125 CC Tag Karts....

So this past weekend I was up at AMP doing a member day. so one of the young guys who works there said "Hey you wanna try out some of the TAG karts?" ... so me 48 yr old fat guy, says "sure, lets do it" - full well knowing the last time I was dead in 2-3 laps....

so I was extremely pleased with myself in that I not only could do almost a full 10 min session with out being completely shattered,, but did it 2 more times that same day. Ok - its true that I can barely walk or move today... typing this is about all the energy I have... but it did not kill me. and I was about 5 seconds from a "good time" at AMP... so there is hope.

going from a LO206 to a TAG is like going from your every day Ferrari to an F-3 car... I cant imagine AMP on a Shifter Kart...

 

I have a 125cc TonyKart ICC shifter kart and I use quite frequently. It's important for keeping up skills and fitness. I don't even take cars to the track anymore.

 

I raced rotax tag...yamaha piston port before that...I used a "deep seat"...don't know if it's even made anymore....came out of Florida. Anyways, it kept me planted, I didn't piss blood and I kicked the dog poo out of my competition for two years. Btw, I'm 48 right now...have fun!!! Oh...full disclosure, I haven't raced in a while. Take it up!!!...the joke in our club is that it's better than sex (I can't argue)

 

Well I don't know about that much... but it is extremely addictive! lt's my version of heroin. I'm 48 my self... so hoping this will last a while!

to me it really beats any form of Car club track meet... the cost is so much less, and the thrill is just the same going from 80 mph into a 15mph turn is about the same as going from 145 to 45 mph turn... just the wear and tear on the car is less!

 

Very cool and how about crashes/injuries on the kart?

Sherpa, where do you track your kart in CO, that you would recommend?

 

I keep it at the kart track at Bandimere Speedway. It's not the nicest track but it's a real kart track, highly technical to great for skills and fitness, easy to get to from my office, and the staff and people are absolutely wonderful. I love it there.

 

thank you, I need to check it out. Had to stop tracking the gt3 for budget reasons this year but perhaps I can get my fix with the karts. Something I would like to get my son into(within reason) as well. He's too young still but should be ready in 2-3 years I would think when he's 5-6 years old.

 

I karted for a couple years myself then quit as I only attended 6 events a year due to my work schedule. But I miss it and just bought another '15 Italkart with a MY09 motor. They do still make Deep Seats and I'm having a 15.5 seat put on it after it gets delivered.

I echo other sentiments here, good exercise and cheaper to run than cars. If you bin it, max cost to replace whole lot will be another $9k. Far less than car replacements

 

I ended up purchasing a 125 MadCroc Shifter Kart a few months ago. It's how you wish you could drive your car on the track, just without the risk of damaging a nice car.

It is extremely addictive and fun. The only downfall is the sore ribs, but that could be just cause I'm getting older and don't rebound like I used too.

It will be a tad cheaper than running your exotic. You do go through tires pretty quickly. Though, they are only 230 for a set.

 

I have no idea what the cost is to run a GT3 on the track but karts aren't cheap to run. It will cost a good few thousand a year to run with any consistency. I don't think that you can get s better quality of seat time per dollar but its anything but free.

 

I will say, after running my 360 and 4C on the track. I realized that it's not that much more expensive to run the cars as the Kart. Surprisingly the Kart has quite an upkeep to it. Not to mention your running race gas at 15$ a gallon.

 

Have only had two "shunts" both not caused by me... but I did chip a tooth in one of them.. miniscule but still chipped it... the Ribs do get a work out and I'm less sore after a days karting than I was 2 years ago. in the LO206 I can do an hour or more of fairly consistent lap times before getting too tired. however running in 98F heat takes it out of you no matter how in shape you are.

 

Yes - Tag's take more $$ and the fuel cost is huge! LO206 is regular pump fuel and Briggs oil for the engine.. tires etc... but I have to say that its no where as expensive as doing brakes and alignment on my Ferrari - not to mention oil, gearbox flush etc...

 

Hah...my first kart was an Ital...with a deep seat. Claudio still has the shop in downtown Vancouver. His son was an absolute weapon in shifter and made a career out of Motorsport. Now, if you want to have fun on the track...club racing I guess, be prepared to spend money if you want to win....it's just like anything else in life, you need lots of "fun tickets" to have fun (winning is super-fun).. My worst injury was when we rented a commercial track and practiced on it....got cocky, spun over a tire wall, through some cedar bushes and hit a stump....twisted the kart frame, stuck the motor, got whiplash and bruised my ribs. Pride.....I popped out of the kart, dusted myself off and walked over to the concession stand....but I couldn't breath....had a couple off way more dramatic accidents but never got a scratch. Go racing!!!!!

 

My "racing" days are over... I do our club races, and usually can finish ok - depending on how many show up... but really I'm in it for the fun. I can literally get in the kart and just run all day, it never seems to get old. with the michron 5 - Its you against your self every lap. just the other day I set my personal best at AMP... I felt like I won a championship!!!

I will admit that it is fun when you go out and reel in a young guy who is 100lb lighter ... it does not happen a lot but once in a while!