Post by glen on May 4, 2006 11:13:17 GMT -5
I got my first practice session of the year in yesterday. Somehow I managed to leave all my gear at home (doh) so I had to borrow a jacket and neck brace from the rental equipment, luckily I brought my spare helmet and gloves, but this left me without a ribvest. It was warm and sunny when I left town but by the time I got to the track it was cloudy and windy and too cold to stand around in a T-shirt, probably in the mid to upper 50's. There were several other TAG karts out there and a huge group using the rentals. I still had some work to do on the kart, putting on new sprockets and chain, so I didn't get onto the track until everyone else had left. The mychron4 worked awesome, this is the first time I have actually been able to see what RPM or laptime I was running, so unfortunately I don't have any baseline to compare to when I was running the old tires and gearing, but that doesn't matter much anyway.
The first session out I took it easy bedding in the new brake pads and warming up the new chain so I could get some lube on it. Physically it was still quite a workout as I imagine the first laps of the year always are. The track seemed even bumpier than last year, and I suppose that can happen over a Minnesota winter.
After checking everything over from the shakedown and playing with the mychron for a bit, I was ready for another round. I gave it everything I had and got down to a 54.1, and stayed out until I was completely exhausted, I could barely get my gloves off my hands were so cramped up, after making a mental note to relax my grip I noticed I had only done 8 laps. Disappointed in how much work I have to do, being 6 seconds off the pace and dead tired after 7 hard laps, I decided to try to run 10 consecutive laps under 60 seconds on the next session.
After a long break to rest I got in for the third session, starting with a 59 and gradually working my way down to a 56 and then backing off so that I could make my ten lap goal. I actually made it 15 laps with the last being back in the 56 range. Completely exhausted again, I am realizing that I am spending way too much energy trying to hold myself in the kart. My hands and arms are tired, not from steering, but from supporting my body weight. I have sore spots above my knees from squeezing them up into the steering wheel to hold me in. I ran a couple more sessions trying to force myself to lean back and let the seat hold me in, but I just couldn't do it.
My seat fits snug around my hips, but without the ribvest it is a bit loose at the top. Also after thinking about it today I realized that there is some padding on the bottom and back of the seat that I could take out to help me fit a little "deeper" into the seat. Hopefully the ribvest helps by fitting me in tighter at the top of the seat and adding support higher up on my body. However I have to wonder if being 6'2" I need a seat that is "taller" so that the top of the seat is up near my armpit like it would be on a shorter person. Hopefully I can get back out there on Friday and try these things, but if they don't work, I'll probably be looking for a ribtect seat or deepseat.
The kart was handling horribly, totally inconsistent, sometimes it would rotate nicely on entry, then slide out at exit and sometimes it push on entry only to suddenly "catch" and rotate like it was on rails. I was trying to get by with a crappy digital tire pressure gauge, which I will be replacing immediately, so I can't even say for sure what my tire pressures were. I tried to set them for 10 psi cold, hoping to get up to 14ish hot. Perhaps I was letting too much air out by trying to get a good reading, or perhaps it was too cold out to get them up to temp, but I only had about 10psi "hot" the last time I checked them. I'm guessing that the inconsistent handling has mostly to do with too low and uneven tire pressure and poor seat fit causing me to load the chassis through the steering wheel instead of the seat and of course the bumps.
The engine ran strong all day. I don't have the cojones to really push it yet, I was getting up to 15,500 at the start/finish line then backing off through the first corner as the kart is still a bit twitchy on the straight (kart was way toed out when I got it, may need a bit more toe in yet) and I don't really want to go off the track at that speed. Same thing on the double apex corner on the backside of the track, I'm just not ready to risk going as fast as I know I should be there, as it's very fast and the bumps are bad. Every time I checked the plug it looked rich, but still feels like it's pulling really hard to me. I knew I was playing it safe with the jetting, but I can probably go to a leaner jet and still be safe, since it was quite cold yesterday.
I weighed in at 397#, only 7# overweight with almost a half tank of gas. I was 233# with gear, so that put the kart at 164#, which seems pretty good, so I was happy with that.
This is with a 125 Easykart on Vega Blues with 10/84 gearing. It has BAR Honda replica graphics on it, so if you see me at the track, introduce yourself. I welcome any and all comments, I normally don't write this much (wow, it really is a lot now that I look back on it) but I'm trying to get some discussion going on these forums. So if you have anything to add, let’s hear it. Thanks.
Glen
The first session out I took it easy bedding in the new brake pads and warming up the new chain so I could get some lube on it. Physically it was still quite a workout as I imagine the first laps of the year always are. The track seemed even bumpier than last year, and I suppose that can happen over a Minnesota winter.
After checking everything over from the shakedown and playing with the mychron for a bit, I was ready for another round. I gave it everything I had and got down to a 54.1, and stayed out until I was completely exhausted, I could barely get my gloves off my hands were so cramped up, after making a mental note to relax my grip I noticed I had only done 8 laps. Disappointed in how much work I have to do, being 6 seconds off the pace and dead tired after 7 hard laps, I decided to try to run 10 consecutive laps under 60 seconds on the next session.
After a long break to rest I got in for the third session, starting with a 59 and gradually working my way down to a 56 and then backing off so that I could make my ten lap goal. I actually made it 15 laps with the last being back in the 56 range. Completely exhausted again, I am realizing that I am spending way too much energy trying to hold myself in the kart. My hands and arms are tired, not from steering, but from supporting my body weight. I have sore spots above my knees from squeezing them up into the steering wheel to hold me in. I ran a couple more sessions trying to force myself to lean back and let the seat hold me in, but I just couldn't do it.
My seat fits snug around my hips, but without the ribvest it is a bit loose at the top. Also after thinking about it today I realized that there is some padding on the bottom and back of the seat that I could take out to help me fit a little "deeper" into the seat. Hopefully the ribvest helps by fitting me in tighter at the top of the seat and adding support higher up on my body. However I have to wonder if being 6'2" I need a seat that is "taller" so that the top of the seat is up near my armpit like it would be on a shorter person. Hopefully I can get back out there on Friday and try these things, but if they don't work, I'll probably be looking for a ribtect seat or deepseat.
The kart was handling horribly, totally inconsistent, sometimes it would rotate nicely on entry, then slide out at exit and sometimes it push on entry only to suddenly "catch" and rotate like it was on rails. I was trying to get by with a crappy digital tire pressure gauge, which I will be replacing immediately, so I can't even say for sure what my tire pressures were. I tried to set them for 10 psi cold, hoping to get up to 14ish hot. Perhaps I was letting too much air out by trying to get a good reading, or perhaps it was too cold out to get them up to temp, but I only had about 10psi "hot" the last time I checked them. I'm guessing that the inconsistent handling has mostly to do with too low and uneven tire pressure and poor seat fit causing me to load the chassis through the steering wheel instead of the seat and of course the bumps.
The engine ran strong all day. I don't have the cojones to really push it yet, I was getting up to 15,500 at the start/finish line then backing off through the first corner as the kart is still a bit twitchy on the straight (kart was way toed out when I got it, may need a bit more toe in yet) and I don't really want to go off the track at that speed. Same thing on the double apex corner on the backside of the track, I'm just not ready to risk going as fast as I know I should be there, as it's very fast and the bumps are bad. Every time I checked the plug it looked rich, but still feels like it's pulling really hard to me. I knew I was playing it safe with the jetting, but I can probably go to a leaner jet and still be safe, since it was quite cold yesterday.
I weighed in at 397#, only 7# overweight with almost a half tank of gas. I was 233# with gear, so that put the kart at 164#, which seems pretty good, so I was happy with that.
This is with a 125 Easykart on Vega Blues with 10/84 gearing. It has BAR Honda replica graphics on it, so if you see me at the track, introduce yourself. I welcome any and all comments, I normally don't write this much (wow, it really is a lot now that I look back on it) but I'm trying to get some discussion going on these forums. So if you have anything to add, let’s hear it. Thanks.
Glen
Hi All,
