speaking of karting

[borrani]

Got coerced by fellow alfista Blair Nelson to try out the 80cc laydown shifter karts he'd been renting. I'd never even seen these karts before, let alone drive one.

Did that Saturday, April 15, at Portland Int'l Raceway (with chicane). It rained all day, so that made it even more interesting.

Phenominal little carts. Endurance style, so they're really quite comfy. Your eyes are less than 2' off the ground I think. Visibility is only wished for. Cannot see behind you whatsoever. 80cc Honda, 6 speed sequential, no clutch for shifting, and a sprague clutch so no compression starts.

What a completely different experience to drive. We'd make over 100mph on the straight, with practically no buffeting.

I survived the 45 minute race to tell this tale.

Steve Schaeffer

[Tifosi]

Will your next step be the 125cc road course jobs? (0 to oh my god in about 50 feet, 4 wheel discs w/driver controlled proportioning or better yet, a handbrake for the front and pedal for the rear )


If you ever get down to Florida, (Daytona area I think), there's an 'experimental' (so far unsactioned AFAIK) class they've been working on for a couple three years now for one of the big sanctioning bodies:

500cc 6 or 7 speed liquid cooled road course class.

Those things will literally pull the front tires off the track coming out of the slower corners.

[borrani]

Umm, I will continue to get my hands around an 80cc kart first!!

[Vivace]

Stevo! Tell us about the aerodynamic blue gardening gloves!

[Nicola]

blue gardening gloves are pretty safe, given the wet Portland conditions.
The touch I liked was those craaaazzeeeee helmets.
Did you guys pass tech with that garb?

[borrani]

Ha! It was after the race, and time for photos. I don't take many photos these days, but I knew this event must be preserved for posterity.

The blue gardening gloves were worn under the regular race gloves, which were 100% saturated. The blue gloves just gave my pruning fingers some more tactile feedback. Could have used those for my feet.

We wore full face helmets. No open helmets here, in case you face plant. Of course, if we hit something head on, I don't see how the family jewels could survive.

They just want your ankles covered, and proper head, hand, and foot gear.

It was amusing to follow another cart in the rain, and then crack your visor open. It was like a garden hose in your face!

The instructions were minimal. I arrived, suited up, was told how to shift it, and get moving off the line, then pointed down the track and GO! As long as I didn't think too much about it, I did fine.

The clutch is a lever way off to the side, you only use it for the standing start. You pull the clutch back with your right hand, engage first, simply plant the throttle (14k rpm), then slowly release the clutch, slipping the tires, and blast outta there, it's a tall first gear.

Shifting is done via the paddle shifters behind the steering wheel. Just let off the gas to shift, and blip while downshifting.

Note on my pic the twine around my chest. My first practice session my rain gear ballooned up like a parachute, I could not see.

Such fond memories.

Steve S.

[Vivace]

Hay-soos Kristo, Steve! 100 mph in THAT?! I think Luge or Skeleton is way safer. Maybe they should have some kind of roll-over hoop and strap you in, if that would help...???

[elite38868]

Personally, I like the zip ties holding many of the vidal parts in place

[borrani]

You want to be ejected in bad situations, although, the steering column had better break away first? So, no seat belts, we're just laying in there. Face it, if we stuff it into a wall at high speed, we're in big trouble.

I did snap spin it at 80+ mph while braking for the chicane. Happens in a blink of an eye, nothing you can do. Luckily inertia keeps you going straight ahead, hence the quick 360 spin.

The zip ties are holding on the tach, which he normally doesn't run. He put it on 'cause I'm a newbie. I just shifted when it felt like it wasn't pulling anymore, same as my GTA! They definitely believe in zip ties, however.

Steve

[tomp]

I got to run the fuel out of a buddys sprint kart a few years ago. These are the 1 speed upright karts with brakes only in the back. Im thinking, kids kart. Wrong!Gassed it on the first straight and Im suprised at how fast the sharp left is comming up. Get scared and hit the brakes hard figureing it cant slow down and.... come to a near full stop 100 feet from the turn! it took three laps for my brain to recompute how to drive. Gforces are unreal! I walked away with a whole new view of Karts after that. Very impressive.
-Tom P.

[borrani]

Heck yeah, look at the power to weight ratio! Mine was 430lbs with driver. 22hp engine. Cart was around 255 lbs.

With those tiny front wheels, you can't fit much of a brake rotor in there. Most carts have the big disk brake on the solid axle. Too much rear brake and you loop-de-loop!

Steve S.