[Gary Smith]

Hi Phil,

I assume you would be running pretty much WFO all the time like we do in karts. When plumping the fuel system, put a tee fitting in the fuel line just prior to the carb, have the tee fitting facing upward and route that line back to the fuel tank. Your fuel pump will deliver more fuel than your carb will need, the excess will be routed back to fuel tank.

The difference between the TM28 and TM28ss is the choke lever, the TM28 has a brass lever to activate the choke, the TM28ss has a black pull button for the choke. The TM28ss is the preferred carb.

As far as jetting, I run a 195 main with a 37.5 pilot with a K&N style air filter.

Hope this helps,

I assume this is a low slung trike, I can’t see it any other way.

Good luck

Gary

 

[Gary Smith]

I have bought these gears from fastech-racing.com and sharkshifter.com a few years ago, they no longer offer them on their websites. I don’t know what’s up with that. The one offered on the link above is a stock set of gears. I know first hand what happens to a stock 3rd gear, it aint pretty, takes out most of the other gears as well. I would call fastech racing 831-384-5278 or shark shifter 505-538-1325  to se if they can get you a gear.

Good Luck,

Gary

[Gary Smith]

I think you are on the right track trying a temporary gravity feed system, air bubbles feeding the carb is not good. If it idles and runs fine with the temporary gravity feed system, then your problem is the fuel pump. If that doesn’t solve the problem, check out your carb, make sure fuel flows when the floats drop and fuel stops when floats rise. Also check fuel filter for being clogged. Lack of fuel in the bowl is a concern, that should not be happening, sounds like fuel is not getting to the carb.

Hope this helps,

Gary

[Gary Smith]

I like to get the tires warm before removing or installing them, makes it much easier. I usually set them in the sun for 30 minutes or so. Use soapy water to lube the beads when you remove the tire. If you have bead locks, make sure you back them off far enough to clear the bead.

 

[Gary Smith]

Hi Michael,

What is the chassis model?

There will be a tag on the rear cross bar in front of the axle, also there will be a series of letters and numbers on the left axle bearing mount.

Have you had the motor apart to verify the 3rd gear upgrade and porting modifications?

Thanks,

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

Hi Ed,

I assume you are currently running the stock Keihin carb.

Have you purchased a flat side carb yet?

Make sure you get a Mikuni TM28ss carb, from a Suzuki RM80, this is what works the best on CR80’s.

Don’t know what altitude or what air filter configuration you are running. I run a K&N style filter at about 1,000 ft above sea level, running 37.5 pilot jet, 195 main jet. This should get you in the ballpark as far as jetting goes.

CR80’s do not like to be rich, if they are too rich, when backing off the throttle after a long straight it will bog when you hit the gas coming out of corners.

Hope this helps

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

 

[Gary Smith]

Hi Sebastian,

I would look for a kart package with the motor you plan to run, trying to sell things to generate money to buy a motor doesn’t make much sense.

My first kart was a complete kart, was looking for a 100cc Yamaha or HPV. I bought an HPV Top Kart for $1800, that was 13 years ago, and here I am still karting!

If this is your first kart, try to buy a complete package that you plan to run and well supported by your track and dealer. Buying a package you can’t find parts for is no fun.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

 

[Gary Smith]

Hi Bob,

Are you running an airbox or a K&N style air filter?

What altitude are most of your tracks?

Most of my tracks are about 1,000 feet above sea level, I run a K&N style air filter, I am running a 195 main.

If you are running an airbox, I would try 190 or 185, I’ve heard go down 2 jet sizes for an airbox.

What ever you do, check your plug every time you make a jetting change. You are looking for the center insulator being brown to light tan, if it is white or gray, you are too lean.

Hope this helps.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

Talking from experience, bring extra brake parts. Nothing ruins your day more than no brakes, it’s happened to me, and I’ve seen it happen to other people. I’ve offered my help, but since they didn’t have the same brand of kart I have, they packed it up and went home.

I always bring both of my karts incase something major happens to the kart I intend to drive. I’ve had brake cable break on first session, exhaust pipe crack, motor blow up, transmission blow up, crash with damage, ignition failure. All of these times, I was able to roll out my back up kart and continue the remainder of the day without any further issues.

I have a rollaway mounted in my trailer, all of my consumables are in that rollaway and never leave the trailer. When I use a part, I replace it before I go out again. If I break a part I don’t have, I buy 2 and have a spare for the next time.

That’s how I do it

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

Your welcome Manny, If the kart was going to sit for more than a couple months, yes I would drain the carb bowl as well as the fuel tank. For just a week, I wouldn’t bother. I always siphon the fuel out of my tank after a day at the track and store it in a sealed fuel jug for the next time I go out. I try to mix just enough fuel for the day, usually have between a quart and half gallon left over.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

Does the fuel line on the top of the can go back to the top of the tank? Does it flow fuel unrestricted? There should be no restriction in this return line.

Do you have a fuel filter? It should be on the inlet side of the fuel pump.

There is an air screw for idle mixture, right hand side of carb near the air horn, should be turned out about 1 turn. The more you turn it out, the leaner the idle mixture.

Get your kart to idle, adjust the slide screw, that’s the screw on the other side of the carb with a lock nut and a thumb screw head, back it out just to the point when the engine stalls. Now to restart, just a little throttle needs to applied.

Like William said, the vent hole in the cap is too small, mount a 1/4 inch barbed fitting and run a 1/4 inch ID hose into an overflow bottle above the fuel tank.

My jetting with a K&N style filter is 37.5 pilot, 195 main, my tracks are about 1,000 above sea level.

Hope this helps,

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

From what I can see, this is not a pump around system. Have you taken the float bowl off? Do you have a float in the carb? A pump around system does not have a float. There is a fuel line in and a fuel line out, with coarse foam and a brass plate in the place of the float. Seems to me you have a sticking float.

The pilot jet size is difficult to read, it is written on the side of the jet, main jet is easier to read on the head. Being an old fart, I need a magnifying glass to read the numbers.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

Are you running a Mikuni TM28 carb? If so, what are the pilot jet and main jet size? Are you running an airbox or a K&N style air filter?

As far as fuel mixture, I run 6 OZ Motul 800 2T synthetic oil per gallon of 110 leaded fuel.

The only time I had a problem with a bog out of a corner was during break-in of a big bore kit that the guy told to go massively rich from the settings I was accustomed  to. I figured too rich , no problem, can always lean it out after break-in!

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

M32 chassis, is it a roller or a bare chassis?

Thanks,

Gary

 

[Gary Smith]

+1 on billet third gear, I blew stock one up and quit counting dollars at $400 to repair the damage. I bought an ebay bottom end for $130 and replaced 3rd gear with billet, works perfect and no fear of another failure.

Up shifting the transmission will not shift unless you let off the gas, down shifting, as you start slowing down, down shift, try to match your corner exit speed to your engine RPM, once you do this for a while you will find a rhythm, listen to the engine, it will tell you the RPM it wants to be.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

Hi Dustin,

What brand of kart do you have?

On the steering shaft, where are your tie rods attached?

I have a Birel M32, the tie rods were attached to the outer holes on steering shaft, the kart wore me out, mounted the tie rods to the inner holes and the steering became much easier, although a little more steering wheel input was necessary.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

A lot of times chain length is determined by your chassis. Does your J arm clear the right side seat strut when going through shifting movements? Moving motor to far forward, the shift linkage might interfere with this member. Another thing to consider is actual motor clearance to you, the driver. If the motor is too far forward, the driver will be hitting his elbow on parts of the motor. I agree, a longer chain would run cooler,  so run as large rear sprocket as you can to get the gear ratio you are looking for.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

Fred,

Inspect the clutch pack, check for warpage of steel plates, no more than .15mm (.006 inch) and check for friction disc thickness 2.7mm min (.107 inch). If all your plates are within spec, take a wire brush to the surface of the friction discs to rough them up, it has worked for me when I had the same problem.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

Michael, I’ve been karting for 13 years, and what I try to do is beat my best at that particular track in that configuration each time I go to that track.  Sometimes it might be years before you best your time. Recently I best my time at this one track by 1/2 of a second, a time that stood for 3 years prior.

Since you are a big guy, I really don’t know what motor package would be best, you did however pick out the right frame size.  Have you driven anyone else kart? That might help you decide on the motor package.

Welcome to the sport of kart racing, it never gets dull, always looking for that extra that makes you faster.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

Before I bought my trailer, I had a camper on my pickup, I wanted to take the kart out with the camper on the truck, so I made this kart carrier that would double as a porch for the camper. Just plug it into the receiver hitch, load the kart on the platform, strap it down, and away you go. I no longer have the camper. I would like to sell this carrier, if you are interested pm me.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

I have caster pills on top only,  they are set in the positive position. Unless I want to buy more caster pills, I can’t add any more caster. I have 2 Birel karts, the other Birel has the tie rods mounted the inner position, the steering feels lighter and yes I have to crank the wheel a bit more, but it doesn’t wear me out like this one does. Like I said, if this doesn’t give me the desired effects, it is a simple nut and bolt job to put it back like it was with no money spent. I’ll see what happens the next time I go out.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

What I have is a 2008 Birel M32, the steering shaft has 2 sets of 8mm holes 6mm apart, leaving a peanut shaped hole, the direction of the holes when viewed on the kart with the steering centered, would be either up or down. The tie rods were mounted in the lower holes (outer) and I moved them to the upper holes (inner). Being the tie rods are long (308mm center to center) and the amount moved so small (6mm), the amount of toe change is only .12mm (.005 inch) total. I did the math and the tape measure shows no change.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

I’d like to thank everyone for their comments. I have only one tie rod location on the spindles.  I have decided to change the tie rod connection on the steering shaft to the inner holes. I checked to the toe prior to changing and after, did not change. If the change does not have the desired effects or adversely effects the handling of the kart, I know I can change it back without effecting the toe.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

[Gary Smith]

I’d say do away with them, not for the safety factor, which is slim at best, but for the guys out there that put there karts on verticle stands, what a PITA to remove the bumper to stand the kart upright to transport, and then try to figure out what to do with the “blasted” bumper once you remove it.  Not only that, but you might have to reroute your exhaust to keep from melting the dang thing. What A Pain In The Arse.

Gary

#55 Honda CR80 with melted rear bumper.

[Gary Smith]

The only time my eyes get crossed is when I have too many Budweisers.

I have heard that the eyes have the most sensitive blood vessels in your body, if you have high blood pressure like me, your eyes will suffer. Get your blood pressure checked, and get it under control. I did and I feel great, no more headaches and I feel much better, ask my wife, she is living proof of this.

Happy wife, happy life!

Gary

#55 Honda CR80

 

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