Rick

I'm presuming there are some dads who have some experience in getting their kids started in karting.

Does anyone have any suggestions on karting schools that will welcome kids? I'd like to get my 2 boys (ages 8 & 11) started in karts and would like to kick it off with some good learning. We'll probably be buying a kart that they'll share for the first year or so.

I'm hoping to do this during the first week in April as part of their spring break so we'll go pretty much anywhere (Midwest, East & Southeast is best given we live in Indianapolis).

Thanks much,

Rick

ltc

OVRP in New York has a very good instruction program, lots of good kids come out of there.
http://www.ovrpweb.com/doty/SchoolApplication.PDF
BeaveRun in PA had one as well last time I checked.
There is also Jim Russell's school out in CA:
http://www.jimrussellusa.com/karting/karting.php

FWIW, my son did a season of indoor karting, then switched to outdoor 80cc Cadets (ages 8-12). The fastest growing class in the country for 8-12 is Rotax MiniMax (8-12, same engine as Junior Rotax, just with intake/exhaust restrictors, 14hp instead of 20hp)
He ran 2 seasons in Cadets and now has moved up to Junior Rotax 125cc (ages 13-16).

During practices, we used a Chatterbox FRS 2 way on his helmet
http://www.chatterboxstore.com/produ...2-communicator
I wore a headset and used a Motorola FRS (re: Walmart) walkie talkie. It helped with real time feedback and coaching. It worked very well.
Here is a pic of him wearing the FRS X2 Chatterbox on his helmet during his checkout rides in his new Jr Rotax kart (Arrow AX9 from Australia). He had a PTT switch on the steering wheel, that is the wire you see running from the FRS X2 down the seat/chassis to the PTT switch.
https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...hmentid=157466
I have since sold it, as he is now beyond need of my coaching....translation: he's a better driver than I am.

skl

Did karting with my two boys from about the same ages until a couple years ago- went from Briggs all the way thru 125 shifters- great family experience and it taught them how to be very good drivers. Now we all race in SCCA together.
We had a lot of help with others from the local kart track and I assume you have a least one good one around that racing meca you live in!
I've seen ads for karting schools out in California (Hall school comes to mind) but never went there. I'm thinking about trying out Gingerman Raceway this coming year- maybe they have something- it isn't that far from you.
I had a very understanding wife who knew we were having quality time together- I wasn't in the ball and stick games that much and my boys much preferred racing and motorsports- they inherited the gearhead gene from their dad and grand-dad...

multi21

I had to say it, but it will be difficult to have your boys share the same kart. Seat fitment is so important and they are probably different heights and weight (corner balancing in a kart is very important too).

Your younger son should start off in what is called "Junior 1" out here in Cali. It's a 8-12 age group with a Comer 80cc 2 stroke engine. Check with your local clubs in Indy for the most attended class for your older son. In our club, Junior Rotax is not highly attended, but regular Older Rotax or TAG is.

I used to race in Rotax Masters and highly recommend it as it is pretty much a spec class with sealed engines, same tires, fuel, pipes. Fifty running hours between rebuilts is a plus as well. The Comer Junior 1 engines are pretty bullet proof as well.

There is are two schools I know of in Cali, one in the Bay area and one in Ventura County, approximately 1 hour north of LA. I believe there is a kart school at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix, Firebird Speedway.

Good luck!! It's a fun family sport. My daughter has been in it for 4 years and I can't get her out of the kart.

ltc

In stock form, yes.
But if you are competing in a class where blueprinting is allowed, then you will likely need to have at least 2 engines, as you can go maybe 3-4 races before a rebuild/refresh...at least if you want to be competitive.
$1500 for a Comer 80 from one of the better engine companies....my son's were from Doug Fleming out in CA. Woltjer is another popular option.
At our local track, a fast 80cc laptime was 49 seconds. Same driver on a stock 80cc....55 seconds.

Makes any Rotax (sealed engines as mentioned) class more enjoyable

skl

Try and stay with stock classes if you can- when we went to alcohol Briggs or certain shifter classes for that matter, you were always going for the carb of the week, or manifold of the week to keep up. Got VERY $$$, but I guess that's racing isn't it?? The spec classes are a little easier... I agree with Lewis.

ltc

Yes, it's racing, but it's hard to explain that to an 8-12 year old.....translation: you've got no chance of winning, simply because they've got more motor than you do, even if you are a much better driver.

It is better in a sealed engine class, it's just driver and chassis (tuning). IMHO, kids should race sealed engine only.

02fly

I agree with M3Pete it will be very hard to share the kart. Just my two cents, I would buy the Karts take them out on a open track day and let the kids get use too them. I'm willing to bet there will be alot of other racers willing to help how ever they can, karting is just that way. We will get you with in a second of our lap time then your on your own. As far as classes go please take this advise go out and find the class that has the most partisipation Karting already has too many classes so find out what your local club is doing and do that.
If you have any question that I can help you with drop me a note I would be happy to help if I can, I've been involved in karting for 20 years as a racer, club president and race official. I've done it all it a great sports best bang for you buck and by all means go get your self a kart and have fun with your kids.
Have Fun Don

skl

Couldn't agree with fly more. One of the best days I ever had was my first shifter kart race with my older son. We started on the front row (standing starts in shifters, just like F1 !!!!). I felt like Mario sitting next to Micheal, and BTW, I was on pole! And I beat him into the first corner... don't ask who won though...
And yes- it doesn't make sense to share a kart.

mikew968

Are you close to New Castle? I would think they have some training schools there as they do a ton of racing there.


Mike

Rick

Great advise - I'll check into some of these places.

I realize that it really won't work to have both kids be competitive in a single kart. My thought, based on some discussions with the guys here locally at Comet Kart Sales, was to let them share a kart for maybe one season of just playing around on the track - we can use seat pads and pedal blocks. If they really show some desire to pursue this, I'd likely finish setting up this kart of the 8 yr old and then buy a different kart that would be well setup for the 11 year old.

I'm about 45 minutes away from New Castle - I called & sent an email regarding classes but was told that they probably won't have anything in 2007 (they're re-thinking it currently & will know in mid/late January). If we buy a kart, we'll buy something that gets a lot of class participation there as that is a great & close track for us.

Thanks guys.

Rick

ronbo56

+1 for OVRP. My oldest son and I did the school up there last summer when he was 11. He was a little too big for the Comer but fit into whatever us geezers were driving. Scared the crap out of him for one session, then ... see ya, Dad!

Folks up there were as nice as could be, especially with the kids. In addition to my son there was a 5 year old (with his own kart!) and a family with twin boys, only one of whom wanted to drive.

My only quibble with the instruction was that the instructor seemed to assume a certain amount of knowledge of vehicle dynamics. It turned out to be a good thing that I had spent the ride up giving the Driving 101 lecture, because the instructor's first words were something like, "These karts have a lot of understeer."

Oh, and it's a great track, too - long straights but very technical in some of the corners.

multi21

ITC,

The Junior 1 classes in Cal are all blueprinted. Doug has been our engine builder since she was in Kid Karts and we always had problems with the 50cc engines. When she moved up to 80cc, we bought 2 engines, an engine that ran in Stars of Tomorrow and a beater engine. We figured she'd get used to the speeds with the beater engine and then move over the the better engine. She ended up winning 2 class championships with the beater engine and we havent touched the faster engine yet.

BTW, after 2 seasons, the beater engine does not have a rebuilt (although, it needs to be refreshed now). It's a testiment to how good Doug is. There are good engine builders out there, but I would recommend Doug Flemming without hesitation to anyone. He's been our guy for 4 years now.

ltc

M3Pete,
You can't get better than Doug.
I ran his engine only for races.....for everything else, especially wet races, I ran the beater. At the local club level, this was just fine.

J richard

2nd on Newcastle, great place to run!
http://www.newcastleraceway.com/rental.shtml