Relatively new to karting, questions (motors, track width)

[Stephen Seiler]

Hi Guys,

A few months ago I bought a TAG kart (older Trackmagic chassis with a Woltjer 125cc Leopard). I joined GCKI and have been out to the Katy track a few times, running by myself. Working up to being competitive in a group

Have a few questions that I am hoping someone can answer:

1) When I bought the kart, I was told the motor had 5-6 hours on it. Since then, I have put maybe 2 hrs on it in my 3 trips (current sprocket setup gives me about 16,000 rpm at the end of the straight). Question is: since I do not know the history of the motor... how can I eventually tell when it is due for a rebuild? Any way to physically inspect and see?

2) Might be a dumb question, but the right-rear wheel appears to be further away from the centerline of the kart than the left-rear wheel. Is this normal, or a type of setup used?

[Patrick Roth]

Stephen,

Welcome to the club!!! It's been a few years since I ran TaG but I'll throw in my two cents. For reference, I planned for a top end every 10 hours and a bottom end every 20 hours (I was gearing/tuning for around 16,800-17,000 RPMs so I was pushing the motor harder). I'm not aware of any physical inspection that you can do to verify the condition without pulling the motor apart. I'm hoping others will chime in here as there are several people that have been running Leopards for years and have done countless rebuilds. The safe thing to do is to rebuild the motor before it becomes a really big repair bill (voice of experience). The extra hour or so you think you could get isn't worth the potential damage if you stick the piston or have a bearing failure.

The way I measure my rear width is to measure from the bearing hanger (outer most surface towards the wheel) to the inside edge of the hub (assuming both hubs are identical). This should be equal on both sides. I almost always run a maximum rear width of 55". I have never tried to measure from the "center" of the kart because there really isn't a good spot to get accurate measurements from and can be visually deceiving since the motor side of the kart has 2 tubes and the seat will usually be slightly offset to the left to clear the motor.

If you can, stop by the race next weekend and check things out. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have and introduce you to people that would be able to help you out with the Leopard rebuild and tuning. I run a shifter kart number 26T (black and orange CRG).

Patrick

[Jean Michel Gaston]

Unfortunately, like Patrick said, there is no good way to tell when the Leopard is needing a re-build, unlike other 2-strokes where the performance decline is more visible. To be on the safe side, invest a little bit of time and money and bring your motor in to Joe Bauhs for an inspection. You might only need a top end at this time, but hopefully he can check your bottom end for wear.