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Small update:
After some thought, I have decided that rather than deleting classifieds postings that commenters mark as ‘Sold,’ I will be editing the headliner as Sold, with the date the seller has noted completion of sale with a comment. I will, of course, delete the post if the original poster requests it done, however.
This will be done to keep a more ‘complete’ record of what is selling on The Karter, so that someone that is patrolling the classifieds can see what sells at what price, how quickly, etc.
-Eric
Eric,
Thank you for posting about your memories of karting in the region from the 80’s. The Championship Series of the Americas series sounds pretty cool. Was that a national traveling series?
Shame you don’t have time to post some of the scanned photos. Hopefully sometime!
-Eric
Rodney,
This looks pretty cool! We recently updated the event calendar, and I am happy to add these events as well.
I tried to open the ice speedway website, but it failed to load. Can you provide some more specifics on the events that are coming to Colorado? Or are we trying to raise awareness?
–Eric
Hi EmilyLarson,
First and foremost, welcome to kart racing and The Colorado Karter! We are happy to see you reach out to racers on the forums.
The LO206 engine is a Briggs & Stratton Racing engine, and produces 8.5 or so horespower. The ‘206’ means 206cc’s, which is the displacement of the engine. For many new to karting, the LO206 class is a great place to start, as the engine has great parity among competitors, and is a good starting point in terms of performance and maintenance. Many areas of the engine are ‘sealed,’ meaning that modification of them is not allowed, saving racers money. From what we have seen over the years, the 206 may not be the fastest engine out there, but it makes for incredible racing. You have to learn to be smooth and precise to do well in the class.
Regarding karting classes, your initial guess is pretty spot on. Depending on your age, you can compete in a variety of kart racing classes with drivers of similar age and physical ability. The LO206 is one of the most popular, and often one that racers will recommend to adults new to the sport. There is a breakdown of the basic karting age classes in the resource listed below.
A great resource to read if you’re new to the sport is “Karting 101.” It is specifically written and designed for people like yourself that are new to racing karts. From the basics of chassis technology, to levels of karting competition and safety equipment, many of your initial questions may be answered by taking a read through it.
In Colorado, there are several racing series. You can find out more about these by checking out our “Contact: Racing Series Representatives” page, where there are web links and contact information for series representatives.
In almost all cases, competitive kart racing does require one to purchase their own kart if they wish to regularly compete. However, there are ways to sample karting before taking the next step and investing. In particular, visiting with some of the racetracks and their staff across the state, as well as reaching out to some of the racing series, is always a good idea to gain some additional insight into the sport.
If you have more questions, ask them here. Or, reach out to us via email: [email protected]
Again, welcome!
Ken,
Not sure on the Fasttrack system. I looked it up after reading your post, and it looks cool…only concern is how much weight it can handle.
Regarding how strong the trailer frames are, I would imagine that Haulmark has a rating they go by when outfitting their trailers. I would strongly urge you to reach out directly to Haulmark, as they, like most trailer manufacturers, do custom outfitting in house for clients if they request it. As a result they know how much weight the frames can handle (at least I would hope).
Excellent post JB!
This post, along with another one by (I believe) the same author for Road & Track that highlights Memo Gidley’s involvement in kart racing is a really neat read.
On a personal note, these articles were some of my initial inspirations for Karting 101, or at least some of how I chose to approach the description of kart racing in the introduction.
Ken,
Glad to hear you’re considering the E-track. It’s a solid way to utilize wall space, and a lot of people go that route.
On the V-nose–There are of course many ways to do it, but how we accomplished a bench was to build several supporting braces, utilizing the trailer’s metal framework as the anchor. Then, we utilized 1″ thick particle board/plywood to construct the bench top. It worked pretty wall, all things considered. Many trailer cabinets are either made from 1/8″ aluminum or a wood product.
Regarding engine servicing: This depends somewhat on what work you need to be done. The Podium Pro Shop at Centennial is a certified Rotax dealer/service technician. I believe there is one other one in the State but I do not hear much from them in general. If you have a 2-cycle engine other than a Rotax like a TaG or a Shifter, Podium can also do some work there as well. IMI has the tooling and experience to do some engine work as well.
You can see a full listing of Colorado-based pro shops and service groups on our “Helpful Links” page.
Hey Ken,
Congrats on the new trailer! It’s the perfect size for a kart and to get started.
As others on this post may indicate, there’s a bunch of different ways to customize how you want to lay out your trailer. Some people buy them from stores/outfitters specifically tailored to their needs. Others build everything from scratch. And, of course, there are a lot that are in between.
Often, it’s about prioritizing what you want in your trailer. Do you want it just to be for transport? If so, maximizing wall space is important. Or, do you want to have some small shop space? Many years ago, I had a 14′ trailer with a V-nose. This comfortably fit mulitple chassis, engines, etc. We also custom cut a bench to fit into the ‘v’ section of the trailer.
There are companies that make pre-made cabinets, either intended for trailer use or not. Pit Pal Products is one of the best in the USA when it comes to trailer-specific cabinets for racers, and they come in all sorts of sizes.
Another thing to consider is E-track. E-track, whether bolted to the walls or the floor, makes your trailer layout pretty customizable, as you can move around tie down hooks etc. pretty quickly. This is great for a small trailer like this, as a wall devoted to a couple strips of E-track ( one near the bottom of the side, one 3/4 of the way to the top, bolted through to the metal frame of the trailer with self-tapping metal screws) would allow you to strap down toolboxes, a kart on a vertical kart stand, fuel jugs, etc.
I don’t have any photos on my computer of my old karting trailer, but here’s a great forum thread about this from our friends at KartPulse to get you thinking!
Doug/all,
Ok! I’ve done a little searching, and I have the image uploading issue fixed. I’ve installed a plugin that allows users to upload images…which I am going to keep active for now, until someone abuses it, which hopefully won’t happen.
As the image above shows, once you have an account and go to reply to a forum, the little image icon is where you can click to ad ‘in-line’ images.
Doug, I’ll keep searching for a user experience option for the recent replies more inline with what you are used to. I suspect this solution may take me longer to figure out.
Hey Sike,
Welcome to the forums! We are happy you are interested in the sport of karting in Colorado.
In Colorado, the LO206 class is quite popular, and a great class to start racing in to learn the ropes.
As a new racer, I would recommend you bounce around the site. In particular, I suspect that the Classifieds would be a great place to put a post requesting people to reach out if they have/know of a used kart for sale within the region. Under the “New To Karting” Tab, taking a read through Karting 101 may help you get your feet wet with the basics of the sport.
Lastly, consider reaching out to the respective racing series here in Colorado, which you can find listed under the ‘Contact’ tab.
As this ‘re-vamp’ of the site is pretty new, some resources are not online just yet. However, our resources tab grows daily, with websites and points of contact throughout the state as well as online.
If you are looking for something super specific, reach out to us at: [email protected], and we can likely point you to a person that is an expert on the topic.
Karting is a fun, challenging sport. Welcome!
