Kart Racing/ photo posting test

[johnny b]

my hobby of the last 30 years and one of the reasons for my love of trailers.


I road race a type of go kart known as a "Laydown Enduro Kart'. My kart is powered by a 125cc Honda motorcycle engine with a 6 speed gearbox. Top speed on the straightaways (depending on length of track) can be 125 mph. We run on normal full sized road course tracks like Summit Point, WV, Mid-Ohio, and even the full sports car circuit at Daytona (think 24 Hours of Daytona) where we run 7/8ths of the big oval plus the infield course totaling 3.5 miles per lap. (For reference, NASCAR runs just the 2.5 mile oval).
Red trailer is 8.5' x 18' towed by 99 E250 Ford van...driving suit is hanging from EMT pipe awning.

OK, my first photo post attempt:
[img=640x480]http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/...hnny123/DSCN0043_zpsdomxeikp.jpg[/img][/SIZE]
Success :exclamation:

I'll be following up this post with info on my downsized new trailer currently in the planning stage.
As I am getting up there in age (now 60) and it gets more painful and longer to recover from race weekends--these things pull some serious G forces in the corners i.e. it beats the crap outta ya--I'll be racing less and traveling more.

 

[highdesertranger]

very cool. I want to see more. are these 2 stroke or 4, regular gas or something with a little more juice? highdesertranger

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Very cool

 

[johnny b]

The laydown karts are pulling around 1.5 to 2 Gs. The euro sit up karts pull 2.5 to 3 Gs. We run timed races....45 minutes for the laydowns, 30 for sit up style....mainly due to the smaller gas tanks on the sprint style sit up karts.
There are numerous classes and types of karts to fill just about any desire. Dirt & asphalt ovals, short sprint racing road courses, and the full road courses I've been running. Both 2 stroke and 4 stroke engines are used, and even a few Wankel rotaries have been done. If you remember a few years back, the adventurer/survivalist Bear Grylls flew a ParaGlider over the peak of Mt. Everest. The engine he used was a highly modified Wankel go kart motor.

The 4 stroke motors usually run straight Methanol. The majority of 2 strokes run 110 octane race fuel....most tracks now have pumps and we force most classes to run 'spec fuel'---give a choice of several oil brands, usually 8 ounces to the gallon of 110 race fuel. Has to do with trying to curb cheating and control costs. Back in the day there were some extremely potent, dangerous, and carcinogenic compounds showing up. At the tech shed after the race the top 5 have their fuel tested and compared to control samples based on the oil used. It's a dielectric test done quickly with a meter.

Castor oil is still used by numerous competitors. The silencers unfortunately are required these days...must meet db meter tests at specified distances.
Laguna Seca in California requires even tighter sound control....bigger silencer if ya wanna run there. Not too many guys run alky in the 2 strokes any more...a buddy who runs an 'open' class motor used to run alky, but now the hot set up is race gas with a few ounces of toluene mixed in.

 

[highdesertranger]

thanks for the run down. highdesertranger

 

[minimotos95]

I kind of wish I had took my KX144 motor and built a kart but I needed cash more than another way to have fun. I rode(drove?) a 125cc shifter kart once and that was the most fun I've had on 4 wheels.

 

[cognitive dissonance]

johnny b -

Thanks for the heads up! I love karts too! I only drove a laydown kart like yours once, at Hallett in OK. It was a 250, and the tires already had several heat cycles on them. Needless to say, that was pretty exciting compared to my 125 shifters, which had less power and far more grip!

I was the first person in my circle to own a HANS, and just shudder at the idea of running a kart at Daytona on that banking. I'd go out and run a lap or two at 9/10ths just to do it, though...

People have no idea what it means to go out and pull g's like that, and I've never found a way to adequately explain it. Once, I got to give a girlfriend a ride in an old two-seat Can-Am car. Then she got it! ;-)

Here's a hilarious video along these lines: (Every time I watch this, I find myself saying "boink" whenever the car brakes. Try it...) It's upsetting to see that the harnesses aren't holding her very well, but if they were her head would whip around even more! Plus, you can tell by the revs that the driver isn't really pushing.

Anyway, toward the end of my karting days, I favored a TAG kart with an electric starter and clutch. You can go to the track by yourself no problem, and those single speed karts will teach you all there is to know about smoothness and carrying speed through corners.

I'm 57. I've reached a point where I'm not willing to put in all the hours of work involved in racing. (Strange to say that when I'm contemplating a school bus conversion with a roof raise, I know. Guess I just need a change of scenery!) Not saying I'll never race again, just at that point today. All the same, I'd love to meet you at a race if the opportunity ever arises.

 

[Patrick46]

Man...I'm lucky I never got a chance to do this!! That's all I need is yet ANOTHER new expensive toy!!!

My choppers hit me hard enough $$$ as it is!

Looks like tons o' fun!

 

[johnny b]

C.D.,
Yeah, most of my buddies tried to talk me into a TaG for my 'declining years' but having never done the 'sit-up' thing nor run a shifter, I decided to put a Stock Honda motor on my laydown which had been set up for 'controlled stock'. Had a welder buddy convert the frame to right-hand drive to mount the Honda motor. I figure this year and maybe next will be the last I use the laydown. But I may just buy a used shifty roller and put my motor on that just to have something to run...depends on how my body holds up to the 'abuse'. As my dear ol momma used to say: "Gettin old ain't fer Sissies".

Part of my travel plans is to run a few of the tracks in the midwest as well as northern Kali....Laguna is on my bucket list...fingers crossed.

If we cross paths, you'll be welcome to take a spin in whatever i've got at the time...I'll even supply the liquid 'painkiller' for the evening bench racing afterward....you a scotch drinker by chance?

 

[cognitive dissonance]

Mmmm... Laguna Seca!  (Still can't bring myself to call It Mazda Raceway.) And the delicious Corkscrew! Sure would be fun to pull some g's going downhill through there. Shades of Alex Zanardi, although no dirt for me!

I once looked at an Anderson with a stock 250 Honda on it.  That would have been a sweet, low maintenance setup to hang onto, but I was busy with other stuff at the time and not thinking head to when I would be tired of all the work. 

And you're on for some painkiller whenever we meet. There's an old quote I love: "Whoever said laughter is the best medicine has clearly never tasted Scotch!" Right now, I have open a 12 Yr. Macallan. a Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban (huge port fan as well...), a Bowmore and a Laphroaig.  (I don't smoke, but I do like the smoky, peaty Islay's on winter nights or at a campfire...) Next up is a 16 yr. Lagavulin for the cool spring evenings just around the corner.

 

[USACelt]

Back in the day, Me and the boys did some stuff as well.

 

[cognitive dissonance]

That wasn't all THAT long ago.  I had a Birel chassis of the same vintage, maybe in '03 or '04.

Of course, anything in this century feels recent to me!

 

[wayne49]

C.D.,
Yeah, most of my buddies tried to talk me into a TaG for my 'declining years' but having never done the 'sit-up' thing nor run a shifter, I decided to put a Stock Honda motor on my laydown which had been set up for 'controlled stock'. Had a welder buddy convert the frame to right-hand drive to mount the Honda motor. I figure this year and maybe next will be the last I use the laydown. But I may just buy a used shifty roller and put my motor on that just to have something to run...depends on how my body holds up to the 'abuse'. As my dear ol momma used to say: "Gettin old ain't fer Sissies".

Part of my travel plans is to run a few of the tracks in the midwest as well as northern Kali....Laguna is on my bucket list...fingers crossed.

If we cross paths, you'll be welcome to take a spin in whatever i've got at the time...I'll even supply the liquid 'painkiller' for the evening bench racing afterward....you a scotch drinker by chance?

I just went up to Thunderhill at Willows to run with the NCK club. My first foray on a road course with a kart (I raced cars before karts on sprint tracks). I had a blast. The race was 30 minutes, i made it to 29:52 four laps down (running a KT100 with SSX can amongst KT100 with pipes). My best lap was the white flag lap! I was also using 13 year old Dunlop SL tires that were used when I got them. Lots of grip, no sliding.

The kart had been in storage with major parts in cargo boxes since the end of 2003. I picked it up March 19 in New Jersey, drove back to Nevada, arrived March 24. I managed to get the kart back together and on track by April 15. I used a road, (Lathrop-Wells) that ends at the Nevada Test Site gate to Yucca Flats, for straight line testing right before I packed the trailer and drove to Willows.

Road racing is more my driving style than Sprint and NCK is very laid back group. Very enjoyable time. Scared the crap out me at speed until I got used to it.

I am switching to a pipe for my next race.

Maybe see you at Laguna Seca later in the year.

-Wayne

 

[johnny b]

Excellent....good to see 'newbies' gettin on the big tracks.
Its funny how 'sprinters' will shy away from road racing because of the higher speeds....until they actually try it.
The NCK schedule will be part of my travel planning when I finally get west of the Rockies.