Prospeed Components' Perimeter Throttle Kit should be standard equipment on all karts. It's that good. (Click on picture to enlarge)
Ever look at your kart and wonder why the throttle cable adjustment is so far away from the throttle pedal? Ever think to yourself that as beautifully engineered as your kart is why does the throttle cable look like an after-thought that has never been addressed since the first kart was invented in 1959. Well, luckily for us Roger Hargens of Prospeed Components did and has come up with the best throttle cable routing system I have ever seen. Not only is it beautifully engineered, it is 100% functional in its purpose, completely eliminating the trailing throttle understeer caused by most kart’s current throttle cable set-up. The system is so cool, almost everyone that saw it on my kart at the SKUSA SpringNats last weekend has vowed to get one. Once installed, it looks like a factory part worthy of its place with the rest of your kart’s components…
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As part of FKI’s marketing partnership with SwedeTech, welcome to SwedeTech’s Corner. SwedeTech’s corner will be an ongoing segment of FKI dedicated to helping you optimize the numerous engines SwedeTech services. Make no mistake about it, this is the good stuff normally strictly limited to SwedeTech customers. But, to provide a value add to FKI subscribers, SwedeTech has kindly offered to extend this information for subscribers only so please don’t disseminate this material. Also, if you happen to pick up a tip or two, maybe its worth letting SwedeTech handle your next rebuild and give your engine a thorough once over. You could be leaving time on the table!
While we touched on one of the more popular classes in the U.S. last month, Stock Honda (and there’s more to come in later issues), this month we decided to look at one of the more popular engine classes worldwide – TAG Leopard. So, without further adieu, I am happy to present you with SwedeTech’s Tech Tips for optimizing your Tag Leopard…
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As I mentioned in last month’s article on Spark Plug Reading, Plug Reading will get you close but to really optimize your jetting, you need to incorporate the piston read and data analysis into the equation. Without data analysis, you will have no real way of determining what your optimum spark plug and piston color should be. In addition, the piston will give you a better indication of whether or not you are too lean and/or detonating, the first sign that you are on the edge of optimization and on the verge of a blow-up…
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Proof that I actually drove at Indy (same helmet scheme)...Oh, and that I can hit my apexes!
Ahhh, the month of May. If you consider yourself a serious race fan, the month of May can only mean one thing – The Indy 500. To this day I get asked what it is like to drive at Indy. I will do my best to convey that unique experience in a second but will say this, driving at Indy is unlike any other track and is beyond fast – it brings fast to the ridiculous. You as a karter, have a deeper insight into that experience than you might imagine. I’ll explain.
I think the best way to begin is to start with something they said to us in our rookie orientation meeting. Brian Barnhart, chief steward at the time, sat us all down and proceeded to tell us that although we are all fast, experienced drivers, keep in mind that the fastest we have gone is most likely 190mph for a split second on the fastest straightaway at the biggest track we have been on (true). Brian continued to stress that, “Keep in mind that here, once you get going, your MINIMUM speed on EVERY lap will be around 217 mph (also true). If you go into Turn 1 and feel a wobble, don’t take it into 2, put your hand up, get off the fast line, pull it into the pits and sort it out with your engineer.” In a nutshell Brian just laid out the other big rule at Indy – when you crash, it’s everyone’s problem. You can’t just jump off the throttle and hit the brakes at 200+, the car becomes extremely sensitive and responsive at those speeds…
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April FKI Preview: Converting to Stock Honda
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Unfortunately for many of us in the US, the option to race your ICC powered kart is vastly disappearing. It’s happening to me as I write this and it happened to my teammate and Zanardi importer Arie Luyendyk Jr. last year. While you would think switching between two shifter motors would be a simple matter of bolting the new motor on and you’re off, there’s a lot more to it than that, especially if you are buying a used Honda as Arie did. The big difference is that while the ICC is self contained except for the water pump, everything but the water pump is an external component on a Honda. Consequently, you need to find a place to securely mount many of the fuel and ignition system components somewhere on your kart. I think Arie fell into every pitfall you can imagine while making the transition to Stock Honda. Luckily for us, he agreed to sit down and recount it all so you don’t have to…
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These guys are going to want to know what’s going on with your car during a race, so will your tuner, so should you.
To refresh your memory, I started the “How To Drive Your Own Race” series at the request of one of my subscribers who wanted help in this area. One of the things he stressed was his inability to recall what his go kart was doing during the heat of battle in a race. Consequently, he was unable to make any meaningful tuning changes to his go kart before the next heat because he felt he would just be guessing. So how do you focus on what your go kart is doing and still focus on the race – establish a proper test procedure. I’ll explain the correlation below.
By establishing a proper test procedure you are ingraining a natural instinct to think about what the go kart is doing while you are driving so you can analyze the feedback and make the go kart better for the next session or race. Your goal is to make this a habit so that you are automatically thinking about what the go kart is doing regardless of whether it is a test session or the main. How do you get there? Change the way you practice/test…
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Given the plethora of kart classes out there and the hundreds (well, maybe not hundreds but it sure seems like it sometimes) of different racing kart engines, you may be wondering how is FKI going to tackle the art of engine tuning. Well, at the end of the day, regardless of the type of motor you run, engine tuning usually boils down to one component – how does your sparkplug look. Your sparkplug reveals many things about your jetting so the more knowledgeable you are about reading a plug, the better you will be at optimizing your jetting. So what are you looking for? Well, with the help of SwedeTech’s owner and founder Reine Pierson, we will show you…
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FKI Full Article Bonus – Sick Seat Struts
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Kart Master's seat struts are slotted to accomodate quicker ride height changes and greater flexibility in mounting. At $19.99 and stainless steel to boot, one of the more clever ideas in karting. (www.kart-master.com)
A seat strut is just a seat strut, right? You measure how long a strut you need, bend the ends a bit to fit the chassis and seat, drill the seat holes, bolt it in and go. Pretty simple…
Well, no, not necessarily. How many times have you tried to fit a seat strut to a hole in your old seat only to realize that it is close but you have to try to slot one of the holes with your drill to make it work. Or, you go to make a rear ride height change and your struts no longer fit in their original seat holes so you have to move them and drill yet another hole in the side of your seat. Either situation is far from ideal, time consuming, and generally a pain in the ass, especially if you are rushing to get back on the track by the next practice session to try your ride height change.
Enter Kart Master and their full line of slotted seat struts. This is one of the more clever ideas I’ve seen in karting making what appears to be a simple part even better. Kart Master’s slotted seat struts allow you to have some adjustment in your seat struts. Now when you go to make rear ride height changes, you simply loosen your seat struts, make the ride height change, and then re-tighten the struts. This saves a ton of time and aggravation and actually makes it possible to honestly back-to-back a rear ride height change. If you are mounting a Kart Master strut to you existing seat, the slotted ends give you a greater chance of using a preexisting hole. Either way, they are really cool.
To take advantage of the strut’s adjustability…