My first experience in a 50hp shifter kart
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From: Danville/Blackhawk, California
My first experience in a 50hp shifter kart
Part 1: Introduction
It was on Friday at Kinsmen raceway in Dixon, Ca. I went with a customer of mine who brought his friend's Birel 125cc shifter. It had a top of the line TM ICC motor that makes nearly 50hp and revs to ~15,000rpm. The kart, with my butt sitting on it, weighs approx 340lbs. Power to weight is somewhere around that of a 500whp Evo. 6 speed, close-ratio gearbox with straight-cut gears for clutchless shifting (think motorcycle). Racing slicks with four wheel disc brakes. 0-60 in about 3 sec and braking performance besting the best exotic cars.
Never having driven a shifter before, my friend Craig gave me a little rundown of how it works. Like a motorcycle, the gearbox is 1 down and 5 up (Neutral is between 1st and 2nd gear). The cluch is only used to take off from a stop. After that, upshifts are conducted by pulling the shift lever (which is mounted next to the steering wheel) back towards yourself and downshifts by pushing it forward (away from yourself).
The kart was built for someone a few inches shorter than me so squeezing my 6' frame into it was somewhat of a challenge. Making matters worse, I had to wear my padded motorcycle jacket since his racing suit didn't fit me. As for pants, I was forced to wear jeans and my shoes, naturally, were Prada loafers.
To fire up the engine, Craig gave me a push start. Once rolling and popped into 1st gear, the engine fires up with a banshee wail. 1st gear is so short, it lasts less than a second with nothing but frenetic wheelspin to show for it. I catch 2nd and a brief hint of more wheelspin followed by what had to be the most surreal rush of acceleration I've ever experienced. Grap third and now i'm holding on for dear life. The kart is vibrating with such intensity that my vision goes blury. And i'm still in the paddock. Good God.
With a new found respect for 50hp 2 stroke ICC motors, I let the kart coast down to 5000rpm where power is manageable and the engine note is muted enough that I can hear myself think. For those who have ever ridden a 2-stroke bike will now what is is like to come on the pipe. It's equivalent to having a GT35R finally spool up in your EVO. Power amplifies exponentially within a 1000rpm window. And for the next 4000rpm, you just make sure you are looking in the direction you want to go because you are going to get there very quickly. Needless to say, I stay far away from the juicy part of the powerband for the first lap of the track (see below).
The Kinsmen kart track is considered one of the premiere tracks in the US. It is very smooth, very technical and very fast. The track record is just under 28 seconds with most 125cc competitors running 30.0-31.0s range. For some strange reason, I'm the only person on the track. Appearantly, the gnats were out in full effect that day and spent their time chewing on people in the paddock. Fortunately for me, gnats aren't quick enough to keep up with a shifter kart. And Craig is clever enough to avoids the swarm by hot-footing it out into the track, standing on the hill between Turn 3 and Turn 6.
To be continued....
It was on Friday at Kinsmen raceway in Dixon, Ca. I went with a customer of mine who brought his friend's Birel 125cc shifter. It had a top of the line TM ICC motor that makes nearly 50hp and revs to ~15,000rpm. The kart, with my butt sitting on it, weighs approx 340lbs. Power to weight is somewhere around that of a 500whp Evo. 6 speed, close-ratio gearbox with straight-cut gears for clutchless shifting (think motorcycle). Racing slicks with four wheel disc brakes. 0-60 in about 3 sec and braking performance besting the best exotic cars.
Never having driven a shifter before, my friend Craig gave me a little rundown of how it works. Like a motorcycle, the gearbox is 1 down and 5 up (Neutral is between 1st and 2nd gear). The cluch is only used to take off from a stop. After that, upshifts are conducted by pulling the shift lever (which is mounted next to the steering wheel) back towards yourself and downshifts by pushing it forward (away from yourself).
The kart was built for someone a few inches shorter than me so squeezing my 6' frame into it was somewhat of a challenge. Making matters worse, I had to wear my padded motorcycle jacket since his racing suit didn't fit me. As for pants, I was forced to wear jeans and my shoes, naturally, were Prada loafers.
To fire up the engine, Craig gave me a push start. Once rolling and popped into 1st gear, the engine fires up with a banshee wail. 1st gear is so short, it lasts less than a second with nothing but frenetic wheelspin to show for it. I catch 2nd and a brief hint of more wheelspin followed by what had to be the most surreal rush of acceleration I've ever experienced. Grap third and now i'm holding on for dear life. The kart is vibrating with such intensity that my vision goes blury. And i'm still in the paddock. Good God.
With a new found respect for 50hp 2 stroke ICC motors, I let the kart coast down to 5000rpm where power is manageable and the engine note is muted enough that I can hear myself think. For those who have ever ridden a 2-stroke bike will now what is is like to come on the pipe. It's equivalent to having a GT35R finally spool up in your EVO. Power amplifies exponentially within a 1000rpm window. And for the next 4000rpm, you just make sure you are looking in the direction you want to go because you are going to get there very quickly. Needless to say, I stay far away from the juicy part of the powerband for the first lap of the track (see below).
The Kinsmen kart track is considered one of the premiere tracks in the US. It is very smooth, very technical and very fast. The track record is just under 28 seconds with most 125cc competitors running 30.0-31.0s range. For some strange reason, I'm the only person on the track. Appearantly, the gnats were out in full effect that day and spent their time chewing on people in the paddock. Fortunately for me, gnats aren't quick enough to keep up with a shifter kart. And Craig is clever enough to avoids the swarm by hot-footing it out into the track, standing on the hill between Turn 3 and Turn 6.
To be continued....
30 second laps, that is a very very very tiny kart track. I think Ocala, Beaver Run, Dousman, and Norwalk are muchhhhh more fun.
Scorke
I used to dabble with ICC's too....
Scorke
I used to dabble with ICC's too....
Last edited by scorke; Jun 12, 2006 at 10:58 AM.
I used to race a Tony/JM Prepped Honda 125 gearbox kart a while back too.
After I test drove the evo, i bought it! The evo is the closest thing I found that gives you gearbox kart excitement, as in braking & handling on the street.
What you dont realize in a gearbox kart, is that you can go through steering wheels, as you stress them under braking!!
The steering wheels keeps you from flying out of your seat under heavy braking!
After I test drove the evo, i bought it! The evo is the closest thing I found that gives you gearbox kart excitement, as in braking & handling on the street.
What you dont realize in a gearbox kart, is that you can go through steering wheels, as you stress them under braking!!
The steering wheels keeps you from flying out of your seat under heavy braking!
Check this vid out of a shifter cart with a Suzuki Gixxer engine! OMG!!!!
This has been around for a while excuse if you have already seen it.
http://gprime.net/video.php/gixxerkart
You NEED one of these Shiv!
Forget the Porsche!
This has been around for a while excuse if you have already seen it.
http://gprime.net/video.php/gixxerkart
You NEED one of these Shiv!
Forget the Porsche!
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Originally Posted by KOEvo
Imagine one with a liter bike engine strapped to it, i've seen it done, many-a-time.
d
You should come visit me. We have a world class carting track that even allows us to run lapping days with street cars on it.
http://www.usainternationalraceway.com/#
http://www.usainternationalraceway.com/#
Originally Posted by nicka117
but only half of Formula One.
d
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 613
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From: Burbank
Originally Posted by nicka117
jaylenospoolboy- you can pull 2.2 g's at the right combination of speed/radius corners, which is more than double my evo.....but only half of Formula One.
I miss racing karts.
I miss racing karts.