New Kid Kart Motor

mikeincoppell

New member
I think most people that have ever been involved in kid karts would agree on two things.

Comer C50/51 engines suck
Kid Kart is the class with the most cheating.

Honda has come out with a <$900 4 stroke 50cc motor that will work great for kid karts. It's got a tad more power than the Comer and it's a sealed motor rated for 200 hours of race time. Realistically 200 hours is probably a career for a kid karter.

http://www.honda.com/newsandviews/article.aspx?id=7401-en
http://m.engines.honda.com/models/model-detail/GXH50

Does anyone have any experience with these little motors? Any chance it could catch on or is the Comer too established?
 
Mike,
I saw one mounted on a new Margay kid kart chassis on display in the Honda Motorsports booth at the PRI show in Indy last week. I spent a good deal of time talking with Keith (Margay) about the direction of our sport, etc. I like the Honda, but it's still a bit pricey, and single purpose (akin to the Comer.) For that reason, I really like the JR LO206 for kid karts. It may be a bit big and take some time getting it mounted nicely, but the idea of being able to "grow" with the engine is very appealing. No more sinking a bunch of money into an engine only to sell it a year or two later. Change out the coil and the carb restricter slide, and move up to another 206 class! Like you, I've had my fill of the over priced weed trimmer Comers. Don't know about the cheating as I've yet to see them get teched - hence I got an outlaw engine to be sure I'm bringing a big gun to a gun fight. I've got a very expensive pro built outlaw Comer for sale currently and we ran our little 206 for the past 2 seasons. Now my youngest has aged out of kid karts and everything kid kart Comer-wise is for sale. Honda makes an excellent product - the sealed engine is certainly a step in the right direction. For my money, the JR LO206 still looks to be the way to go.



Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
765-339-4407
 
Some of the tracks in this area have allowed the 2.5 clone engines- at least enough HP (I think they have a plate now) with around $100 price tag. I think that should be a great thing, since these kids need seat time to work on their driving skill, not in the pits or on the grid changing another fouled plug or revving the daylights out of their Comers. I'm no fan of clones, but to me this is the one class in which they really make sense.
 
I have a couple grand kids and hope the clone works around here. other wise agree with Brian the 206 is it.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. In my opinion the 206 is just too damn big and heavy and will throw the weight distribution out so far the poor kid will be just hanging on for dear life. I'm pretty sure that's why it's never really caught on. I'm probably in a minority here but after kid karts we'll go Rotax. Same principle as Brian mentioned, a motor for life. On our sprint track a Rotax works better than a clone.

Another big selling point for me is the fact that it's sealed. Start rolling out $100 2.5 clones in the kid kart class and see how long it lasts. It will be clone motors take 2 and within two years you'll have $600 2.5 clone motors.
 
The kids in our area have been running the JR Stars class. Same age group as kid karts but a standard flat kart chassis with a red plate clone motor and small pipe. Also a gear rule. So much better than the kid karts as they can grow with these and simply change plates in the motor as they grow.
 
Go to our facebook page at Mikim Motorsports (authorized Margay dealer). My son just completed a new Margay kid kart with a LO-206 for a customer With rev limiter and the carb slide limiter. Great pictures. Motor fits well and a slight offset and a little lead on the seat nullifies, motor weight
 
I really don't think that you'll ever have the numbers to drive prices up on kid kart clones. The only reason clones got out of hand in karting is they got kart counts up, then "regular" class racers went cherry picking, looking for easy money beating budget racers. Any time you get kart count, you get everyone's attention. Even if inflation hit the 2.5's, a $500 clone is much more reliable and consistant than an $1100 Comer that is finicky and touchy at best. That's what you need to get these new drivers good laps to learn on.
 
The weight of the JR LO206 certainly didn't hurt the performance of our kid kart. We absolutely loved it! It took a little work to fit everything nicely, but it's certainly do-able by even newbies to karting. I've got pictures if you need, just pm me with an email address. The Lo206 being sealed is the answer to skyrocketing costs. Trust me, The blueprinted and outlaw Comers went through the roof with the same "demand" in kit karts as what would happen with the small clone engines -- Every daddy wants their kid to have the best - no matter the cost or amount of competition. If they've got disposable income, it WILL get spent on making Jr go faster.
 
There is a ton of cheating in kid karts with the Comer, let's face it parents just can't help themselves. So a sealed motor is the way to go to both stop cheating and control costs.

The 206 is huge though. I looked at the pictures of the Margay and it looks nice. You can tell the seat is really offset to make it fit. I think one of the problems is older kid karts have less space than the newer ones. I remember using a shoehorn to fit a clone motor to my wife's Arrow AX9 kart. Thinking about that exercise I went out to the garage and looked at my grandson's CRG kid kart. I had to trim the sidepod to get the little Comer to fit! There is no way a 206 would ever go onto this kid kart. And I suspect a lot of the older kid karts are about the same. So if I wanted to go to a 206 motor, which I think is a fine motor, I would also have to buy a new kid kart. Just not interested in doing that, I would rather go to something like the Honda that fits my old chassis without too many mods.

Sorry to sound so negative guys.
 
Don't know if anyone will see this but its 2021. Eight years later...
Grandson #1 started in a Comer and finished with a Honda in 2018-19 seasons. He did well and once we learned how to maintain the carburetor things went great. He is now in his second LO 206 Cadet season. He raced with about 5 other kid karts.
Grand son # 2 is inheriting big brothers old kart and racing with a new club, Central California Kart Racing Association, that has up to 14 kid karts I estimate. All Honda except for a lone Comer. Its really strong racing and developing great driver skills in a Kid division and Novice Division. There doesn't seem to be any flagrant cheating because there is some parity. The more skilled always do show up but the difference does seem to be driver skill and maturity.
South of us (LA Kart Club) and north of us (Sacramento area) the Honda 50 program is strong also.
I would say on the left coast, the Honda 50 program has been a great success.
 
I started a Dirt Squirt class ( 4 to 7 ) using the 79cc predator last year . Some other tracks also started using the engine this year , and it seems to be picking up more and more . I run it as an OTB with a top plate and no other rules , some have made weight , tire and gear rules . These are good little engines , and the kids seem to pick up speed as their skill level and fear let them . Comer's are to expensive , as I think the one you are talking about is as well , for starter classes .
 
I started a Dirt Squirt class ( 4 to 7 ) using the 79cc predator last year . Some other tracks also started using the engine this year , and it seems to be picking up more and more . I run it as an OTB with a top plate and no other rules , some have made weight , tire and gear rules . These are good little engines , and the kids seem to pick up speed as their skill level and fear let them . Comer's are to expensive , as I think the one you are talking about is as well , for starter classes .
Gary we have 79's running in kid kart class, some are failing fuel tech, I think they are running e85. Do you know the jet that comes in them?
 
Gary we have 79's running in kid kart class, some are failing fuel tech, I think they are running e85. Do you know the jet that comes in them?
No I haven't checked the jets . Every time I go to HF to get one , they are always out of stock . I haven't had time to do a search , but I am sure someone has , and maybe they will post what they found ..
 
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