Urban Kart Racing

[Doc Sprocket]

And fuel it, we shall!

I may end up doing something similar. There does not seem to be any lawn tractor racing organizations in my area. I am building a racer, but not crazy about having to drive 4 hours one way to do it. I've got another local guy interested, and we are looking to start something...

As for you, Kelly- (and any of the other good members here), if there's any way I can contribute digitally, I certainly will.

 

[kendelrk]

ill be up to do this once im off probation, fights are not good for your michigan well being.

 

[machinist@large]

ole' machinist@large up a few replies lives in MI.

It only takes two to start something... Nothing gets done if you do nothing.

Once again, this little website of mine isn't to take viewers away from here or anywhere else, it's to further and fuel the hobby.

I doubt many have the ball bearings to do this anyway.

We still have the same problem; kendelrk is 3~3 1/2 hour away from me. Not far by Michigan standards (the distance from the far western end of the U.P. to the s. east corner of the L.P. is almost the same as the distance from Detroit to the east coast.) It's still not right next door. Detroit would make an awesome urban course.......

 

[Kelly Wood]

yes it would. Yes, it would. My wife is from Detroit & we get out there from time to time. To actually get to the abandoned areas & have such a race would be stellar.

And to ToyStory... Pictures on my site, more registered people who are actually willing to do it... etc. It's the ground level for my site and its plan and I figure those that are really willing will do it will chime in. Even if you're only ONE person, the thrill of driving your ride around, one that has some odd attitude to it, thrashing around will grab attention and if you tell them what you want to do, who knows where it'll go.

As for my little website, I figure it's about people that already know how to build something and not for the general population to just ask noob questions. Perhaps I'll add that to the opening text or something.

 

[souperman000]

just checked out the site. looks good!

I can't participate because I am a bit far away, but I think it is an awesome idea.

Toystory, I see you have signed up for his site. You had me fooled with the new name...for just a second though!

 

[exenos]

Just as a thought, I think that you should make mufflers mandatory in your rules because you might be more tolerated if you don't rattle the nearest houses windows. If the noise becomes a nuisance expect trouble with the police, otherwise most people will see it as harmless fun.

 

[DeathStarr89]

^ that's what we had to do.. We'd just weld female pipe couplers to the ends of our headers and screw in a cheap muffler. Seemed to work well.


My only problem is that my current kart is a retired race chassis.. with the engine on the side I can still raise hell though, got a few hours of video to prove it.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Toystory, I see you have signed up for his site. You had me fooled with the new name...for just a second though!

Hmmm... What was my giveaway?

 

[Kelly Wood]

I totally agree. When I strap the straight pipe on mine, she's a loud one. I figure we'll do the muffler thing for certain areas, but when we get out in the open, let em breathe.

Just as a thought, I think that you should make mufflers mandatory in your rules because you might be more tolerated if you don't rattle the nearest houses windows. If the noise becomes a nuisance expect trouble with the police, otherwise most people will see it as harmless fun.

 

[anderkart]

I totally agree. When I strap the straight pipe on mine, she's a loud one. I figure we'll do the muffler thing for certain areas, but when we get out in the open, let em breathe.

Some of the true experts that build/dyno 4-cycle racekart engines for a living; actually report slight hp/torque-gains, when using one of the RLV-brand race-mufflers with tuned 3-stage headers...

They give a cool/deep throaty tone, but are also pretty dam effective at reducing that annoyingly-loud, piercing volume level of open headers.

 

[anderkart]

What about clutches? cause a guy could roll up with a TC and Dominate the races.

No, most racekarts would actually be slower on the track when using a T/C instead of a centrifugal (or disk) clutch.

The only exceptions here would only be if the track had tight/low-speed corners, where the TC would definitely give much better acceleration. But most racekart tracks have a running-start, and are also designed so the the drivers only need to slow down just a little bit for the corners. So the higher friction of running a TC, would actually end up reducing lap times by quite a bit...

I've said this before, but I'll repeat it again here:

I realise T/C's are absolutely a much better option for lots of karts, but you hardly ever see them used on racekarts... And the reason is: centrifugal (& disk) clutches are almost always faster on most all types of racekart tracks!

Guys that invest $10,000+ into their racekart program, are willing and able to invest into any type of advantage they can get. Those guys are aware of T/C's, and I've never seen any T/C's used by winning drivers at any serious racekart tracks, unless it was an offroad/Trophy-kart type race on a small/tight track.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

No, most racekarts would actually be slower on the track when using a T/C instead of a centrifugal (or disk) clutch.

The only exceptions here would only be if the track had tight/low-speed corners, where the TC would definitely give much better acceleration. But most racekart tracks have a running-start, and are also designed so the the drivers only need to slow down just a little bit for the corners. So the higher friction of running a TC, would actually end up reducing lap times by quite a bit...

I've said this before, but I'll repeat it again here:

I realise T/C's are absolutely a much better option for lots of karts, but you hardly ever see them used on racekarts... And the reason is: centrifugal (& disk) clutches are almost always faster on most all types of racekart tracks!

Guys that invest $10,000+ into their racekart program, are willing and able to invest into any type of advantage they can get. Those guys are aware of T/C's, and I've never seen any T/C's used by winning drivers at any racekart tracks, unless it was an offroad/Trophy-kart type race on a small/tight track.

Well said, and thanks for "going there" again. Some might get the impression that clutches are only good for kiddie karts (I think I actually read that around here somewhere, if you can believe that!!!) and it's up to the folks that understand all the ramifications to explain the other side of things.

In addition to your points- I would think that under certain circumstances, the additional size, weight, rotating mass, and complexity of a CVT system would not be desirable.

Yeah- Here we go...

The centrifugal clutch is only good for up to 6hp engines. Larger hp engines need a torque converter. Wanting more power and speed comes with a price. The centrifugal clutches are great on real small kart and light weight kids.

ut:

Not at all true. Even the bargain-bin clutches can handle more when geared appropriately. Ask Anderkart what a good race clutch can take...

 

[B.M.800]

So what about adding kartrods to the link directory?

Looks like fun stuff. Id definantly be interested if there was something like that around here...

 

[Kelly Wood]

I love where this is all going, good info... and I appreciate it.

My daughter & I race at miller motorsports park here in Utah. We run the 4 cycle classes. Our track is the, I mean "THE" largest pro go kart track in North America (so they say) and it's a mile around. I've played with numerous options and in a stock configuration, the standard looking ones, such as Noram, do the best overall... imo.

 

[Kelly Wood]

A little update.

Well, my first incarnation got her day at the huge complex known as Larry Miller Motorsports Park. Huge open areas, even drove down the main track & got a few pics.

Clocked at 55 mph. Not bad for under 200 bucks.

 

[Kelly Wood]

And the other pic

Enjoy, thanks for looking.

 

[FatCat]

So did you end up using a T/C or centrifugal?

 

[Kelly Wood]

centrifugal