and simple.

I wrote in an earlier post that when things don’t make sense- follow the money. My hunch is that the new series is sharing the wealth in some form. Combine that with the fact that the MG importer is on board and now getting a piece of the pie instead of being “gone around”.

My Opinion-

No, it is not a coincidence it has the same structure as the Pro Tour. It is a in your face, here it comes-what you going to do about it kind of play.  This is history repeating itself.  Give it a few years and it will happen again.

Flame suit on

Cris

 

 

 

[Cris Schureman]

Keith:
I have historical/factual documentation to prove my point on the cost of KZ.

As far as the  teams who appear to be supporting this new series-

The press release shows several teams who are the larger ones that show up at Pro Tour and this did not just happen overnight. When things don’t make sense- follow the money.

[Cris Schureman]

Reading the list of people/companies involved in the planning process (all have supported SKUSA), one could conclude they were looking to do something different (not happy with the Pro Tour) or add races to what they are already supporting. It does not appear to be “one guy” that put this together.

If you want to bang gears at a national level in the US, Stock Honda is where the numbers are.  Attempting to start a new series that includes shifter karts and using a different motor (KZ, ROK, X30) would not get you the numbers you need to be successful.  It is all about kart count and when you have 1000 guys with stock moto engines that are paid for, only a fool and his money would start a series using something else. Having the same basic class structure is logical and SKUSA does not have exclusive rights to the use of the motor. TAG USA even has/had their own stock moto rules in their rule book (or they did the last time I saw it). If the new series plagiarizes the SKUSA  rule book that will be a problem.

I can’t imagine the chaos that will ensue when everyone pulls an all nighter packing up from the new race and attempts to get spotted at the Super Nationals. Grabbing the popcorn for that one.

Personally I would rather see a KZ program take root in North America using CIK / international rules.  I believe the argument of it being too expensive is lame when you compare what it costs to run stock moto and be competitive at a national level.

It would be great to hear from some of the people who were part of putting this together.

[Cris Schureman]

Looks like a TM Moto Engine to me but I don’t claim to be an expert. Ass backwards layout.

Intake on the back exhaust out the front.  Here is a link for some info

http://www.motoshifter.com/Tm-Moto-Shifter-Kart-Engines.html

Cris

[Cris Schureman]

I believe it is called Un-obtain-iam

[Cris Schureman]

Well said Rob

You are 100% correct

[Cris Schureman]

Sebastian:
Wheels are for sale separately as well.

Thanks

 

[Cris Schureman]

Dropped the price-

still available

[Cris Schureman]

Got a good laugh out of Ted’s comment “take it to the rules committee”.

Can you tell me where I can find one of those?

 

 

[Cris Schureman]

Was hoping to hear from one of the teams involved. Thanks for chiming in Stacey.

Good Luck to All.

 

 

[Cris Schureman]

Jeff:

Listing was updated.

See link above

 

Thanks

Cris

[Cris Schureman]

Yes Bare Frame

No Spindles

[Author]

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