Kart Racing Ruined Me

Kestrel

Kestrel

Well-known member
This past weekend, I celebrated a good friend's birthday by heading to the local high speed kart racing place. Last time I was in any sort of gokart was well over a decade ago, but these were high speed indoor karts (~30mph top speed), which were a far cry from the slow crap I'd ridden as a kid. Took me a lap or so to learn the track layout, but once that was down, I began to throw down some fast laps - fastest of everyone in our session, which was to be expected given that I'm the resident motorsports/motorcycle guy.

I had a pretty solid shit eating grin for a while afterward, and haven't been that excited since the old track days on the SV. The corner speed you could carry was absolutely spectacular - I don't think I've pulled G's like that *ever*, excluding all of my flight hours. (Not a fair comparison ;) Regardless... Wow. I can't shake the feeling of how well those things grip. I rarely touched the brakes once up to speed, and tighter turns were best taken using oversteer to rotate the kart.

Bad news? Good lord, does my VFR feel heavy. That kart just...disappeared... under me. I spent my time looking far, far through the corner, not worrying about what IT was doing. Total confidence. In some respects, my old SV felt the same way.

Right now I question if I should sell the VFR and find something a hundred pounds lighter. I love the VFR in that thing, and it has been such a great daily bike, but the feeling of no weight.. God. I need that back.

:(

What to do, what to do.
 
jdhu

jdhu

Well-known member
I've been going to K1 here in Sac (well, Rancho Cordova), and it is pretty damn fun. I take my girlfriend, and enjoy crushing her and watching the "move aside" flag being waved at her...:laughing

Of course, then I get the flag a lap later, when some punk kid passes me...:mad:laughing
 
Racinfrk

Racinfrk

Well-known member
^^^^^

I agree. However, having a 125 shifter as your first racing kart, is like buying a Busa as your first motorcycle. It can be done, but the learning curve is HUGE.

On another note, I have a 100cc Yamaha kart I am willing to sell for realitivly cheap.
 
Entoptic

Entoptic

Red Power!
Kestrel said:
This past weekend, I celebrated a good friend's birthday by heading to the local high speed kart racing place. Last time I was in any sort of gokart was well over a decade ago, but these were high speed indoor karts (~30mph top speed), which were a far cry from the slow crap I'd ridden as a kid. Took me a lap or so to learn the track layout, but once that was down, I began to throw down some fast laps - fastest of everyone in our session, which was to be expected given that I'm the resident motorsports/motorcycle guy.

I had a pretty solid shit eating grin for a while afterward, and haven't been that excited since the old track days on the SV. The corner speed you could carry was absolutely spectacular - I don't think I've pulled G's like that *ever*, excluding all of my flight hours. (Not a fair comparison ;) Regardless... Wow. I can't shake the feeling of how well those things grip. I rarely touched the brakes once up to speed, and tighter turns were best taken using oversteer to rotate the kart.

Bad news? Good lord, does my VFR feel heavy. That kart just...disappeared... under me. I spent my time looking far, far through the corner, not worrying about what IT was doing. Total confidence. In some respects, my old SV felt the same way.

Right now I question if I should sell the VFR and find something a hundred pounds lighter. I love the VFR in that thing, and it has been such a great daily bike, but the feeling of no weight.. God. I need that back.

:(

What to do, what to do.
Click to expand...

lose some weight you fatty! :twofinger I agree though, my vfr is HEAVY!
 
Holeshot

Holeshot

Super Moderator
Staff member
Rotax Masters light/ heavy is a great class. A rotax kart is a great place to start where you can learn the chassis tuning/ Axle tuning before having to learn what shifting does to the handling, etc. There's alot of stuff to know that's nothing like a bike!

But if you ride a bike well, you'll spank a lot of the karting guys...
 
Spec-ECU

Spec-ECU

required protocol
My moto friends and I did a Group Reservation at K1, and suffice it to say, everyone was so hooked, I ended up creating a faux championship within the group, consisting of five rounds to be raced between K1 in Santa Clara and San Francisco. Apart from K1's 1st-2nd-3rd place trophies for group reservations, we also all pay into a cash "purse" gift card to be given to the race winner for each round, with each round counting towards a points championship I have implemented, to determine who wins the championship. The championship 1st-2nd-3rd place winners then get their own billet trophies for the season.

Most of us are couch racers, so this is probably the only form of racing we'll ever/we've ever participated in. :laughing
 
Archimedes

Archimedes

Fire Watcher
I had the same feelings after my first day out at Go Kart Racer. If there was an accessible go kart track nearby, I would have bought a shifter cart that weekend. But then if there was a track around here, so would 1000 other guys.
 
Kestrel

Kestrel

Well-known member
Entoptic said:
lose some weight you fatty! :twofinger I agree though, my vfr is HEAVY!
Click to expand...

I'm a lightweight myself - only 140 or so in the nude. Can't afford to lose any more! I wish I could say the same for the Big Red Pig in the garage...

But honestly, I've been looking at motarded DR650s all evening, convincing myself that they could adequately handle highway cruising, while still coming in at ~350 lbs wet, and able to rail twisties. Highway ability is critical, but I want a lightweight bike and I want it now, damnit.

Let's hope my VFR doesn't catch wind of this blasphemy.

PS: anyone ridden a DR hard on the street? Thoughts? Past bikes include a Ninja 250, XR250, and an SV, for comparison's sake.
 
Blankpage

Blankpage

alien
First time I was at go kart racer I thought I was kicking the competitions ass. Competition being 2 chicks and a dude that never drove a cart before. I finished having run 3 laps more that the dude in 2nd. Then I got the printout of my times including the fastest times for that month :(. But those girls sucked :)
 
slydrite

slydrite

On a brake
You can do arrive and drive rentals in real racing karts at Sears Point Kart track.

Real racing karts, even non-shifter karts, are like a riding a 250GP bike compared to a indoor karts, which are like a Ninja 250

http://pdc.simraceway.com/programs/karting

Also, as mentioned earlier, a 125 Shifter is the mega deep end. 80 shifters are more friendly in every way; cheaper, less maintenance, lighter, etc.
 
HIglesias

HIglesias

Well-known member
Ive been wanting to buy a kart for a longtime! I may finally have a bit of cash to do so.

Getting started doesn't appear to be an easy thing though, its confusing with all the info out there.

So. I'm 31, I don't suck (although far from good), tell me what to buy. No, really. I need someone to literally tell me what to buy.
 
SpeedyCorky

SpeedyCorky

rides minibikes;U should2
minibikes > karts


i go to the minibike/kart track a lot.
yes the karts are faster, both in a straight line and thru the corners. but the kart guys are ALWAYS working on their machines, like literally, they spend more time fooling with the fuckin' things than actually driving them.

the minibike and motard guys just go ride, kickass, come back with grins. smaller the displacement on the minibike, the bigger the grin - is generally the rule of thumb.

if you like working on shit and constantly changing out parts between sessions - by all means go get a kart. if you want a lightweight motorcycle and wanna have fun and RIDE - get a minibike and never look back :2cents
 
Nemo Brinker

Nemo Brinker

Tonight we ride
DR650 is gonna be way too heavy and poorly-suspended for what you want. I love mine, but weightless it is not. :laughing KTM, perhaps?

Or just get a kart.
 
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