Anyone into Go Karts

[delfin]

This is a pretty depressing thread.

[Pantless Spency]

HAHAHA lmfao at that pic and that facial expression

[M-technik-3]

Don't need to spend a exorbitant amount of money just because the Jones are. My kids are happy racing a GX210 it keeps costs down and they are involved.

The last two years of our recession has caused many to sell of their karts look around. I run a TAG kart and it's fun. I don't attend all races in our region and couldn't just due to nature of my line of work but a weekend out at the track is a lot of fun.

[Restoman]

If you want to start the 5 hp Briggs & Stratton race series I'm in! 30 years ago go karts by I think Murray were the best: bench seat, 2 piece wheels brakes were mostly a metal shoe against the tire, no shifting, no cage, no suspension. That was a go kart that made Summers worth it.

[FredK]

paging BDsax and FredK

Haha, I just hack around at the local kart track every now and then.

Billy races, though.

[BDSax]

No way. I mean, I'm not calling you a liar, but that's crazy. Karting is suppose to be the cheapest form of racing. I just can't see 99% of karters spending 200 on tires a weekend. Were is this info from? Are you racing?

LOL

i race oval karts. some people come to the track racing 5 classes, 3 karts, and 14 sets of tires. Mounted, Balanced, and Cut and also prep and each set is around $400. also people come in with coaches and 45 foot trailers. Now thats not me...... i sleep on the ground friday night and have maybe 2 sets. still give them a run for their money.

im in the Mtech color kart.

[M-technik-3]

that's people with money to give away.

[s0urce]

sub'ed

I read the title and these were my thoughts exactly.

[s0urce]

LOL

i race oval karts. some people come to the track racing 5 classes, 3 karts, and 14 sets of tires. Mounted, Balanced, and Cut and also prep and each set is around $400. also people come in with coaches and 45 foot trailers. Now thats not me...... i sleep on the ground friday night and have maybe 2 sets. still give them a run for their money.

im in the Mtech color kart.

[dinanm3atl]

Dunno. I went to CMP to run their rentals and they run a series in the same Birel carts that aren't the 'rock karts'(and working on a rock kart series). Those karts aren't stupid expensive and there were plenty of people running them and testing/tuning while I was flogging the rental carts.

Some where on very basic trailers towed behind regular cars or a old Jeep Cherokee. Had 1 extra set of tires. Didn't see any coaches and NASCAR style paddock setups. I am SURE you can spend a lot of money and really go crazy but a couple thousand into a cart that runs a 'spec' type series just cannot be that expensive as it is made out to be. At least not from what I am seeing.

Running a national campaign in a shifter cart? Well sure... but just like running NASA GTS you can run brand new slicks every weekend and try to win overall or you can run scrubs and enjoy running in the midpack... you might not win if the 'big dogs' show up but you will still have fun.

[Justin B]

2x natl road racing champion, the two years I raced tag on the big tracks. Everybody is right, it's syill really really expensive. I was buying a new set of tires for each weekend, but run on my previous race weekend tires in the morning practice, and swap my freshies on for the first of 3 races ( 2 classes) that day. 70 minutes of racing time on a set...and that was about pushing it. This was in a tag kart, parilla leopard on a 32mm crk kali. Shifters would be a little harder on tires still.

[z31maniac]

I am SURE you can spend a lot of money and really go crazy but a couple thousand into a cart that runs a 'spec' type series just cannot be that expensive as it is made out to be.

The guy who runs our local track (Alf Gebhardt, look him up ;)), said the main expense for the spec series is tires. He said if you want to run up front it's new tires every race weekend. Which ain't cheap.

Sure, you could continue to run old ones, be a few seconds off the pace and just enjoy running the kart, but who wants to spend thousands prepping a race kart and not spend the extra to be competitive?

If that's what your going to do, just go run the rental karts (the ones at our track hit nearly 50mph down the back straight) for a few sessions and go home until you get the urge again.

[BDSax]

Pavement racing on oval track are alittle forgiving. A set of tires will last at least 6-7
races as lone as you flip them

[j0oftheworld]

We used to run my buddys shifter out of the back of a volvito V70 wagon..
But he still had 8g's into his chassis + blue printed TM 125cc.

[E-Thirty]

Simply put, If you want to be competitive in karting, it won't be cheap/er/ish regardless how you compare it to auto racing.

I was in the same boat after renting a Rotax/CRG kart at the local track a few times and was very tempted, but decided against it. I like the how cars age better than karts. :p