[David Galownia]

I have two my09’s for sale, one is totally new and other is fresh rebuild all new parts Both engines have never been fired.  Blueprinting by Comet.

Also have wiring harness brain box etc

e mail jmgalo@Hotmail.com

[David Galownia]

The second engine listed is also Comet prepared and blueprinted

[David Galownia]

Dan,

What is your driver’s experience in TAG?  Where have you guys run in the past?

[David Galownia]

I think Andy hit it head on with the ages and the weights, when I raced at 16-17 years old I weighed between 145 and 155.  I’m 36 now and weight 170.  However how much you weight has NOTHING to do with fitness, that’s flat out ridiculous.  If that were true almost all professional athletes in all major sports are out of shape.

My point is, who cares if you have to add some extra weight to make the sport more inclusive.  Aren’t we already talking about a shrinking group of competitors to begin with?  It seems like a step in the wrong direction to lower the weight by drastic measures.  As it stands now, at 170 with no weight and a lightweight battery in TAG I make 360.  If we drop to 345 we’re basically saying if you weigh more than 155 pounds national karting is not for you.

That’s a depressing thought for a sport I love so much.

[David Galownia]

I don’t understand the fascination with dropping weight. I way 170 lbs with 11% body fat and with a light weight battery (tag class) I can come in with almost no fuel at 360.

I run at 360 and 385 locally and lap time difference is between .2 and .5 (closer to .5 on courses with lots of tight turns, high speed courses the difference is less).

Do do we want to screw some racers (yes not the majority) so we can go a few tenths faster?  Is it that difficult to bolt a few extra pounds on the kart?  Trying to understand the reasoning here.  Is there another reason?

And yes I could lose weight but to all you lighter drivers out there you could just as easily gain weight (or bolt lead on) :)

WKA was also asking how much weight was on people’s karts so I worry. Hopefully if there is a weight drop movement its only a minor change.

Realize nothing has happened yet but want to put my opinion out there to represent us “heavy” guys.

 

[David Galownia]

Joe,

Last year we ran a used OTK kart we bought off someone and fought the handling every event we went to.  We could not get the thing to run at all.   Towards the middle of the season we could run close to the front in local races and even won one or two (barely).

I was growing increasingly frustrated however because I was largely unimpressed by how the kart felt in the corners.  We bought a new OTK kart and were almost a full second a lap faster… We won almost every local event the rest of the year and by wide margins.

The kart we had was flexed out, myth or no myth.  Whether this happens due to age or it was junk from the day we got it I don’t know.  Maybe it had been crashed and bent several times.  I do know the previous owner did not run skid plates and the frame tubing at the very front of the kart had lost most of it’s thickness and was flat underneath.  I also know If we had the old and new kart sitting next together on the ground I could lightly tap the front bumper on each, the old one would bottom out on the concrete below, the new kart would barely move… I also know as we stripped the old kart down there was a noticeable “sag” in the middle of the frame (we elected to strip our old kart down and throw the frame in the dumpster other then sell it).

I guess what I’m trying to say, I disagree that an OTK kart will last indefinitely but like I said I don’t know the full history and it could just be this one was poorly taken care of and other brands would have suffered the same fate.

With all that being said, the OTK kart since then has been AWESOME.  Easy to drive and easy to tune.  At this point it’s got 14 races on it and we recently bought another new OTK kart.  On a recent test day we took them out back to back and they ran the same exact lap times so obviously the older kart has not “flexed out.”

I think for me, I would worry about the previous owner of the kart and the condition of the kart itself.  If it looks beat up  (check the frame rails all over the kart) I’d stay away.  Otherwise I think a used TonyKart will be great for you.  But I’d also stay away from one that has more than a season on it.

– Dave

[David Galownia]

Brock,

Below are the bars soft to stiff (someone correct me if I’m wrong in the order here), but the stiffer you go the more front grip.  On greener tracks you’ll be stiffer on “rubbered up” tracks you’ll be softer.    We don’t mess with any bars other than the gold and flat bar.

flat bar placed flat
round bar 1
round bar 2
flat bar 45 degrees
round bar 3 (the gold bar)
flat bar straight up.

Also, wider front width, more castor, more positive camber equal more front grip.  Less front width, less castor, more negative camber (or less positive than you had) equal less front grip.

On your changes you made last week, everything you did removed front grip and your kart went faster.   You essentially were “freeing up” the kart.

I run a Tonykart 2014 in TAG, I’ve been running KRA @ NewCastle.  Track has been green all year.  One race I ran the flat bar 45 degrees, the rest of the races I’ve run the gold bar.  I’m typically at -1 click, neutral, or +1 click camber.

I’ve been confused as well at how they all work together but if I just need a little more little less front grip I change one click on the camber.  If I feel I’m further off I’ll change the bar.   If you’re all the way soft on the bar I’d change the castor next.  If you still have too much grip your seat may need to be remounted.

– Dave

 

 

 

 

 

[David Galownia]

Hey Samir,

I couldn’t tell you those off the top of my head but I believe the pop off on most of our carbs are around 10.  We don’t really mess with the settings at all, just test them one after the other and watch the stop watch.

– Dave

 

[David Galownia]

Hey Nick,

I had a number of rib problems last year and a couple times contemplated bailing mid race because of the pain.  The winter has healed me up but also led me to search out new methods of protection.

So far this season I’ve raced 5 times and my ribs feel great.  I’m using this stuff:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Zoombang-ZB-6002FRB-Seat-Padding-Rib-Pads,44570.html

I run a Tonykart with an OTK seat and I had a problem in my upper ribs as the seat seems to “flair out” at the top. I wouldn’t be pressed against the sides so I’d bang back and forth.   Currently I use the pads on the upper sides of the seat so I’m locked in and only get “pressed” to the sides.  They dissipate the force pretty well so I’m happy so far.

 

 

 

[David Galownia]

Hi Samir,

Regarding carbs on leopard engines, we’ve never in our testing seen carbs matched better to specific engines. We test all our carbs and if we change the engine we keep our fastest carb on always.   The fastest carb from our experience is the fastest carb.

We race tag senior so I can’t speak to the jr. stuff but I imagine the same principle would apply. However I would also imagine a junior carb is set up different than a senior carb. Couldn’t tell you for sure.

On rebuilds, it also seems to matter how high you are revving your engine. If you are revving it consistently higher you might not get the 8-10 hour life but if lower you may actually get longer.  We’ve had a couple engines go on us around 7 hours and it has been the thrust washer not the piston.

These are my non engine builder prospectives.  Hope this helps.

 

 

 

 

[David Galownia]

Hi Omar,

I live in Louisville and race at Newcastle, IN.

http://www.newcastleraceway.com/

The track is a little over 2 hours away, it’s sprint asphalt.  Awesome organization, one of the nicest tracks in the country.   They also have a few classes that would be great if you’re just starting out.  Clone is the most affordable way to get started and Newcastle usually has 20+ entries and two classes you can race in.  Tons of people in Yamaha if you want to go a little faster, and they also have a Novice TAG class if you want to go really fast (also close to 20 entries per event).

– Dave
#Cards

 

 

 

 

[David Galownia]

Not really.  There is a 125cc shifter class not a stock moto class.  It gets between 0 and 3 entries.

Most popular classes are lo206, Yamaha senior and masters, and tag sportsman.  If you haven’t raced in a while I would recommend tag sportsman to start along with tag heavy. The specs are the same for both so you can use the same kart and setup and race twice.

If you are a lighter guy, tag lite gets good entries.

Here is a link to the different classes at newcastle.

http://www.newcastleraceway.com/classes.shtml

[David Galownia]

I raced Newcastle all year in TAG.

The top classes are LO206 and Yamaha supercan.  15-25 entries per class and there are two supercan classes and two LO206 classes.

The TAG Sportsman class is really strong with about 15-20 entries per and the other TAG classes started the year with good entries but then got down to the 4-8 entries at year end.  TAG Light was good most of the year but at 335 lbs., my 175 lb. frame won’t make the cut.

I really love the speed of the TAG but have thought about going to the KT100 supercan myself a few times.   Not ready to give up on TAG yet though, too much fun.

 

 

 

 

[David Galownia]

Hey Tyler,

I run at NCMP, and similar to you raced karts about 17 years ago.  I just got back into it full time this past season.  If you’re at the track, come see me.  I’m number 9, and run a tonykart in TAG Senior and TAG Heavy.

I actually ran Tonykart then and run a Tonykart now, but how I adjusted the kart back then was different to what I do now.  Small adjustments to camber, the front torsion bar, front track, and air pressure is most of what I change today.  Towards the end of the year I also raised my seat when the track was especially green and cold.

I would head to Comet Kart and ask for advice there.  Those guys are awesome and know what they’re talking about.   Each kart is different, really what you want is the correct baseline setup and seat placement to start.  Running locally at NCMP you likely won’t stray much from that.  Get a TAG Engine from Comet as well.  It’s fast and Mark Harrison who builds them is pretty much at every local NCMP race and is extremely helpful.

Best of luck to you.  Hopefully I’ll see you at the track this upcoming season.

 

[David Galownia]

I had a 2012 Tonykart that I raced for half of this year.  It was definitely wore out.  We switched to a new 2014 in the middle of the year and were instantly much faster.   The old one was also unresponsive to small changes and constantly had understeer at the exit of the corner.

The previous owner had raced quite a bit on it, mostly TAG.  I would imagine that had more to do with it than the year of the kart.

On the new kart, we had to remount the exhaust as the middle of the frame was actually “drooping” even without the driver in it on the old kart.  The other visible thing you could notice was if both karts were on the ground and you tapped the front bumper with your foot the old one would bounce off the ground and the new one would barely move.   The seat brackets would also constantly break and we’d have to re-weld them back on.

I would also imagine every kart is different as to how long it stays competitive.

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