What would a typical year of Karting cost?
05-10-2009, 10:22 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
What would a typical year of Karting cost?
I'm wondering if anyone who has experience with Karting could give a ballpark figure of what it would cost to run one for a year?
They just opened a new karting tracking near Seattle at Pacific Raceways this weekend. I ran some laps there in their rental karts and had a blast.
I want to figure out the comparitive cost of just renting a kart vs buying a used kart, maintenance, rebuilds, tires, fuel, etc.
If I were to buy a kart, it's unlikely that I would travel to other tracks, and it would probably only be used for open track days. So in other words, if I were to buy a kart I wouldn't really be looking for something that I could win races with. I would just want something reliable that I could enjoy turning laps with.
Efranzen
They just opened a new karting tracking near Seattle at Pacific Raceways this weekend. I ran some laps there in their rental karts and had a blast.
I want to figure out the comparitive cost of just renting a kart vs buying a used kart, maintenance, rebuilds, tires, fuel, etc.
If I were to buy a kart, it's unlikely that I would travel to other tracks, and it would probably only be used for open track days. So in other words, if I were to buy a kart I wouldn't really be looking for something that I could win races with. I would just want something reliable that I could enjoy turning laps with.
Efranzen
05-11-2009, 11:17 PM
#2
Drifting
I have no experience with Karting, but it looks like noone else is responding, so here goes...
We can't estimate your yearly costs, because they depend on how many times per year you go to the track. What you want is an estimate on the costs for one track day, then you could multiply that by the number of days.
I would be VERY surprised if you didn't save lotsa money versus tracking your Corvette, just because smaller parts cost less money.
We can't estimate your yearly costs, because they depend on how many times per year you go to the track. What you want is an estimate on the costs for one track day, then you could multiply that by the number of days.
I would be VERY surprised if you didn't save lotsa money versus tracking your Corvette, just because smaller parts cost less money.
05-11-2009, 11:22 PM
#3
Racer
I'm assuming you are referring to shifter karts. Talk to these guys in Florida. http://www.rysaracing.com/cr32x.htm
They should be able to give you a good idea of frequency and cost of maintenance. Check out Birel. One of the best shifter karts on the market.
They should be able to give you a good idea of frequency and cost of maintenance. Check out Birel. One of the best shifter karts on the market.
05-11-2009, 11:36 PM
#4
Burning Brakes
You can get a nice used 3-5 years old shifter for about $2500-$3000 with a Honda CR125 motor. Possibly even a built motor. But stock spec will be simpler/cheaper to maintain.
Tires are about $225 per set. Easily 2 days of just playing around at a track, probably more.
Top end rebuild parts (piston, ring, wrist pin/bearing/keepers, gaskets) are about $150 for a Honda CR125. Pretty simple to install.
110 octane fuel is about $9/gallon. A couple of gallons per track day.
Throw in a few hundred for a year's worth of oils (trans and premix), brake pads, coolant, cables, a chain, and general maintenance products.
Tires are about $225 per set. Easily 2 days of just playing around at a track, probably more.
Top end rebuild parts (piston, ring, wrist pin/bearing/keepers, gaskets) are about $150 for a Honda CR125. Pretty simple to install.
110 octane fuel is about $9/gallon. A couple of gallons per track day.
Throw in a few hundred for a year's worth of oils (trans and premix), brake pads, coolant, cables, a chain, and general maintenance products.
05-12-2009, 12:13 AM
#5
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Top end rebuild parts (piston, ring, wrist pin/bearing/keepers, gaskets) are about $150 for a Honda CR125. Pretty simple to install.
110 octane fuel is about $9/gallon. A couple of gallons per track day.
Throw in a few hundred for a year's worth of oils (trans and premix), brake pads, coolant, cables, a chain, and general maintenance products.
Throw in a few hundred for a year's worth of oils (trans and premix), brake pads, coolant, cables, a chain, and general maintenance products.
Efranzen
05-12-2009, 01:29 AM
#6
Burning Brakes
I use mine mostly for Solo events, so can't do a good cost per hour. I sometimes go to track days with friend who do wheel to wheel racing, but never calculated that cost.
Not familiar with costs of non-shifters.
Not familiar with costs of non-shifters.
05-12-2009, 10:28 AM
#7
Le Mans Master
Can't say I am familar with owning my own KART, but I rent at NJMP (non-shifter), and for me renting works better than buying, BUT you are stuck using their rental junk (like renting skates at a skate ring when you where a kid). The Karts at NJMP are marginal at best and get beat up by people who don't know how to use them and they have very hard tires, which makes them less fun to drive.
I have a YZ250 2 stroke motocross bike (worked) and using modern synthetic oils, I only need to rebuild every 2 years at most (if that) and that is riding during the summer every other weekend.
Modern 2-stroke synthetics have come a long way from the 2-stroke oil we used back in the 80's. I am amazed how long my dirt bike can go between rebuilds.
That is a 250 though, due to the higher revving nature of the small 125 motor, your rebuilds are twice as frequent compared to a 250. I had to rebuilt my 125's almost every year. But this is cheap and easy to do and probably even easier on a Kart as the engine is more reacheable.
The power you can get from a modern 2-strock is simply amazing. My 550hp Z06 is a docile child compared to my 52hp motocross bike (only weights 198lbs). Even leaning fully over the handle bars, you can barely keep the front tire on the ground....it accelerates so hard you literally have trouble holding on...I love it!!
Try renting for a year (you have nothing to lose and you can find out what you like and what you don't like before you buy).
I have a YZ250 2 stroke motocross bike (worked) and using modern synthetic oils, I only need to rebuild every 2 years at most (if that) and that is riding during the summer every other weekend.
Modern 2-stroke synthetics have come a long way from the 2-stroke oil we used back in the 80's. I am amazed how long my dirt bike can go between rebuilds.
That is a 250 though, due to the higher revving nature of the small 125 motor, your rebuilds are twice as frequent compared to a 250. I had to rebuilt my 125's almost every year. But this is cheap and easy to do and probably even easier on a Kart as the engine is more reacheable.
The power you can get from a modern 2-strock is simply amazing. My 550hp Z06 is a docile child compared to my 52hp motocross bike (only weights 198lbs). Even leaning fully over the handle bars, you can barely keep the front tire on the ground....it accelerates so hard you literally have trouble holding on...I love it!!
Try renting for a year (you have nothing to lose and you can find out what you like and what you don't like before you buy).
05-12-2009, 10:57 AM
#8
Drifting
You have to decide what you want to do, shifter or non-shifter. Then after that which sub class you want to be a part of. This is what I wrote to a friend of mine that is looking at getting into karting as well. The thing you will go through the most is tires for sure. The other will be brake pads (depending on your chassis). My kart (Margay) is one its second set of pads after two years, my dad's kart (CRG) goes through a set of pads every 3 weekends.
Here is what I wrote to my friend.
If you have any more questions let me know. He is a good website with a forum with alot of information.
Ekartingnews (Forum, Classifieds)
www.ekartingnews.com
Here is what I wrote to my friend.
The first thing you have to decide is if you are going to run shifter or clutch drive. I chose to go the non-shifter route for a couple of reasons.
-Shifter is faster, but it doesn't really improve your driving skill if you are just beginning in karts.
-Running a non-shifter helps you to be smoother and maintain more momentum as you can't just downshift to get back up to speed.
-Shifter classes are somewhat small at the local level.
-Shifter costs can get crazy to stay competitive depending on what class you get into.
I chose to get a "TAG" style kart. There are many different TAG karts and engine packages. I chose to go with the Rotax 125cc engine because it can be raced in TAG series and also the Rotax series which is only Rotax. TAG and Rotax are sealed engine classes which means you can only do carb adjustments and other minor things to the engine. Nothing internal. This helps keep the cost down, kind of. Typical rebuild intervals for TAG are every 25 hours top end and every 50 hours for bottom end. I am on my second year of running and I am just now approaching 50 hours run time.
I found my kart through Ekartingnews.com classifieds. It had I think 12 races on the chassis and 5 hours total on the engine, so it was basically brand new. It is a Margay Brava 1.25 with a Rotax 125cc Senior engine. I bought it for $3,500. My dad bought his for around $3,000. His had alot more hours on it but is a good kart. It is a CRG Blue Demon with a Rotax 125cc Senior engine. Used is a good way to go as they usually come with alot of spare parts.
One thing I would think about is how you are going to transport your kart. They don't fit into some truck beds as they are too wide. I got a small trailer to pull behind my Yukon when I take my kart to Kansas and we also have a 14x7 enclosed trailer that we use.
-Shifter is faster, but it doesn't really improve your driving skill if you are just beginning in karts.
-Running a non-shifter helps you to be smoother and maintain more momentum as you can't just downshift to get back up to speed.
-Shifter classes are somewhat small at the local level.
-Shifter costs can get crazy to stay competitive depending on what class you get into.
I chose to get a "TAG" style kart. There are many different TAG karts and engine packages. I chose to go with the Rotax 125cc engine because it can be raced in TAG series and also the Rotax series which is only Rotax. TAG and Rotax are sealed engine classes which means you can only do carb adjustments and other minor things to the engine. Nothing internal. This helps keep the cost down, kind of. Typical rebuild intervals for TAG are every 25 hours top end and every 50 hours for bottom end. I am on my second year of running and I am just now approaching 50 hours run time.
I found my kart through Ekartingnews.com classifieds. It had I think 12 races on the chassis and 5 hours total on the engine, so it was basically brand new. It is a Margay Brava 1.25 with a Rotax 125cc Senior engine. I bought it for $3,500. My dad bought his for around $3,000. His had alot more hours on it but is a good kart. It is a CRG Blue Demon with a Rotax 125cc Senior engine. Used is a good way to go as they usually come with alot of spare parts.
One thing I would think about is how you are going to transport your kart. They don't fit into some truck beds as they are too wide. I got a small trailer to pull behind my Yukon when I take my kart to Kansas and we also have a 14x7 enclosed trailer that we use.
Ekartingnews (Forum, Classifieds)
www.ekartingnews.com
05-12-2009, 12:30 PM
#10
CF Senior Member
Member Since: Feb 2006
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Too many variables to accurately estimate but it has to be significantly less than tracking a Corvette. I often comment those guys are always working on their karts. I think they spend more time working on their karts than driving them. 
Karting has to be a blast though! 
Karting has to be a blast though!
05-19-2009, 08:58 PM
#12
Safety Car
Lots of good advice here. 
I had a CR125 Honda/TopKart - loved it. Ran it at 1/2 and 3/4 mile asphalt roadcourse tracks. Too much fun.
125cc Shifters literally beat the snot out of you. The older you get the more you'll notice it. If you are over 30, and plan on running on roadcourses, I would try one out first. If you are over 40 maybe consider an 80cc.
Just a thought.
I had a CR125 Honda/TopKart - loved it. Ran it at 1/2 and 3/4 mile asphalt roadcourse tracks. Too much fun.
125cc Shifters literally beat the snot out of you. The older you get the more you'll notice it. If you are over 30, and plan on running on roadcourses, I would try one out first. If you are over 40 maybe consider an 80cc.
Just a thought.
05-19-2009, 09:19 PM
#13
Tech Contributor
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05-20-2009, 01:08 PM
#14
Burning Brakes
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If you are just starting out in karting, I would strongly recommend getting into the TAG class first. The karts are easy to maintain, the motors are strong and reliable, and the competition is amazing. I ran in the Rotax class for 4 years and had a blast. I can tell you that shifters are nothing but work to stay competitive. Like several others have mentioned, they beat you to death which is due to the fact that you are about 60% of the handling characteristic of the kart. Most all of the forces going through the chassis are put through the seat that you sit in. The motor itself also tears up the chassis much faster due to the added weight and stresses.
TAG motors have their own starters, usually make around 30 hp, and are fairly easy on equipment.Rotax was a little more expensive to run because all the parts within the motor package were spec, so you had to run Rotax stuff.
For club racing, I could make 1 set of tires last a Summer season of racing, and have a used set for practice. Brake pads are very dependent, but usually cost around $50 depending on the chassis, and I could make a set last a season plus depending on how much practice I was doing.
On a race day I would burn 2.5 gallons of race gas, and use maybe a 1/3 a qt of oil on a 30:1 ratio. Other then that the only expense on race day that I would usually have is the entry fee.
TAG motors have their own starters, usually make around 30 hp, and are fairly easy on equipment.Rotax was a little more expensive to run because all the parts within the motor package were spec, so you had to run Rotax stuff.
For club racing, I could make 1 set of tires last a Summer season of racing, and have a used set for practice. Brake pads are very dependent, but usually cost around $50 depending on the chassis, and I could make a set last a season plus depending on how much practice I was doing.
On a race day I would burn 2.5 gallons of race gas, and use maybe a 1/3 a qt of oil on a 30:1 ratio. Other then that the only expense on race day that I would usually have is the entry fee.
