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My mechanical engineer’s 2 cents agrees with Dr. Tom (and Dr. Freeze). Yes, the blasting process does scratch up the surface and make it more prone to cracks, but it was probably blasted or sanded at the factory in the first place. We’re talking about fairly mild alloys which aren’t stretched to their limits (no need to, the weight minimums for karts are fairly high). So I’m not sure why the 2nd time around would weaken the frame any more. I’d be more worried about the track grinding marks from off-road explorations.
But on the other hand, Richie has the experience.
This would be a great discussion for a wider audience, like ekn. Rich, will you do the honors?
Pat –
I like your idea as well, and have thought about it many times myself. I have put on swap meets in the past for bicycle stuff (including VeloSwap in New England a few years ago), so have some experience. My advice would be to go with JB’s offer, and just have a contingency date for the weather. With the size of the karting community, we’d be doing well to get 20-25 tables the first time out, and in an isolated spot like Merchandise Mart we’d just be talking amongst ourselves. Like JB says, he’ll have a ready audience of renters. There are other promotional opportunities there too, like bringing in a radio station to broadcast on site, etc., plus we could make it a karting “expo” and do new karter seminars or product seminars. It would be a better overall deal for promotion, and to keep more money in the family.
One additional suggestion for JB – let the other tracks have a booth there too (even George!). Co-promotion at all the tracks would help too. The more karters in this state, the better.
I’d suggest booth prices at $15-$20 for individuals, and $50-$75 for businesses. That’s way cheaper than VeloSwap, and should give JB additional financial incentive.
We can think bigger in the longer term, even hosting a national class expo in Greeley, for example, but let’s get some experience first.
Pat – PM me if you’d like to talk more. Thanks for the post, and for all of your investigation so far.
And take any old fuel out, the oil might not be any good anymore. I use it in my lawn mower (the smell makes mowing more pleasant :loony: !).
Okay, I searched a couple of other sites, and didn’t find anything about no SKUSA here next year. Could someone at least point me in the right direction?
Or better yet, let’s have the some informed postings about that on this site…
Just to re-emphasize, 11/80 will keep your revs down (and lap times up), at least at TaG Masters weight. I came to the track with a 65 as suggested, but was told by the ever-helpful Mr. Schermerhorn that I would “get killed”. Anything less than 80 is not advisable.
It’d be nice for Mr. Samu to weigh in on this one, since he’s the fastest TaG Master with a Leopard. You out there, Rick?
Just to back up Kyle, I ran 11/80 at the last race (my 1st) but didn’t get his kind of revs (or lap times). 83 should be about right.
Keep in mind that the YZ250F costs $3900, plus you have to find someone who will make a mount and pipe for you, plus find/make a 428 drive sprocket (or find 520 rear sprockets) since bike and shifter karts use a different chain size, plus find/fab a J-Arm, plus ???$$$. And who’s going to help you to tune/troubleshoot it?
Not to mention there’s no plan to include them in the shifter classes, as far as SKUSA is concerned.
There is a complete spec 4 stroke 225cc Yamaha air cooled kart called the Exciter, but not too many places run it, and the ones that do are in the Midwest.
If you want low maintenence, try stock moto (if you’re a senior). Half the cost of the 250F, and lots of special parts and help available.
Or if you really like 4 strokes, see Brad about a Biland (it’s not a shifter, though).
Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea too, but until cheaper moto two strokes disappear there won’t be much interest from the sanctioning bodies.
Don’t forget that Brad has a dirt oval, on the other side of the MX track.
In fact, Brad has several other tracks that most of us don’t know about – take a look at the arial photo near the parts counter sometime.
Thanks, Rod; your wit and wisdom just made my day!
Freezeman hit it perfectly. Keep in mind that SKUSA’s strategy is to be the premier regional racing organization. They are counting on a base of Briggs, KT100, and cheap-2nd-hand-kart local racers to draw from. The problem we have is that our club efforts are so fragmented, that the CSC’s direction tends to flow down to the clubs, not the other way around. If most/all of the tracks ran WKA/IKF/KART with similar rules (like other regions), we’d have more stability in classes that SKUSA isn’t interested in. I don’t think Joe Janowski understood the implications of this before coming out to GJMS.
Angie, can we have a special award for best forum poster at the banquet? I can think of a few candidates already…..
Don,
You’ve got me thinking. The obvious downside of gridding strictly by qualifying times is the chance of getting a fast MiniMax pilot who has a problem in qualifying and gets a slow (or no) time. Then he’ll be charging through the pack of K80s at point blank range at the drop of the flag.
We could figure out a way of handling that, or we could create (and enforce) a much bigger spacing between classes to allow more time before the intermingling of the species occurs.
I liked the further-down-the-straight green procedure that was used to get the Jr 1’s finally going. That should be standard procedure at GJ, maybe at IMI also.
It’s encouraging to read some the positive responses to this weekend’s incidents. That’s what draws us to and keeps us in the sport, even after seeing the accidents.
I didn’t get a good look at all the karts being towed in, but I thought the Jr 1 crashes in the main were all up front in MiniMax. Were any of the Animals or K80’s involved? Point is, I don’t think a different gridding system alone will make it much safer (though I don’t disagree with Don on gridding by time). Coaching and enforcement of the rules will have a much greater impact.
Anyone serious about getting J1 Speed here yet – soon?
Another suggestion is to have an occasional red flag drill to keep racers (and corner workers) sharp on the proper procedures.
Todd, another uncontrollable factor, besides the stars and the early season, might be watching too many NASCAR ads over the winter.
Don –
Watch the punctuation – those are 53 and 58 minute laps you’re looking at 😯 .
Special thanks to the Jr. 1 kids and parents for making Luc feel welcome in his 1st race, despite playing (in his words) the Minardi role. He especially enjoyed Conner’s visits.
Todd –
Thanks for checking in on our lil’ ol’ site! It’s nice to get an answer direct from the source.
Also, Angie, could you post the proposed engine rules? Just put a big disclaimer on the post to avoid confusion. Thanks.
Greg, I still don’t understand what the issues are, especially if one of them isn’t spec tires. The $125? WKA has a fee too, though it’s less. What else? Let’s be specific and get it out in the open.
Angie, is the lack of a sponsor a problem if we come up with 6 racers?
Skipper: I’m in. I was just going to post the same challenge. My $’s are on the way. I’ll work on a buddy here at work that wants to run this class also. Thanks! :cheers:
