UK Karting - Notice Board (General Karting) : Re: affordable karting?

Notice Board (General Karting)

Re: affordable karting?
Posted by 'Liam' on 23 Aug 2013 @ 20:58

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LiamJoined: March 2010
Total Posts: 1
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Wise words. I get a lot of pleasure from running a kart on the cheap, and enjoy finding inventive ways of trying to get a reasonably competitive package together without spending too much. A few things that have helped me:

As Ian suggests, run a kart out of the back of a cheap old estate car. Bit of a squeeze, but means I don't need any special transport for it.

If trying parts that may or may not offer a performance advantage, go for eBay, or modify some old parts, or make your own. Once you're confident it's going to work, buy something a bit better.

Waterproof coats are cheaper than awnings - the kart's going to get wet on track anyway.

Chain lube and correct adjustment means they last for absolutely ages - get that wrong and you needlessly make chains and sprockets consumables.

Exhaust all the "free" setup changes before buying anything. Seat position, track widths and tyre pressures, in that order, are the biggest bang per buck you will get. If your seat doesn't look like swiss cheese you might want to consider trying it in another position or 2.

Save the best tyres until last. A new set of tyres is only ever fitted to my kart for a last heat and a final. At the next meeting I put old tyres on, and just fit the newer ones for the last heat and final. Depending on the state of my test tyres I might be able to repeat once more, but whatever happens I get at least 3 meetings on fairly fresh and unworn rubber. Occasionally I'll be getting 5 meetings per set of tyres this way. Cling-film or bin bags and storage in a cool place do seem to help stop them hardening off.

Finally, ask your son to avoid falling off the track, driving into other karts, and weirdly enough, getting driven into. Quite often I'll pull out of an overtake if I think the other driver is willing to go the extra mile and take me out if I continue. I know I shouldn't have to, but I can work on finding a lower cost way past him for the rest of the race.

Karting is immense fun. It's lower cost than most other forms of genuinely competitive motorsport. It also presents a significant challenge in learning how to do it, and if you're willing to take your time learning you can do so on relatively low budget.

Liam

Message Thread:

affordable karting? by 'orangeart' (22 Aug 2013 @ 10:46)

Re: affordable karting? by 'davidmc' (22 Aug 2013 @ 10:57)

Re: affordable karting? by 'orangeart' (29 Aug 2013 @ 10:06)

Re: affordable karting? by 'itpro' (22 Aug 2013 @ 11:04)

Re: affordable karting? by 'Liam' << You are here!

Re: affordable karting? by 'itpro' (23 Aug 2013 @ 23:58)

Re: affordable karting? by 'Liam' (24 Aug 2013 @ 19:27)

Re: affordable karting? by 'itpro' (25 Aug 2013 @ 1:20)

Re: affordable karting? by 'orangeart' (29 Aug 2013 @ 10:13)

Re: affordable karting? by 'orangeart' (29 Aug 2013 @ 10:09)

Re: affordable karting? by 'MaxRacewear' (22 Aug 2013 @ 14:51)

Re: affordable karting? by 'SimonS' (23 Aug 2013 @ 16:51)

Re: affordable karting? by 'NJB' (23 Aug 2013 @ 17:09)

Re: affordable karting? by 'Jeff Johnson' (23 Aug 2013 @ 22:22)

Re: affordable karting? by 'EtheT' (23 Aug 2013 @ 22:31)

Re: affordable karting? by 'fatsam' (27 Aug 2013 @ 21:52)

Re: affordable karting? by 'orangeart' (29 Aug 2013 @ 10:28)

Re: affordable karting? by 'orangeart' (29 Aug 2013 @ 10:23)

Re: affordable karting? by 'Liam' (02 Sep 2013 @ 20:58)

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