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Here’s “awesome” for you, and a much better role model (if you need such a thing)… Lewis Hamilton at age 13. The interview at the start is interesting to watch, given his current activities…
@joescal wrote:
Maverick from Wyoming was blistering quick in Masters and has all of my respect for wearing a pink helmet-you better be quick to pull that off. No one could catch him-He should have won.
Up on the hill, we were rooting for “Pepto Bismol Guy” in the final. Good stuff.
I was only there for the finals up thru the rain delay (didn’t want to mess with lightning 😯 so I listened to the last few laps online… Wish I’d stayed!), but what little I saw was an awesome show. What’s more, I finally have some Rotax T-shirts! 8)
Motorcycle shops carry Ratio Rite, too, as well as lubes, cleaners, foam filter oil…
Sorry guys, but I don’t live near any of the kart shops!!! 😥
Oakland Valley Race Park (ovrp.com) is now the “Exclusive North American Importers of Maranello.” Nevoso appears to be involved in that somehow, but Nevosokart.com seems to have gone away for now.
Rick, that’s fair. I’m not trying to say the clutch NEVER locks fully, but from an engineering standpoint it makes a big difference to have a part of the drivetrain that CAN slip. Having just said that, I suppose one could argue even direct drive has the tire-pavement interface for slippage. D’oh. I’ll sop there. 8)
Charles, when the motor blew, did anything outside of the engine need replacing (besides, maybe, the rear tires and your shorts 😳 )?
I’ve never driven (and probably have never even seen in person) an ICA motor, but I’m wary of statements to the effect of “direct drive equals locked-up clutch.”
Back in my bicycle racing days, I spent a few years’ worth of Friday nights on the velodrome in Houston (track bikes = single fixed gear, and Look, Ma! No Brakes!). All I can say is, riding a fixed gear is way, way more than just leaving your road bike in the same gear all the time and telling yourself not to coast. You just plain go faster on the fixed gear than you would using the same gear ratio on a road bike. Maybe it’s the reduced weight of the machine, or the lower rotating mass or reduced friction of the drivetrain, but it’s definitely a different sensation.
Switching back to karts, you may think your clutch is “locked up,” but the fact remains there’s a finite amount of friction holding the clutch shoes in place on the drum (sorry, folks, I only hablo Rotax). Shock loading can result in some slippage, even if it isn’t perceptible to the driver. In the drive direction, the clutch is self-energizing, but in the opposite direction it isn’t.
It may be that 99.9% of the time, yes, a locked-up clutch might as well be direct drive. But still, you have the extra rotating mass of the clutch assembly that you have to accelerate and decelerate, and you have a “mechanical fuse” (clutch slippage) the direct drive just doesn’t have if things get hairy.
That’s the Mechanical Engineer’s perspective, anyway… I, for one, would’ve found it much more difficult to get into karting as much as I have without the clutch and the starter. 🙂
You mean the dent isn’t standard from the factory? 😉
I looked at the Tech Regs for fun, but didn’t see anything specific on that point. The rules suggest the dent is a “modification” that must be corrected, even to the point of adding additional material (welding?) in order to restore the component to original spec.
Nah, I wouldn’t trust my own interpretation either… 8)
Welcome, fellow Rotaxian. 8)
Looks like a clever trailer modification. I got Harbor Freight’s 4×8 trailer and had to put a couple of raised tracks on the bed to keep the kart above the fenders.
Thanks Bernie! :idn:
Aw, heck… What does it matter? Anymore, I’m content to read about F1 in AutoWeek. “Oooooh, look! Raikonnen overtook Massa during a round of pit stops!”
Note to Mr. Ecclestone: Take the wings off the cars, then get back to me. 😉
If you have an ammeter or 12V test light and know how to use it, check for current when the engine isn’t running. Any current indicates a short somewhere in the system. It could be a failed switch or other device, or (heaven forbid) damage within your wiring harness.
Be patient and methodical in trying to track down a short. You can Google “tracking down short in wiring harness” and come up with descriptions like this:
http://www.ponypics.com/spitfire/electricaltest.html
Let us know what you find!
@Mike Jansen wrote:
My Jeep from Detroit
Dollars to donuts, it’s from Toledo. Definitely worth a front-row pit. 😆
