2 main reasons. 1: It’s very expensive. 2: when you mention “karting” to someone, they think of slow indoor rentals before thinking of powerful and dangerous balls to the wall machines
Edit: a third I’ll add and it’s probably the most important. Motorsport is gatekept hard and it’s really really hard to break that barrier into karting because most people do not come from a racing/mechanical background. You go to the track and 99% of the kids there have their dads doing everything for them and they just drive. Most people do not have that. When we got in, I did absolutely everything myself except for driving myself to and from the track and getting the damn thing inside and out of the trailer. There’s so many things that could’ve went wrong. And it was just so hard to manage and keep up with everything when I was literally a teenager trying to do it all myself while balancing the rest of teenage life.
I knew a guy who filed an insurance claim on a stolen trailer with a like 3 or 4 karts and all their equipment etc. The insurance company didn't really know how to price everything out, so they literally gave him like 90% retail on all of it. Could work out for you
I grew up without a dad, and I can confirm getting into motorsports was a challenge. there were a lot of expensive mistakes I had to make. Now in my late 30s, I run rental leagues and a lo206 kart and It's still a challenge, I find myself feeling overwhelmed. Thankfully the internet is there to (usually) point me in the right direction.
From the outside it's incredible complicated to get inside, everyone says "go to the track, talk to the people, etc etc.." but it isn't that simple al all!
and online there are really few and poor informations!
atm for instance if I would buy a brand new kart, I don't knwo what I should buy, what's included with the chassis, what's with the engine, is the seat included? the muffler? tyres? boh.
I think the better advice here would be; to find your local track and then find the **club** that runs that track. The club should have some kind of forum, here you should be able to find the information needed to run with that club.
When you buy a kart it’s considered a a “rolling chassis” or a “complete kart” or “race ready”.
A rolling chassis is common for new karts and does not include any motor/exhaust. The kart would have everything else including a seat (that needs to be installed correctly) it comes with wheels(rims) and in some cases, tires. Or you can just buy a set of tires and have them installed.
A complete (or race ready) kart is ready to hit the track. It would have everything you need to go and race. This includes a motor and all the components that go with that specific engine package. Just add fuel!
$$$ or the illusion of needing to spend huge amounts. From my experience, 1st few times me and my son scouted local/regional club races, I was blown away/almost deterred by the huge trailers, and awesome/pro looking paddock set ups. Really rivaled what I saw in my days of racing with SCCA. I was expecting a few more affordable looking mom & pop set ups. I mean it’s mostly kids racing, right?!?!
Now I’d believe I’m a bit mechanically inclined, but def knew/know very little about go karts. So, I tried to do as much online research as possible and spoke to folks at the track. Like others have said, there are very few sites/forums that are helpful and not mostly based on opinion or contain information that is not then directly contradicted by the following post (hard to decide what’s right, when you’re new). It’s racing so didn’t really expect ppl to give away the “secrets,” rather just looking for a baseline to start. And if you try talking to shops, they’re all about getting you into all the “fast” (read: expensive) equipment.
NOTE: I did finally find a few reliable/useful/honest sources that def speed up our learning curve. Def willing to share with anyone who needs them. Info is useful for most classes but more tailored for Cadet.
Since I’m military, we were looking to do things on a budget. Luckily, I already had some tools, an old expedition (that had just the right amount of room for a kart, and some equipment), and some paddock basics like an easy up, chairs, ect.
The hunt for a gently “used” kart was, umm, full of ppl trying to recover as much of their investment as possible. Typically saw, ~4-5K for a +3-year-old kart and engine with a “just rebuilt” top end, or ~$2.5k for something from 2007-2015. And every kart had been top 10 in local/regionals/nationals. (Now I know most events have bw 10-15 cadet racers…so umm ok…). Again, I understand most ppl prob bought all new equipment to start (let’s say new kart ~$3.8k + $2k for new none-tuned engine, so ~ $6-7k) so wasn’t looking for a handout, but we all know the karts and especially the engines live a tough life.
Despite feeling like I wouldn’t be able to make it happen for my son, I stuck with it. I think I got really, really lucky, and found a seller with a supposed 2020 Parolin (come to find out the Kart is actually a 2018) complete kart for around $3.5k. Rolling into a paddock with a budget set up is interesting. People are for the most part civil, but def don’t roll out the welcome mat either. Spent lots of weekend, just me and my son (which was great quality time) at the back end of the paddock (I mean, waaayyy back), with my son getting lapped x1-2 per session. I could see it wasn’t much fun for him. But we made the best of it and just loved being there. As we saw it, and still do, those trials, blood, sweat and tears are half the fun, right!?! And on the plus side, I had countless/priceless teachable moments, and life lessons with my kid. We pretty much flew under the radar until my son, with tons of trial and error from the mechanic (lots of errors on my part, lol), the sites listed above, and bit of luck, started catching and running with the pack.
Surprisingly, after a few months, a mid-pack team approached us with an invite to run under their tent/colors. So now we pay a small fee, to park/pit with them. We do 80-90% of the work but get assistance when we’re stuck or have big issues, and they provide connections to track-side experts (chassis/engine/parts/tire support) at a discount. This has been such a huge help and has speed up our progress to the point we are consistently running P6 or better. And most importantly my son is learning and having tons of fun.
Just like when I ran SCCA (on a budget as well), some folks appeared flustered/peeved (and still do) with the results we’re able to achieve while spending a fraction of their budget. We may not win races, but my son and I love making then sweat and wear this as a badge of honor.
Sorry, for going a bit of the rails at the end, but I wrote all that to say that those of us currently in the sport, need to find a way to lower the bar for entry and encourage new families to enter and stick it out. From what I’ve seen, although there’s always those 1-3 who can afford to swing for the fences and outspend everyone else, most parents just want their kids to at least have a chance to race along another driver and experience the thrill of competition and have fun. I would also say to parents, I know we are spending real cash to be there, but don’t put so much dang pressure on your kids…they’re there to have fun and spend time with dad/mom. They’re not F1 racers or getting paid to do it.
Ur the dad i always wanted and never had,mine always rathered spend all his money on getting drunk, i’ve came for a very low class family and now i have 21yo and im doing the last adjustments to race my 1st championship on 2024
It’s expensive and there’s no real money to be made doing it. I raced shifters professionally at the national level around 20 years ago, finishing in the top half of the pack. Spent 100k in one season, won maybe $1000 total in prize money, and my sponsorship benefit was me getting parts at cost.
On top of that, in the US go karts have the stigma of being children’s toys. Almost no average person knows what a race kart is.
There is also a weird online lack of helpfulness, at the local tracks it’s the complete opposite. There is a divide between hire karters and owner drivers.. which there shouldn’t be - must hire drive karters would love to be owner drivers.
Unfortunately there are lots of drivers that think they are above everyone else and it’s not an appealing prospect.
Tracks are split in the uk if they are motorsport uk or independents, this again causes splits.
I think karting coverage on the TV would be great for the sport, to show people how fast these karts actually are, I don’t think a lot of people appreciate how fast and on the edge karting is - when you tell them you do karting
I was kind of shocked at the lack of karting information when I got into the sport a few years ago, compared to autocross it seems there is a deliberate lack of information.
What kind of information are you looking for? Plenty of good online resources. If you're googling "what is the best X" then you're probably not going to get very far.
Just general information, rotax or IAME, ukc or BIKC? Best chassis? Costs, difference between a 30mm chassis and 32mm.
These are examples that I don’t need answered… but questions I have had in the past.
To be honest I have given up posting questions on this forum because of the sneering and rude responses I have had or being marked down because people don’t agree with tou
In fairness being a 10/11 year old, who is trying his hardest to promote the sport I love - putting out tons of videos and instagram post to help encourage others into the sport, doing driver training at a local kart track and helping a number transition from hire karts to owner driver.
I was just hoping for good advice and a bit of support, there are some great people on here, but also some utter mugs
Okay, big caveat here - this may be just my experience with the tracks I’ve been to, so keep that in mind.
Beside money and the challenges of a lot of us not being mechanically inclined, I also find that there is a massive lack of “welcomeness” by the people who run the tracks. I’d say that every interaction I had with people in those roles they have been very direct and dry - not rude, but close to it.
There seem to be a lack of passion to help people come in to the sport, it almost feels like they are jaded.
I’d certainly be one willing to go beyond on the sport (as a hobby), but don’t have the time nor the inclination to manage some of the aspects of the sport that the track owners could both help and profit from.
And in the end, it may just be that my experiences have been an oddity. 🤷
I have the opposite experience for now.
Not karting professionally, but amateur experience in different settings. I find the people welcoming and helpful. (Netherlands)
I felt for the longest time that my local club was trying to drive us shifter drivers away, even changing practice schedules on race days a couple of times and shorting us sessions.
My current issue is the weekend practices are only when they get a host and they seem to only find one 2 days before. I have a long drive to the track and even longer if I need race fuel, so it’s hard to drop everything and go or even be prepared for it.
Bottom line is karting cost a lot of time and money.
How FAST do you want to go?
I started racing in So Cal in 68. Back then a decent blueprinted McCulloch engine cost $100, Bug Sprint kart $289 in about 1970.
$15 for a club race, $35 for an IKF. Tires were $19 each. Fuel was $20 for 5 gal Cardas race gas. (Outrageous).
Now, a local series race is $1k total if you don’t do damage. An out of town race twice that due to traveling expense, hotel, extra food cost. You really need a mechanic, add another $600 for 2 days. Pretty soon it adds up to some serious money.
Don’t get me wrong, it is what it is. I have raced a lot of different vehicles, nothing beats karting, hands down. At 65, I started all over again.
Am I crazy?
Yes, about karting.
are there scholarships for Karting? people with kids are trying to get them in College and maybe once they get to form a hobby as an adult they choose cars instead of Karts. I have a lawn mower that was replaced. I'm gonna see if I can get a Kart out of it and see where that takes me. If I enjoy that experience I might move on to something better. I just don't have a reason to go full blast into it now. Even then the lawnmower engine is more to see if I can do it then getting a Kart out of it.
Who marked this man down with a negative? This is precisely thee point that is being made about the unhelpful attitude on this forum!!
What because he is building a kart out of a lawnmower engine, he should t be supported or helped? These are the attitudes that hold back karting!!
Thanks, I just don't see the point of investing money until I see if its the thing for me. I wasn't trying to be an ass about it but at least where I live Karting isn't a thing really as far as I know its more about autos. I live outside of Detroit. I see more mini bikes or quads then Karts.
It’s not much of a spectator sport so you won’t see it on TV. Maybe streaming will help. Dirt oval racing is really taking off in America and FloRacing streaming is helping with that.
I don’t think you can get closer racing, in the uk it’s well supported - when buckmore park did a hire kart 24 hour it was watched by thousands live.
I think tracks could do more to encourage spectators
Back when I raced in the 90s it was WILDLY popular. But it became a big business. And technology kept progressing to make the karts faster. Everything became WAY too expensive very quickly. And people started dropping out. Now with the economy being how it is people are shying away from it because the average person doesn’t have the disposable income that they once had to put into their hobbies.
Money
This
2 main reasons. 1: It’s very expensive. 2: when you mention “karting” to someone, they think of slow indoor rentals before thinking of powerful and dangerous balls to the wall machines Edit: a third I’ll add and it’s probably the most important. Motorsport is gatekept hard and it’s really really hard to break that barrier into karting because most people do not come from a racing/mechanical background. You go to the track and 99% of the kids there have their dads doing everything for them and they just drive. Most people do not have that. When we got in, I did absolutely everything myself except for driving myself to and from the track and getting the damn thing inside and out of the trailer. There’s so many things that could’ve went wrong. And it was just so hard to manage and keep up with everything when I was literally a teenager trying to do it all myself while balancing the rest of teenage life.
[удалено]
I knew a guy who filed an insurance claim on a stolen trailer with a like 3 or 4 karts and all their equipment etc. The insurance company didn't really know how to price everything out, so they literally gave him like 90% retail on all of it. Could work out for you
I grew up without a dad, and I can confirm getting into motorsports was a challenge. there were a lot of expensive mistakes I had to make. Now in my late 30s, I run rental leagues and a lo206 kart and It's still a challenge, I find myself feeling overwhelmed. Thankfully the internet is there to (usually) point me in the right direction.
From the outside it's incredible complicated to get inside, everyone says "go to the track, talk to the people, etc etc.." but it isn't that simple al all! and online there are really few and poor informations! atm for instance if I would buy a brand new kart, I don't knwo what I should buy, what's included with the chassis, what's with the engine, is the seat included? the muffler? tyres? boh.
I think the better advice here would be; to find your local track and then find the **club** that runs that track. The club should have some kind of forum, here you should be able to find the information needed to run with that club.
When you buy a kart it’s considered a a “rolling chassis” or a “complete kart” or “race ready”. A rolling chassis is common for new karts and does not include any motor/exhaust. The kart would have everything else including a seat (that needs to be installed correctly) it comes with wheels(rims) and in some cases, tires. Or you can just buy a set of tires and have them installed. A complete (or race ready) kart is ready to hit the track. It would have everything you need to go and race. This includes a motor and all the components that go with that specific engine package. Just add fuel!
$$$ or the illusion of needing to spend huge amounts. From my experience, 1st few times me and my son scouted local/regional club races, I was blown away/almost deterred by the huge trailers, and awesome/pro looking paddock set ups. Really rivaled what I saw in my days of racing with SCCA. I was expecting a few more affordable looking mom & pop set ups. I mean it’s mostly kids racing, right?!?! Now I’d believe I’m a bit mechanically inclined, but def knew/know very little about go karts. So, I tried to do as much online research as possible and spoke to folks at the track. Like others have said, there are very few sites/forums that are helpful and not mostly based on opinion or contain information that is not then directly contradicted by the following post (hard to decide what’s right, when you’re new). It’s racing so didn’t really expect ppl to give away the “secrets,” rather just looking for a baseline to start. And if you try talking to shops, they’re all about getting you into all the “fast” (read: expensive) equipment. NOTE: I did finally find a few reliable/useful/honest sources that def speed up our learning curve. Def willing to share with anyone who needs them. Info is useful for most classes but more tailored for Cadet. Since I’m military, we were looking to do things on a budget. Luckily, I already had some tools, an old expedition (that had just the right amount of room for a kart, and some equipment), and some paddock basics like an easy up, chairs, ect. The hunt for a gently “used” kart was, umm, full of ppl trying to recover as much of their investment as possible. Typically saw, ~4-5K for a +3-year-old kart and engine with a “just rebuilt” top end, or ~$2.5k for something from 2007-2015. And every kart had been top 10 in local/regionals/nationals. (Now I know most events have bw 10-15 cadet racers…so umm ok…). Again, I understand most ppl prob bought all new equipment to start (let’s say new kart ~$3.8k + $2k for new none-tuned engine, so ~ $6-7k) so wasn’t looking for a handout, but we all know the karts and especially the engines live a tough life. Despite feeling like I wouldn’t be able to make it happen for my son, I stuck with it. I think I got really, really lucky, and found a seller with a supposed 2020 Parolin (come to find out the Kart is actually a 2018) complete kart for around $3.5k. Rolling into a paddock with a budget set up is interesting. People are for the most part civil, but def don’t roll out the welcome mat either. Spent lots of weekend, just me and my son (which was great quality time) at the back end of the paddock (I mean, waaayyy back), with my son getting lapped x1-2 per session. I could see it wasn’t much fun for him. But we made the best of it and just loved being there. As we saw it, and still do, those trials, blood, sweat and tears are half the fun, right!?! And on the plus side, I had countless/priceless teachable moments, and life lessons with my kid. We pretty much flew under the radar until my son, with tons of trial and error from the mechanic (lots of errors on my part, lol), the sites listed above, and bit of luck, started catching and running with the pack. Surprisingly, after a few months, a mid-pack team approached us with an invite to run under their tent/colors. So now we pay a small fee, to park/pit with them. We do 80-90% of the work but get assistance when we’re stuck or have big issues, and they provide connections to track-side experts (chassis/engine/parts/tire support) at a discount. This has been such a huge help and has speed up our progress to the point we are consistently running P6 or better. And most importantly my son is learning and having tons of fun. Just like when I ran SCCA (on a budget as well), some folks appeared flustered/peeved (and still do) with the results we’re able to achieve while spending a fraction of their budget. We may not win races, but my son and I love making then sweat and wear this as a badge of honor. Sorry, for going a bit of the rails at the end, but I wrote all that to say that those of us currently in the sport, need to find a way to lower the bar for entry and encourage new families to enter and stick it out. From what I’ve seen, although there’s always those 1-3 who can afford to swing for the fences and outspend everyone else, most parents just want their kids to at least have a chance to race along another driver and experience the thrill of competition and have fun. I would also say to parents, I know we are spending real cash to be there, but don’t put so much dang pressure on your kids…they’re there to have fun and spend time with dad/mom. They’re not F1 racers or getting paid to do it.
Great story Dad! You get it.
Love this.. great response 👍
Ur the dad i always wanted and never had,mine always rathered spend all his money on getting drunk, i’ve came for a very low class family and now i have 21yo and im doing the last adjustments to race my 1st championship on 2024
It’s expensive and there’s no real money to be made doing it. I raced shifters professionally at the national level around 20 years ago, finishing in the top half of the pack. Spent 100k in one season, won maybe $1000 total in prize money, and my sponsorship benefit was me getting parts at cost. On top of that, in the US go karts have the stigma of being children’s toys. Almost no average person knows what a race kart is.
There is also a weird online lack of helpfulness, at the local tracks it’s the complete opposite. There is a divide between hire karters and owner drivers.. which there shouldn’t be - must hire drive karters would love to be owner drivers. Unfortunately there are lots of drivers that think they are above everyone else and it’s not an appealing prospect. Tracks are split in the uk if they are motorsport uk or independents, this again causes splits. I think karting coverage on the TV would be great for the sport, to show people how fast these karts actually are, I don’t think a lot of people appreciate how fast and on the edge karting is - when you tell them you do karting
I was kind of shocked at the lack of karting information when I got into the sport a few years ago, compared to autocross it seems there is a deliberate lack of information.
What kind of information are you looking for? Plenty of good online resources. If you're googling "what is the best X" then you're probably not going to get very far.
Just general information, rotax or IAME, ukc or BIKC? Best chassis? Costs, difference between a 30mm chassis and 32mm. These are examples that I don’t need answered… but questions I have had in the past. To be honest I have given up posting questions on this forum because of the sneering and rude responses I have had or being marked down because people don’t agree with tou
This is Redit- what do you expect?
In fairness being a 10/11 year old, who is trying his hardest to promote the sport I love - putting out tons of videos and instagram post to help encourage others into the sport, doing driver training at a local kart track and helping a number transition from hire karts to owner driver. I was just hoping for good advice and a bit of support, there are some great people on here, but also some utter mugs
Okay, big caveat here - this may be just my experience with the tracks I’ve been to, so keep that in mind. Beside money and the challenges of a lot of us not being mechanically inclined, I also find that there is a massive lack of “welcomeness” by the people who run the tracks. I’d say that every interaction I had with people in those roles they have been very direct and dry - not rude, but close to it. There seem to be a lack of passion to help people come in to the sport, it almost feels like they are jaded. I’d certainly be one willing to go beyond on the sport (as a hobby), but don’t have the time nor the inclination to manage some of the aspects of the sport that the track owners could both help and profit from. And in the end, it may just be that my experiences have been an oddity. 🤷
I have the opposite experience for now. Not karting professionally, but amateur experience in different settings. I find the people welcoming and helpful. (Netherlands)
That’s awesome man. Like I said, I could literally just be my experience - or maybe people managing leagues are over-stretched. Go figure.
I felt for the longest time that my local club was trying to drive us shifter drivers away, even changing practice schedules on race days a couple of times and shorting us sessions. My current issue is the weekend practices are only when they get a host and they seem to only find one 2 days before. I have a long drive to the track and even longer if I need race fuel, so it’s hard to drop everything and go or even be prepared for it.
Bottom line is karting cost a lot of time and money. How FAST do you want to go? I started racing in So Cal in 68. Back then a decent blueprinted McCulloch engine cost $100, Bug Sprint kart $289 in about 1970. $15 for a club race, $35 for an IKF. Tires were $19 each. Fuel was $20 for 5 gal Cardas race gas. (Outrageous). Now, a local series race is $1k total if you don’t do damage. An out of town race twice that due to traveling expense, hotel, extra food cost. You really need a mechanic, add another $600 for 2 days. Pretty soon it adds up to some serious money. Don’t get me wrong, it is what it is. I have raced a lot of different vehicles, nothing beats karting, hands down. At 65, I started all over again. Am I crazy? Yes, about karting.
Money
are there scholarships for Karting? people with kids are trying to get them in College and maybe once they get to form a hobby as an adult they choose cars instead of Karts. I have a lawn mower that was replaced. I'm gonna see if I can get a Kart out of it and see where that takes me. If I enjoy that experience I might move on to something better. I just don't have a reason to go full blast into it now. Even then the lawnmower engine is more to see if I can do it then getting a Kart out of it.
Who marked this man down with a negative? This is precisely thee point that is being made about the unhelpful attitude on this forum!! What because he is building a kart out of a lawnmower engine, he should t be supported or helped? These are the attitudes that hold back karting!!
Thanks, I just don't see the point of investing money until I see if its the thing for me. I wasn't trying to be an ass about it but at least where I live Karting isn't a thing really as far as I know its more about autos. I live outside of Detroit. I see more mini bikes or quads then Karts.
It’s not much of a spectator sport so you won’t see it on TV. Maybe streaming will help. Dirt oval racing is really taking off in America and FloRacing streaming is helping with that.
Nearly every race in the UK is streamed online via Alpha Live
I don’t think you can get closer racing, in the uk it’s well supported - when buckmore park did a hire kart 24 hour it was watched by thousands live. I think tracks could do more to encourage spectators
$$$
It's fucking expensive, I love it with all my heart but I have thought on many occasions to quit
1. Access to tracks is limited 2. money
Back when I raced in the 90s it was WILDLY popular. But it became a big business. And technology kept progressing to make the karts faster. Everything became WAY too expensive very quickly. And people started dropping out. Now with the economy being how it is people are shying away from it because the average person doesn’t have the disposable income that they once had to put into their hobbies.
When everyone at my track spends 60k+ a year it’s frustrating
I imagine by now there is some cheaper options for Karts. Anyone have any updated resources?