anderkarts new ride

[anderkart]

Sweet ride AK! Nice score. It that a kids-sized kart or an adult?

Thanks Eddie, Its a full size adult model but I'm so dang tall (6'-6"...) I'm thinking about extending the front porch/pedals out a few extra inches for comfort and to get my legs down a bit like they should be. On my old kart I'd just mounted the seat further back but that transferred too much weight to the rear and ended up causing some major push issues.

 

[anderkart]

Update:
I worked on my Invader all week and got it out on the new track (I want to start racing at) yesterday at a practice session/kart swap meet they had going on all day.

This was my first time running on this track: http://www.azkarting.com/default_2008.htm (last season I raced at a diferent 1/10 mile clay oval track) The track hadn't been prepped nearly as well for this practice session as a regular race but everyone thought my kart handled and hooked up amazingly well for my first time out. My fastest lap was 14.5 seconds. One of the top/experienced/4-stroke racers was running 13.9 second lap times yesterday so I was told I did really great for a rookie. I didnt spin out or bump/crash anyone yesterday like I was told most rookies end up doing so It was good to hear that too.

Both last night after racing, and then again this morning I feel like I got hit by a big old truck or something. I'm sore all over and am getting some serious leg cramps from all the G-forces my body endured in the corners. I've had this problem after racing my kart before but never this bad. I've been told this is a fairly common occurrence and you body gets more and more used to it the more often you race.

Most of the top karts average between 60 and 75mph top speeds on this 1/5 mile clay oval track. I started out with a 355-1 gear ratio yesterday, (18/64 with a 34" circumference R-R tire/33" L-R) but ended up dropping my driver/clutch-drum down to a 15 tooth model to better suit the track. With this ratio I was hitting over 6000 rpm at the ends of the straightaways. My (357cc.) Star motor will rev to 7500 but I was told It'll last much longer if I gear it to max out somewhere in the 6000 to 6500 rpm range. I also learned this motors torque curve starts drastically dropping off above 6000 rpm so many times they'll actual end up producing quicker lap times if geared to run at a bit lower rpm's.

My engine ran really strong yesterday but after extended runs started leaning out/dieing anytime the gas pedal was over half way down. My Tillotson carbs pop-off adjustment was corectly set so we figured we were dealing with a low fuel pressure issue. We first tried swapping out my Walbro pulse pump with my old round Mikuni pump I'd brought along as a spare, but still experienced the same rather bizarre fuel starvation symptoms even with all new fuel/pulse lines. My buddy/crew-chief finally noticed my gas tank was under a vacuum immediately after I came off the track and we soon discovered my gas caps internal vent was aparently malfunctioning. The next time I'd ran for awhile and the motor started leaning out again, I reached down and simply loosened the cap a bit to relieve the vacuum. This immediately corrected the fuel starvation condition! This week I'll be gutting the caps internal vent (1-way check valve) and installing a 1/4" barbed fitting/hose for a more conventional tank vent system like most other race karts seem to run.

I got a lot of tire, chassis-setup and driving advice from serveral much more experienced racers yesterday and also got some amazing bargains on serveral lightly-used race kart parts/items I've been needing at the kart swap meet.

I had a total blast yesterday but I'm one hurtin (and broke) puppy today

 

[Fast Eddie]

Sounds like a great time. Also good to hear the kart stayed together on its' maiden voyage and you kept the shiny side up.

Good luck.

 

[anderkart]

Thanks Eddie, yeah I was really glad everything held together and I didnt make any major screw-ups driving.

I'd just finished it up the night before and only rode the thing like once around the block at my house before hitting the track the next morning. I'd planned on taking it easy for the first few laps to get the feel of everything and just in case I'd left any bolts loose or something important (like a spindle or the frame) was ready to snap in half or something.

When I first pulled out on the track I thought I was gonna be running all alone but then 3 or 4 fast karts fired up and pulled on right behind me so I just nailed it wide open and tried to keep those guys from passing me. (but they eventually did anyway

 

[SpyGuy]

Very cool, sounds like you had a blast out there ..... You ever run down in Tucson at the Musselman P-1 Kart Circuit?

(And I like the "full race flying saucer" tag - too cool!)

 

[anderkart]

Thanks man, (hey its cool to finally run across someone else from Az. here at DIY

I havent made it down there to race yet but I've always enjoyed visiting Tucson and think its a really cool town. I found the Tucson Musselman P-1 website and it looks like an awsome track but I'm kinda more into oval karts than Sprint racing right now. I've got some oval racing buddies here that have been telling me about Tucson's dirt oval kart track: http://www.tucsonkartclub.com/ They all said its a really cool track to run and I'd like to make the trip down there and give it a shot some day.

My oval track only has races every other weekend, the Tucson track schedules their races on the other weekends, so quite a few racers from both towns travel to race at both tracks and I've met some really cool racers from Tucson. (one of them gave me a good used tach and some side body pannels for free a couple weeks ago at a race here)

 

[SpyGuy]

Well, gee ..... if ya make it down here to run the dirt track and get bored with it, you should come over and hit the road course, considering they're right next to each other ...

To be fair, me and some friends head out there now and then to run pocketbikes around the track, not the karts. (We know the owner, and he likes having us there ...) On occasion we have the supermoto guys out there, and the last time we were there, the Spooky Tooth motorized bicycle guys came out to run with us, too. There were also some people who rented out karts and were cruising around, so we had quite a few different events going on all at once! A bunch of pb racers from Phoenix come down to run with us - in fact, almost half our riders! - so the kart guys aren't the only ones making the trip ...

My friend Brian, the one who organizes everything, is the director of our little group, the Lost Boys MiniMoto team. (www.lostboysminimoto.org) In a nutshell, what the Lost Boys are all about is taking fatherless kids off the streets and giving them something fun to do, while at the same time learning valuable skills that can be used later on in life: how to work as a team, how to use basic hand tools, how to work on small engines .... Instead of letting these kids go without direction out onto the streets, why not try to keep them out of trouble in the first place and teach them something they can use for the rest of their lives?

Riders and racers are cool people. You may be going at it hard and heavy out there on the track one minute, and helping one of your fellow racers do some tuning on his engine (or on yours) a few minutes later. Enemies on the track, friends in the pit area ..... that's part of racing.

 

[anderkart]

Cool, I didnt realise Tucson's Sprint track was right next door to your oval track. We kinda got the same setup here, one of our Sprint kart tracks: http://pkra.com/?page_id=663 is located right next door to the oval track I ran last weekend.
(we've also got a second Sprint kart track at the Bondurant facility: http://www.bondurant.com/index.php)

When I first got my kart I tried to get into Sprint racing but soon found that neither of the Pheonix tracks offered any classes for the 4-stroke engines I already owned. I really didnt want to have to buy a diferent engine plus the competition also seemed to be really tough requiring a bigger budget, lots of driving experience, a more modern chassis and constantly replacing tires to be competitive. I used to race dirt oval stock cars at serveral tracks here so the whole oval-kart scene kind of appeals to me a lot more anyway.

I think its super cool your involved with that Lost Boys program.

I know what you mean about racers helping each other out, I didnt find this to be so true racing stock cars but I've been totally amazed at how helpful most kart racers have been to me.

 

[anderkart]

Update:

I scored a deal a set of much better/used Nerf bars and a rear bumper I had to do some bending and other mods to fit but finally got-em all instaled. I was also given a used par of oval-type, full side body pannels but they didnt seem to match up to my old front nose section very well so I ended up cutting them down to fit and look better.

I spent all last week prepping and (rattle-can) painting my karts old nose section and these side-panels. I settled on using a Fluorescent Blue color I found as a house brand at an Ace hardware store, and shot Krylon-brand Satin Black and clear coat.

Click to view slide show:





I've also resently instaled a mini-sized K&N filter as my Puke-Can breather and made up some mounting brackets for an older model Digatron (DT-13) tach/head-temp gauge that was given to me. It worked fine for awhile but my kart seems to of rattled it to death now.

I'd gone out and practiced at my towns other big-clay oval track here a few weeks ago but found out they dont curently have anyone else entering the race class for big open 4-stroke motors like mine. So... I've decided to race this season at the same smaller clay oval track I ran last year.

Last season this track ran all karts in the same class. This season they've split the karts into 2 separate classes:
1 - Stock clone class with headers/race-style air cleaners and a $150 engine claim rule to keep everyone honest.
2 - And then the Outlaw class I run that alows any 4-stroke/non-shifter engine with any mods desired.

Last night was the season opener at this track, serveral other guys in my class showed up with some prety dang quick karts so my competition seems to be much tougher this year. I ended up pushing my kart prety hard and still only took 4th in my heat race. Afterwards I did some adjustments and went back out to see if they helped during halftime but got slammed into the wall and snapped off both my Tie Rod ends at the Pittman arm, so I had to forfeit running the main event. The impact also bent the Pittman arm and my R/F spindle so Its not gonna be a quick easy fix.

I'd had my buddy shoot some race action videos yesterday but evidently he didnt hold the button down long enough and they were only a few seconds long. However when I first got to the track yesterday I shot this video that'll give you guys a better idea of the little track I race at:

 

[Fast Eddie]

Nice update. Mods turned out great. Glad to hear you're havin' fun with the new rig. However, I just wanted to vomit when I saw green grass and people in short-sleeve shirts.

 

[anderkart]

Thanks Eddie, yeah we got like 3 months of really nice weather in the winter and then we'll be right back to like 9 months of freakin-miserable summer heat before you know it.

 

[freakboy]

anderkart i am jelouse.... i am currently freezing my balls off in my room which is about 58 degrees... it feels like 7.

 

[anderkart]

Yeah you head out this way in August and you'll be looking back at your freezing yer balls off days with fond memories

 

[Fast Eddie]

Yeah you head out this way in August and you'll be looking back at your freezing yer balls off days with fond memories

...but it's a dry heat.

 

[freakboy]

they bolth suck but id rather be in dry heat. humidity makes it all nasty and sticky while dry just sucks you to a prune.

 

[SpyGuy]

...but it's a dry heat.

So is sticking your head in a pizza oven ...

 

[freakboy]

So is sticking your head in a pizza oven ...

yummmmmm pizzaaaaaa

 

[Fast Eddie]

You AZ guys got to be kiddin' me. It's currently 23 deg. here in Motown and we're under a Winter Storm Warning. 6-10" by this time tomorrow.

I honeymooned in Vegas in August. 113 deg. and I didn't even sweat. I'll take that over 90 and humid anyday.

Just ventin' (and jealous). Go ride your karts while we stand next to our propane heaters.

 

[Fast Eddie]

However, I did go to the snowmobile drags last weekend. Nothin' like standing 8ft from a sled doing 152 MPH with nothin' but a haybale seperating you from certain death.

 

[anderkart]

...but it's a dry heat.

People in Pheonix dont say that much anymore. Between about a million houses over-watering their yards, about every other house having a swimming pool and all the golf courses/man-made lakes here we've actualy been steadily raising our humidity levels over the last 40 years or so.

But yeah I can imagine Summers can be miserable most everywhere.