DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
CycleKarts GB
HTML https://cyclekartsgb.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Events
*****************************************************
#Post#: 1974--------------------------------------------------
Article in the Parish Magazine
DIR By: TheGiantTribble
Date: March 1, 2020, 8:45 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Good afternoon all.
Here is the article I submitted for my local Parish Magazine,
unfortunately they edited out the website contacts...Doh! But
they did edit my spelling mistakes, so it's not all bad :-)
There was also some photo which don't seem to want to transfer
over here...but they looked good, even printing them in Colour
when they told me they wouldn't due to cost, I guess we are
worth it!!!
It’s Hardly Formula 1
High speed, and high adrenaline isn’t what you usually associate
with Thorpe le Soken, well apart from when on a school run down
Landermere Road, or along the High Street.
However in this rather quaint and lovely village, something
stirred, the strange put put put noise of a single cylinder
engine was heard, yes we have one of the few but growing number
of CycleKarts in GB...what is a CycleKart I hear you ask, well
they started in America by a gentleman called Stephenson back in
the 1980’s, you base it on a pre 1950’s car, now unlike Formula
1 or infact many formulas of racing our rules are more
guidelines and take up one side of A4, well if spaced out quite
a bit, and they are cheap and simple to build. All this for less
than the cost of an F1 oil change or steering wheel!
They are limited to max wheelbase of 66”, run on Honda CT90 17”
wheel or pit bike equiv, no rear suspension, a pair of leaf
springs for the front, and usually in the back use a stonking
great GX200 6.5hp single cylinder engine...I know 6.5 HP you are
wondering how on earth you can have fun with that, well very
easily in fact. But if you need the excitement/expense of
tinkering with an engine you are allowed to go to stage 1
mods...reaching the dizzy heights of 9.5 - 10 HP! It might be
worth noting none of us have actually felt the need to do that
yet. It’s worth building one of these, even if just for the
experience, fun and new skills you can learn along the way.
Because of the narrowness of the tyres we are grip limited
rather than power limited. Top speed, somewhere around 40 - 50
MPH, but...and this is the important bit...you are having too
much fun to worry about what speed you are doing, you are
hanging on every inch of the way, even the straights can be
interesting! Once people have tried them they can’t help
smiling.
You choose an inspiration car, something you want to recreate,
some produce miniature works of art, some of us, me included
produce something that looks right from a distance, in my case
about 12 foot away! Mine is based on a Maserati 750 V8, we have
no engine management, no anti lock brakes, no this and no that,
nor other stuff that's complex and doesn’t add to the fun. When
people dare to try these machines, to start with they are all
full of suggestions on how to improve them, once they have
actually driven one, their smile is big enough to see despite a
full face crash helmet, and realise they don’t need any
improvements.
So far we CK’s inspired by Austin, Bentley, Bugatti, ERA, MG,
Maserati, Morgan, Wollsey, in fact the Wollsey has been made
road legal. With also Delarge, Dodge, and Vauxhall soon to be
finished.
In building this beast of a machine, thanks should go to Jane
for generally putting up with such things as using the dining
room table to construct stuff, and adhesive on the patio slabs.
Anna and Lee for letting me use their paddock for shake down
test runs, Richard for endless suggestions and morale boosting,
and helping with the fiberglassing. Xanthus for his endless
enthusiasm. And also Mark for welding, and Stretton go kart
track for letting us play there.
Any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask, or have a look at
the website
HTML http://www.cyclekartsgb.com/index.php
There is also an international website
HTML https://www.cyclekartclub.com/
#Post#: 1975--------------------------------------------------
Re: Article in the Parish Magazine
DIR By: RhysN
Date: March 1, 2020, 2:57 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Excellent Bill!
#Post#: 1976--------------------------------------------------
Re: Article in the Parish Magazine
DIR By: StefanN
Date: March 2, 2020, 1:38 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Well done Bill
#Post#: 1977--------------------------------------------------
Re: Article in the Parish Magazine
DIR By: chrisenamels
Date: March 2, 2020, 2:10 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Very well put Bill.
#Post#: 1978--------------------------------------------------
Re: Article in the Parish Magazine
DIR By: jim
Date: March 2, 2020, 6:41 am
---------------------------------------------------------
A really good read. Nice one Bill.
#Post#: 1979--------------------------------------------------
Re: Article in the Parish Magazine
DIR By: GeoffM
Date: March 2, 2020, 6:44 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Well done Bill , spreading the word, cheers, Geoff
#Post#: 1981--------------------------------------------------
Re: Article in the Parish Magazine
DIR By: TheGiantTribble
Date: March 2, 2020, 10:58 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Thanks guys.
*****************************************************
Page 1 of 1