Anyone here into shifter karts?

[MuscleRodz]

I have a customer wanting to trade me a Biesse competition ready kart with spares for painting a bike. Has a 125 Honda for an engine. The ONLY reason I am half interested is I have a very nice kart track about 5 miles from me. Anything to be careful of when looking at these?

[bret]

My only experience with a shifter kart was at the Bondurant Driving School. 125cc, 85mph, it was absolutely the most brutal motor vehicle I have ever been in. It was like driving a car at 150mph...through a cornfield. Fun squared. Have fun!

[StRacerDuke]

I race usually twice a month in a league but I don't own a shifter. Check out your local Kart series and make sure the Kart in question is legal and there are enough people racing them. If it's just a track toy it's probably not worth it and will be hard to unload.

How much track time does the Kart have? Has it been raced before? If you decided to do the trade make sure you get a rib protector before you go and race/drive at a track day. It's common for people to come down on the seat edge and crack a rib if the kart hops in a corner.

[teamplex65]

do some research on the chassis brand and such. Like was said above, make sure the kart can be raced at the local track and there are people in your class.

side note: karting is NOT a cheap sport. Its like all racing classes, it can be as expensive as you want it to be. I have had a blast running 3 year old motors and beating the guys that dump money in motors and tires rather than learning to setup there kart and drive it.

go to the track and see if someone will let you take a few laps around the track in there kart or at least hang out with a team for the day. once you sit in the kart you will be hooked, plain and smple.

[MuscleRodz]

side note: karting is NOT a cheap sport. I knew that already. Just one more toy to spend money on.