Hey all. I know a few people on here are into go-karting and just need a few questions answered. Bout 4 years ago i owned and raced a clubman 100cs. Anyway i got rid of it a long time ago but am now looking to get back into it. What type is reconmended. I have seen a few like the j motor type. How does that go compared to a clubman s go kart. Also is it worth my while to just buy a rotex kart. Whats the difference?? I know there watercooled but do they go a lot better for the extra money for them. Also i have seen a few for sale that say electric start. Does this mean when you spin you can just press a button and they start up?? What used to piss me off the most was pushing my old go-kart everytime you wanted to start it. There is one for sale at my go-kart local track. The frame is an arrow and is brand new and has a j motor on it with 6 hours on it. They want $2100 with a frame. Is that worth it? Thanks

i wouldnt race a j unless i was still a rookie, yeah electric start on these rotaxs means no pushing necessary but you can still stall them when you spin. they got cluby motors with clutches and electric start now too. all depends on what your really gonna get one for again. the arrow ax8 are the most popular frame theyre everywhere

yeah i thought the j motor was slower. My old clubman s used to go pretty quick it wasn't on an arrow frame or anything but a lot of the rotex i used to race with on practice days used to leave me for dead along the straights. Im thinking more a rotex its just more finding one. A lot of ebay ones are in melbourne and victoria.

i would be phoning st george kart centre. Get straight into a rotax and be done with it, clubmans are quite soft in comparison to a rotax and j's are more so for beginners. electric start is the way to go these days and its only worth an extra few hundred bucks.

yea i wouldn't bother with a j,, there for beginners and kids.. s motor is alright but still nothing compared to the rotax.. the rotax is a push button start 125cc motor.. pretty scary to drive if its a 1st time because theres no compression brake? slowing it down once you release the accelerator.. even look into getting a leopard motor,, there not as quick as the rotax,, but they still boogy only con with the rotax is that if you dont warm it up/tune the mixtures properly it will seize.. and rebuilds arnt cheap

i had a arrow ax8 frame with a rotax 125cc watercooled motor would never look back on a 100 J or 100 S unless your a rookie cant go wrong with arrow and rotax's each to there own but

how much would a rotex second hand be worth. i have seen them from $2000 up to $6000 second hand.

yeh... 2k for a kart with a rotax on it would be thrashed. generally u pay about 4500-6k for a decent kart with a rotax on it, and u probably usually get an alfano with that aswell. tyres some spares. They're generally low mantainence engines. as long as u give them a freshen up at the required hours you wont have too many dramas. and for the performance over a yamaha j or s, you'll be glad you spent a little more money. obviously they money you save in engine rebuilds/mantainence will probably be used in other areas. like pads/tyres.. if u are in a position where u need to be buying tyres each meet to remain competitive. the better and faster u can drive a j or an s.. the faster u will be in a rotax.. the lower classes are not the fastest.. but the competiton is the best. rotax is much bigger now than it used to be anyway. if i were getting back into it.. id be straight into a rotax.. I blew one up a few years back $1200 bucks to rebuild.. was quite extensive damage goodluck with it. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

dont ever buy a 2nd hand motor unless you know who rebuilt it. its asking for a rip, just imagine giving it 15000rpm for 15 hrs then some1 telling you its fresh and you go out and buy it. buy it brand new in the box, might cost you 2800

Dont bother with a J, they are a waste of time and money and really are suited to a novice driver and junior categories. The safe bet if you want to race or have fun is to buy an S. Make sure if you are buying one to race the engine has not been ported or is running a piston over 53.00 mm as the barrel is then illegal to race with per AKA regs. If you can buy one that is a known or proven quantity then you will end up with a much better engine than an unknown out of the box new one that you still need to spend another 1k on blueprinting to get it going ok! My pic would be a Leopard or Rotax 125CC TAG. So much fun and very easy to race with. The leopard is a more friendly engine being easier to tune and set up IMO and has a peakier power spread. IMO the Rotax is slightly quicker but completely different driving style, carburettor is a pain to tune until you understand it, and they are expensive to repair.

If you weigh around the 70-75kg mark, i'd recommend buying a 100s and running in the clubman light class. One of the toughest classes you can do and the lap times are the same as the Rotax pro class on some tracks

Rotax class is dying, the tyres they use are too hard and the engines are too powerful for them, Leopards are much quicker then Rotax's and low maintenance. or if u just wanna be in the most competetive class, 100cc Clubman Motors for Clubman Light or Clubman Heavy are the go!

Quote: Originally Posted by BWARND Rotax class is dying, the tyres they use are too hard and the engines are too powerful for them, Leopards are much quicker then Rotax's and low maintenance. or if u just wanna be in the most competetive class, 100cc Clubman Motors for Clubman Light or Clubman Heavy are the go! What would you know, ur a n00b. Iv seen you drive, you cant even keep it on the black stuff old timer..

lmaoo,, at least his still in the game paul.. you chickened out Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by BWARND Rotax class is dying, the tyres they use are too hard and the engines are too powerful for them, Leopards are much quicker then Rotax's and low maintenance. or if u just wanna be in the most competetive class, 100cc Clubman Motors for Clubman Light or Clubman Heavy are the go! Aren't they up too like the 5th series of rotax engine now? Always seemed to be too hard of a category to stay on top of minor changes. When I was last racing in 03, the leopard was either just on par or around 2 tenths off at most tracks between the 2.

leopard is becoming a big class now i heard.. last big meet they had 2/3 groups for the 1 class

these days Rotax's are only a couple of tenths faster then Clubman light lolol, leopards are in the range of 2secs per lap quicker then Clubman light so they are pretty quick, and yeah since it became a National class, its become pretty big

And so it should, its an awesome category on a sticky tyre. What more do you need for good competition?

rotax fucked up due to the specific tyre change they made yea?

Quote: Originally Posted by freEze_dK lmaoo,, at least his still in the game paul.. you chickened out nah just cant afford it, spend to much money on cars Some original photos have not been recovered yet.