Rookie - Help please!

[ECW Dan Selby]

Ok here's the deal:

Always loved karting and should have started at a young age, but never really had the money in which to do so. Now I can stand on my own two feet (money-wise, and physically ) i've invested money in to a business which is starting some time this year. I will, however, be coming in to a little bit of extra money. I've been karting over 10 times and loved it. Single engine and twin engine. I know little about it, and how to get in to it, or where to start. Where is the best place to look for 2nd hand karts, and could I be advised on what's a good purchase and what isn't? Where's a good place to start? I'm living in Harlow, Essex. My closest tracks are Rye House and Lakeside, both of which i've tried and enjoyed thoroughly (if anyone hasn't tried the Devil's Drop at Lakeside, i'd seriously suggest it!!!).

Thanks in advance!!

Selby

[Rockmunky]

Right, the first piece of advice i would give is DON'T BUY ANYTHING.
Get yourself down to Rye House on the first Sunday of the month for the monthly meeting, have a chat with people who will be more than willing to help you out and give you advice.

Bit of a bummer considering yesterday was the monthly meet, but that's sods law.

Personally, the TKM Extreme class is regarded by some as better than Rotax due to the ease of the kart to repair and fix etc.
Rotax look pretty cool, but I've heard the running costs are higher.
However, I'm not one to judge, I have a TKM, but I haven't got round to doing what you're doing, which is thinking about it properly!

Obviously, you'll need a licence once you want to get racing, and the licence pack can be bought here http://www.msauk.org/site/cms/conten...sp?article=785

[ECW Dan Selby]

Thankyou very much, that's appreciated.

Any other/more suggestions are welcome! Can't get enough good advice.

Selby

[Sideswipe]

Hi,

Pretty much Rockmunky has said is spot on.

Firstly, check out the forum at Karting1.co.uk - especially look at this topic

What type of kart you shou;d get will depend on many factors: age, weight, budget, what tracks your close to and how familiar you are with spannering etc.

I race Easykart which personally I think is brilliant, but it does have its disadvantages.

The "market place" at UK karting is a good place to look for 2nd hand karts. You can also get good deals on ebay but wait before you buy!

So... tell us a bit more about yourself and whether you are want to be practicing or racing in a club championship or racing in a national championship and then we can really answer your question.

[tonful]

Another vote for TKM, everyone told me that Rotax's weren't recomended for beginners as they require a bit more experience to get them set up and are more expensive, especially on tyres.

My son has just passed his arks test. We hired a kart from www.srsracing.co.uk for a couple of test sessions before doing his test with them as well. Nice bunch of guys, a days testing at the weekend cost about £250 but its well worth it as they gave us loads of advice with driving techniques and general running of the kart. They also test every wednesday at Whilton Mill which might be a better bet for your first session as there will be fewer karts and you get much more track time.

We've now bought a TKM and are planning to test at Tilbury before racing at Kimbolton (St Neots) and Whilton Mill (Daventry). Can't race at Rye House as they don't do Junior TKM but they do get reasonable grids of Senior TKM.

Let us know how you get on.

Tony

[gsyracer]

Originally Posted by tonful

Another vote for TKM, everyone told me that Rotax's weren't recomended for beginners as they require a bit more experience to get them set up and are more expensive, especially on tyres.

Plus they are the most annoying engines on the planet...

[Rockmunky]

Now i'm not trying to turn this into a Rotax bashing thread, but I heard someone say that they heard that one rotax engine they had differed by up to 1.5 seconds a lap, whcih is a HUGE amount!

So, as for fairness and consistency goes, I dunno!

[ECW Dan Selby]

I'd rather hear this unbias approach, so it's fine If there are genuine problems with the Rotax (such as engine differential) then i'd like to know. Plus, the TKM's are cheaper

Selby

[gsyracer]

The good thing about TKM, rather than the price, is that you can adjust the jet settings whilts in the kart. Rotax have a slide carb which jets you need/should change to suit the conditions but can only be done whilst in the pits/paddock as you need to take the float cover off. TKM have 2 jets which can be adjusted by twisting the screws in or out. Handy if you need to solve a minor problem out on track.

Generally TKm will probably be more exciting too, although I must admit I haven't driven one.

Rotaxs can be fun to drive but IMHO not the best of engines to enjoy racing.

[davyboy]

Dan, I've been racing karts for 25 years and have pretty much every class. I'm currently racing Senior Rotax Max at Rye House.

As mentioned earlier, the best thing to do is not to buy anything just yet and get yourself to the next meeting at Rye House which will be on 1st February 2009. I won't be there myself as 'I don't do' cold weather meetings these days, but see if you can locate Alan Rees Reynolds from the Hoddesdon Kart Club. His son Andrew races in Senior Max too and Alan's extremely friendly and helpful. He'll give you the low down on how to get started etc...

Hoddesdon is a great club, one of the friendliest in the country, so your proximity is great. Now in terms of classes, unless you want to spend a lot of money on long circuit racing or the international KF classes you've really got 2 options at Rye :

o TKM Extreme.
o Senior Rotax Max.

The TKM class is significantly cheaper than Max, however the grid numbers are much smaller. On my last time out in November, there were almost 30 Senior Max, while I think there was around 8 or so TKMs. Now in other parts of the country, the TKM grid size is better, but irrespective of where you are, the Senior Max grid will always be good.

In terms of cost difference - you're looking at around GBP750 for a good secondhand TKM outfit a couple of years old. A 2007 Senior Max will run you around GBP2,000 or so. The running cost of each class is similarly different. Tyres for the Max don't last as long and the servicing costs of the engine are a lot more expensive too.

In terms of driveability, the Max has a pushbutton TaG starting system, while the TKM you'd be buying uses an external starter or the old fashioned bump start process. TKM have introduced a TaG system for new motors this year... but a new TKM engine would run you around GBP1,400 - not a smart way to start I would think.

If you need more info/help, just PM me and I'll do my best.

[ghinzani]

Are there any non-MSA tracks up around Essex way? Might be best to start in something like that, maybe in a Prokart ('cos they are super easy to maintain) and then when you've built up your karting knowledge go to MSA 9if you want to be bound by stuffed shirts that is). I have a Rotax and a TKM, my vote would go to the TKM, more real karters in there, Rotax tends to be like bumper cars - but why not do a round with Club 100 then you can see if you liek 2 strokes.

[Rockmunky]

Originally Posted by davyboy

See if you can locate Alan Rees Reynolds from the Hoddesdon Kart Club. His son Andrew races in Senior Max too and Alan's extremely friendly and helpful. He'll give you the low down on how to get started etc...

Hoddesdon is a great club, one of the friendliest in the country, so your proximity is great.

Yup, i'll vouch for that.
Alan is a great guy, I know his daughter quite well, but the whole family are a great bunch of people.
Andrew has some great battles last weekend, great to watch Marshalling down at Hairpin 1.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Guys this is brilliant - I really appreciate it. What i'll do is show this thread to the guy who wanted to maybe co-"invest" in this karting idea

Special thanks to davyboy; that's really useful.

Selby