oldkart
Member
In the Ohio area years ago the sae and simaler karts covered the small dirt tracks.Part of karting history. How about some cool photos , please post .
That would be considered in the vintage karting world a rear engine kart. Balance on rear engines are pretty messed up when you put them on the scales. Jerry Solt made a lot of the SAE's. Others have copied some. Seen that a lot with SAE's, that square tube chassis really flexes a lot, especially the twin engine versions. I've seen them pick up a front tire off the track at sprint tracks around 6-inches or so. All rear engine karts typically have trouble entering the corners, mainly because the balance is so far off. My Alley Kat II twin engine has like 25% nose weight with a full tank of fuel on the floor pan its like driving a dump truck with a top fuel motor. Or sprint car. You are really turning the twin engines with use of the throttle. I race a lot of modern karts still, but rear engines are thoroughly a blast to race, because they are so different from today's karts.The one's I came across in middle TN in the 80s had square tubing and the engine was right behind the seat. We had " regular " karts an old Yamaha chassis. Don't know where they came from or who's idea it was to mix them but we raced with them on a short indoor track. They had trouble entering the turn , but they sure could come off. A KT100 was enough to carry the front end .
That is typical of a rear engine kart being narrow. There are lots of things that don't work the same. I'm pretty well known in VKA for damn near leaning out of the kart on the track. And not having any side nerf bars makes everyone else think they are superman in comparison when running something with full nerfs and bumpers. Its also not uncommon to gain some air on sprint tracks and bicycle the rear engines at certain times. Like I said they are fun karts to race, because they are nothing like today's kart. Another one that I watched as a kid that ran really well on the oval tracks was Blackhawk. That thing had some many heim joints in it and flexed so much that it really carried a wheel off the track pretty all the way around on the one paved oval I remember watching them at.As narrow as these were , it looks like they would have a bunch of side bite. You'd have to " pitch it " into the turn I'd guess. It became evident in a few laps that all that wheel standing was not helping them fend us off. I'll bet they never tried that again.
Where did you find the kart in the second photo? The one with the clear tank that says OSR?? That was my dads old karts, he recently passed away. I am trying to find it and hopefully buy it backIn the Ohio area years ago the sae and simaler karts covered the small dirt tracks.Part of karting history. How about some cool photos , please post .