[Mikko Nassi]

Yo,

Just wondering a bit here. In Europe it's common to work on your kart by yourself and take the kart home and then only get the big stuff done at the kart shop such as engine rebuilds. Or pretty often if you need some help you just ask a mate to come along and be your mechanic. Or for young kids they work on their kart together with their dad.

In most Asian countries it seems that the norm is to have a team take care of the kart 100%, sometimes to the extent that the driver hardly touches the kart except when he goes onto the track. I feel that this approach is great if you can afford it but for the first few years the driver would benefit a lot from learning to work on his own kart - he'd know a lot more about setup and would recognize when something might be wrong.

How do you go about things?

[Jules]

Mikko,
I am on shoe string budget...so I do some of the work, as per your mention myself. On race day, at times I am lucky to get some assistance.

[Ryan104]

Yeh same in australia... you just see mates helping eachother out. Probably because labour is so expensive in europe and australia. Im sure if it was cheaper we would see many people opting for the mechanic backing over there.

[Aaron]

Do all the work myself except the engine rebuilds. Learnt a heap and it definately gives you a better undertstanding of what actually happens when you make a setup change to the chassis. (still looking for the right setup though!)

[Jules]

Actually, it is a shame to see our young karters not lifting a finger to help in the kart preparation.......cos at the end of the day, it's their loss and they learn nothing about the mechanical part of karting!

Reasons I heard before :

My father says no need help cos he paid the mechanics......!!!
I am still studying....??
It's dirty!!!!

[James Leong]

At Swiss Hutless, we have 3 contracted junior drivers. The first thing they learn is to clean their kart after the race, fix tyres and other minor items. They are not treated as royalty. They have to earn their drive even though their fathers may have paid money.

Drivers are taught to respect their mechanics and not treat them like servants. They have to help their own mechanics to get things done. At the end of the day, this will make the difference between drivers who take the trouble to learn and do things on their own from drivers who are waited upon.

When I was karting, I have a friend who would only help me to push start the kart as well as doing some minor work like change sprocket and aligning the chain. Other than that, I do all my own chassis setup. My engine at that time was prepared and serviced by Paul David until I secured a works drive with Swiss Hutless and they provided everything including maintenance of the engines. Those were the days.

James Leong

[Ellis123]

I have 2 karts, a rotax that i leave with my team. i only leave it with my team for storage and transportation matters, once at the track, I do all of the work myself with the assistance of my dad. Me and my dad both know approximately the same amount when it comes to the technical aspects of the kart/setup etc. My other kart, a 125cc air cooled kart.. that's a different story. If you saw this design my dad and i have created, any one of you would be amazed. We have a 1998 toyota sienna. This is how i get my kart to the track.

Step 1- remove the back bench seats, fold down the middle 2 bucket seats .

Step 2 - slide in a piece of plywood cut to fit from the backs of the front seats, resting on the folded bucket seats, to the back of the van. put wooden blocks under the end of the plywood at the rear door.

Step 3 - The kart on the kartstand is now at the perfect level in line with the plywood, so just wheel the kart up to the rear of the van, lift the rear of the kart from the kartstand about an inch, and push in. (with 1 side pod and the rear tires removed)

Step 4: My kart stand is one of the normal stands with the X arms (it actually looks like an x with wheels on the ends. so I fold the stand and it slides perfectly under the plywood on the empty space. I then slide my tables ontop of the kartstand, and all the tools around



All in all, this takes around 10 minutes with the prepping of the kart to fit included.

People laugh when we show up in a van, but its great winning at the national level events that my team doesnt attend while pitting out of a van - really shuts the opponents up.

[Ellis123]

haha sorry I kind of got off topic, I forgot the point of the forum.
working on my own kart helps me so much, knowing what the kart is doing, and why, helps me analyze the kart's behavior while i am on track, once off track i can explain the feelings of the akrt to my dad with exact detail and the reasons in which i believe the kart is handling the way it is. We then put "two heads together" and can find a great setup very quickly

good communication to your tuner/father is the MOST IMPORTANT aspect to a working driver/tuner pair. without solid, respectful, to the point communication, nothing will ever happen.

[RocK]

For 15years I prepare my kart myself, setup myself & clean myself.
I'm a hands-on guy..

If you want something done right… You Gotta Do It Yourself

[JohnKing6]

In my 100cc days (decades ago!) my Dad and I did everything, including engine rebuilds (fortunately my dad was a whiz mechanic). I was mainly the hard labour - cleaning, changing wheels etc but did learn about what impacts the handling etc. I don't think drivers need to understand the technical details of karts but they need the basics and certainly need to know enough to explain to a mechanic/tuner what's happening.

These days I have a more relaxed approach - the closest I get to working on the kart is putting stickers and numbers on

[Dass19]

In the city karting camp we all do most of the mechanical work after giving our feedback and our mechanics instructing us what to do.. all except maybe akid..

[CRG Asia]

Talking about this topic, Here in singapore most kids are expats children and they spend money to hire mechanics for the jobs. So Here in Singapore, 90% of Kids don't know what's going on with their chassis and set up. Its a Shame.

[Mikko Nassi]

Here in singapore most kids are expats children and they spend money to hire mechanics for the jobs. So Here in Singapore, 90% of Kids don't know what's going on with their chassis and set up. Its a Shame.

I think anyone with a big budget that can do this if they choose to - not just expats. I agree it's no good because it ultimately effects their overall pace as well.

In the city karting camp we all do most of the mechanical work after giving our feedback and our mechanics instructing us what to do.. all except maybe akid..

That's a good way - expert advice so nothing goes wrong and you learn everything properly.

Akid just waits for his kart to break down does he?

[Jules]

In the city karting camp we all do most of the mechanical work after giving our feedback and our mechanics instructing us what to do.. all except maybe akid..

Wow, this must be recent developments at CK.......I gotta see your set of tools!

[edwynlow]

Guys.. recently just got my very own 1st kart.. a Swiss Hutless. So what are the few major things to learn about the kart, in terms of doing things on yourself?