Couldnt agree more with what Fatboy1dh said. Local support doesn't mean squat to me because there is non, zip, zero here. To me it comes down to email, phone and texting communication with a dealer etc. I personally deal with Chris at MRP for all my Birel stuff. Now we spent last weekend at Shawano for the Briggs National race and I will say that Kyle with Ionic Edge probably had the best support for his guys short of actually being at the track helping them. Many phone calls and texts all weekend for all of his guys around in in the pits. I was very impressed. Enough to look over the karts there and come home and watch all his videos. Which are very informative by the way.
newbie looking for advice
- Thread starter Bernie
- Start date
fatboy1dh
Member
Where is Birel dominating? I have not seen them on the top of any national podiums on this side of the country.
I wouldn't understate the importance of local support for newbies. You don't need to have dealer/factory support at the track (it's nice though), but life will be much easier for the newbie if there are one or more non-newbie people around that are running the same/similar equipment. Getting parts over the internet is one thing, but getting help setting up a kart for a specific track (that the dealer has never been to) by email/phone is likely going to be pretty much impossible.
Thanks again for all the suggestions. I've been doing some internet snooping around on some of the frames mentioned. but perhaps have gotten a little ahead of myself by not asking whether or not it is realistic to think I can switch from 206 to World Formula using the same frame? If it's not practical I'll definitely stick to the LO206 category. Also I may have mistakenly assumed that soft tires outperform harder compounds, but I have run into manufacturers who seem to suggest that their 206 frames are designed for harder compounds. Do soft tires absorb too much energy, have significantly different sidewalls, or what am I missing?
Don't read in too much about some of the people talking about 'specialized karts' for 'specialized motors', etc. Frame tubing comes in different sizes for karts, some are thinner which will in theory flex more than those with bigger tubings...... that's about all that comes with these so-called 'made for only' karts, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you become good at karting, for the most part, you can win on any chassis out there. Just make sure you get a good and clean secondhand kart that is not bent and work on setting up your kart right and you're good to go.
Ugh. Please stop spewing miss information. Tubing sizing has alot to do with Kart choice. If I was to put my son who runs JR 206 on say a Birel or Arrow Etc 32mm chassis it would be so stiff if would never flex in the corners. In turn you will forever fight a push condition since you can't get it to lift the inside tire to be able to make the turn. This was still somewhat of a struggle even with a 30mm chassis for us. We ended up going full soft on everything then getting a soft axle and short hubs before things finally started to come around. ;-). So yes tubing choice is of a major concern if you want to run in the "front". If you want to get your feet wet and got have some fun then yes grab any Kart, slap a 206 on it and get yourself as many laps and as much seat time as you can. But when the time comes that you want to run up front then frame selection will be important.
Upman is correct, tube size, thickness and material are extremely important. The configuration of of the tubing is important also. Many 2 stroke chassis have four tubes in the seat area that is too stiff, the placement of the tubes behind the seat will help how the chassis flexes.
Fatboy1dh in Canada we adopted the LO206 exclusively 6 seasons ago, we have experience with them, dirt track and oval kart racing is not big here. I previously mentioned several brands, the most important thing you can do is get a 4 cycle specific chassis. In sprint racing the field does not get packed up in a line every few laps if you are .2 sec off the leader, after 20 laps you cross the line almost 4 seconds late. At the recent Canadian Nationals the Qualifying difference in the top 10 karts was .479 sec., during the final race the difference in the top two fast laps was .030 sec.
Fatboy1dh in Canada we adopted the LO206 exclusively 6 seasons ago, we have experience with them, dirt track and oval kart racing is not big here. I previously mentioned several brands, the most important thing you can do is get a 4 cycle specific chassis. In sprint racing the field does not get packed up in a line every few laps if you are .2 sec off the leader, after 20 laps you cross the line almost 4 seconds late. At the recent Canadian Nationals the Qualifying difference in the top 10 karts was .479 sec., during the final race the difference in the top two fast laps was .030 sec.
Don Westlie
New member
I know you said you are looking used but if you can swing it get a new chassis. That way you know you have a god piece. Or at a minimum know who you are buying from and that it has been well taken care of. Nothing worse than trying to learn to drive and tune on a chassis that is tweaked.
In regards to what chassis to look for, I would look at an Ionic Edge. We were on another brand for 4 years and after moving to Ionic this year we went from mid pack to on the podium every race and battling for wins. Chassis will play a big role in a series or club that runs a soft tire. We picked up over 1 second from old brand to the Ionic on our Vega tires. We also run the same chassis for our club races which we race on the hard YDS tire. Believe it or not, we run nearly the same set up and it works. Only thing we do is a little change in caster and toe. Still fine tuning the hard tire but again we are battling up front with it.
You may not have an Ionic rep at your track but Kyle will be available by phone any time. We talk at least 10 times a race weekend either via text or person to person. Like upman1976(Wade?) said at track isn't always feasible but if you can handle texting you're good with Kyle. Kyle is also working on a little cheaper entry price for the chassis in 2017 $2200 less wheels, tires, engine.
In regards to what chassis to look for, I would look at an Ionic Edge. We were on another brand for 4 years and after moving to Ionic this year we went from mid pack to on the podium every race and battling for wins. Chassis will play a big role in a series or club that runs a soft tire. We picked up over 1 second from old brand to the Ionic on our Vega tires. We also run the same chassis for our club races which we race on the hard YDS tire. Believe it or not, we run nearly the same set up and it works. Only thing we do is a little change in caster and toe. Still fine tuning the hard tire but again we are battling up front with it.
You may not have an Ionic rep at your track but Kyle will be available by phone any time. We talk at least 10 times a race weekend either via text or person to person. Like upman1976(Wade?) said at track isn't always feasible but if you can handle texting you're good with Kyle. Kyle is also working on a little cheaper entry price for the chassis in 2017 $2200 less wheels, tires, engine.
Bernie, I am in your area.
We have a tire rule which will be a hard tire.
OTK karts are the most widely supported karts in our area. There are OTK parts available at just about every race. The Swiss-Hutless dealer is also available at almost every race. The OTK karts dominate the top 5 in 206 at just about every race.
Mike Rollison has sales of his used equipment a couple of times a year. I would expect that he will again clear some of his mildly used but well maintained equipment soon.
There is no issue switching between W/F and LO206.
We have a tire rule which will be a hard tire.
OTK karts are the most widely supported karts in our area. There are OTK parts available at just about every race. The Swiss-Hutless dealer is also available at almost every race. The OTK karts dominate the top 5 in 206 at just about every race.
Mike Rollison has sales of his used equipment a couple of times a year. I would expect that he will again clear some of his mildly used but well maintained equipment soon.
There is no issue switching between W/F and LO206.