Trans Tasman Karts rivalry [revelry!!] down the road today.

[OverTheHill]

Our road been like a race track the last couple of days. 80k limit but would be hitting 180 past my gate [V8 Holdens mostly--maybe the aussies brought them with them but hell there's some damn expensive looking set ups [went for a look]. 'TM' engined gearbox karts were the quickies & as Grand as it all is & i can appreciate the skill but it's getting [got] like everything motorised [except vmx & bucket racing] where everything looks the same-karts-gear-you name it, suppose it's progress. Give me buckets [was hooked for 15 years] & vmx where there's heaps of individual input to the bike & are all different even if supposedly the same when new. One of the pics shows the tight corner by the pit exit, [memories] recall when the track was bulldozed bare dirt 40+ years ago & getting it read for sealing, a few of us sneaked down one evening & i fired my "36 Chev into the corner & off into the grass to come spearing out into the side of my brothers mini, Fk. Dad caught us & made us all write a letter of apology to the club. Dad used to lease the 14 acres to the club for $1 a year but eventually they had to buy it to be able to develop it [probably sold it for $1 too!!]Very go ahead club though & is of international quality, hardly ever go down but can hear them almost every day of the week [hanging on every note & chasing the extraordinary powerful ones to get some info. i'll check their rubbish bins [me bin man] for pistons & things, you never know haha. All changed a bit from when i used to ride my RE Bullet mx bike down there--plus my hand change 125 excelsior & 250 hand change james--[that was quick-i think]. Wish we still had that area somedays. Remember a club scramble down there when i was about 11 & had dads bantam hidden in the big gorse bushes & as the 125 class flashed [crawled] past i snuck in amongst them & started bounding around, caused rite confusion amongst them that did. Anyway, got a few pic mid afternoonish before the batteries went flat. This same kart meeting has been an annual day/night meet till last year but got too costly to hire the 11 generator flood lights they had set up, though i was seeing 'double double'+ as 11 towable yellow light sets used to go past.

[OverTheHill]

sorry, should have proof read it [spelling], not sure how to edit.

[Lozza]

Karts are plenty of fun to drive especialy shifter karts. Kart racing is very tightly controlled classes are divided into engine type with Light and Heavy running in the same race, which would explain why you seen them as all the same. Chassis have to fit tight criteria and only very in minor details. There is lots to tuning a kart chassis not as simple as it looks, you can corner fast enough to sqeeze the air out of lungs if you don't have a rib guard. Looks like a fantastic circuit

[albrid-3]

My Nephew has won a lot of state and the Australia Titles in Kart racing over the years, he has just come back from Portugal with he machanic for his team, now he will be racing formula ford this year, an all new ball game, and a lot to learn.

[OverTheHill]

yes, think i did say somewhere that i appreciate the skill. It's just 'too' technical for me [oldy], have seen them changing [i dunno] offset of wheels & using camber caster toe in gauges. one had an axle out as i walked past & thought it was a bloody big exhaust for a second--was 'big' diameter. despite living close to the track i've hardly ever had a paddle but did a couple of years ago when our neighbor over the back farm bought a 'rotax max' 125 electric start i think it was. His daughter had a KT100 & thrashed both of us for a while till we got the hang of it. The G force had me a bit stuffed & found i had to go with it & settle into the seat instead of fighting it [something like that]. There was a Rotax tandem twin roadrace kart down there a while back someone was trying to sort but had-had it apart & sounded [to me anyway] like he'd mis-timed the rotary valves but hell did it go up top if he got past loading up [flooding up]. Anyway--i'm just jealous, they have all the fun!!. Used to get a kick out of the early days when one clever local engineer made a motor using two Puch 50 power cycle cylinders [ported to the max] on a crankcase he cast up, went well & sounded great. Another put the first 250 twin Suzuki in one, [T10--250 think it was], hell that went quick back then. Recall one that tried suspension but not a good idea that one. That had a Tallisman Twin engine & purred. The original small kidney shape dirt track 50+ years ago i'll never forget being 'super fast' around on my rigid 500 Matchy till a local jockey came down on his Zundapp 50 & beat me--never recovered from that damn it!!. Our scramble track down there back then i recall a local guy bought a Freddy Mayes Greeves back from england, racing hard out [we thought] over the rough bit of the track down hill & over some jumps when my younger brother past him on our Puch 50 power cycle after a big wind up downhill. We topped that years later with the Victa scooter with extra rubber bands on the front to do 'big' jumps--had monoshock rear too [true]. Sorry-story time's over--sleep time. Cheers. ps, oh, then i went too quick over the downhill jump in the "36 Chev & motor mounts broke & stuck the fan into the radiator, bugga.

[Lozza]

The rear axle of a sprint kart is the 'suspension', what karters are aiming to do is lift the inside wheel about 50mm from the ground around a corner.Unlike a differential both wheels turn at the same rate, not good with the inside radius of corners so tight. Moving the hubs in and out puts more leverage on the axle, allowing the inside rear to cock it's leg lets you get around the corner with out 'pushing' or spinning out. Latest trends have been thicker axles with thinner walls gives better feel for what the rear is doing and you can run the rear track thinner.
Most inline Rotax (or later copies) have between 75 and  a 100HP at the wheel. A friend in France drove Damien Payart's in line twin ( http://www.fperacing.com/) and pronouced a "mega fork machine" said it was way faster than any of the current supercars(he's driven them all to).

[OverTheHill]

That's 'very interesting info' thanks, I'll check that site out too. Expanded the pic briefly of the tandem twin--gosh. Mates Rotax [125] had the same looking power valve on the exhaust port [is it vacuum operated] had his apart once looking for lack of power but [in the words of Mr Know It All--i really should have known] the muffler was coming apart inside & was stifling it on full song but not blocking till revs got up high--go kart guy sorted it for him, maybe a known problem but all valuable lessons that you 'don't forget'. Least wasn't a mouse blocking it like one of my RMX pics haha. Cheers.

[Lozza]

The preload adjuster on the MAX pv should be 15 or 16 clicks out from fully in, learn not to 'stab' the throttle off a corner the Delorto VHSB 34 gets bad lean bog. Rotax Max is a great class, I helped a friend race in the Premier state cup got him to inside the top 10 when a few bad crashes stopped him racing. There was $15k prizemoney and a trip to the world Rotax Max finals if you won that.