Birel chassis

[CSIRO]

Hi guys iam new around here and if i posted my thread in wrong place my apologies.

Couple of weeks ago i bought a birel chassis i think its AR4 one of the old ones, its chassis size 30/32 and axle size is 40 mm. By the way iam from Australia thats why i talk metric.
I took my kart to my local Go kart shop and straight away i was told by one of the guys from the shop that i will never come first with this kind of chassis not because there is something wrong with it but because its to old and too shitty. They so dificult to setup he told me so i might as well sell it and buy something local made.
I have only heard good things about Birel chassis and thats why i bought it.
What do you guys think is he right or wrong.
BTW theguy who i talk to also a Go kart racer.
Thank you in advance
Alex

[Garry Lobaugh]

Birels are good! Birels Work.
It is natural for a kart shop to want to sell you what they have in stock and promote. Hence the negative remarks from the shop.
Here is what I sould suggest: look over our self help section www.gobirel.com to identify exactly what chassis you have.
Find a track and start practicing.
After three days of practice, you may develop new friends at the track who are willing to point you in the right direction. Set up, gearing, driving tips etc.
Find a good coach or instructor to buy lessons.
Constantly practice. Your racing will only be as good as the effort you put into it. I have seen the best karts purchased and with no practice the driver finish last. I have seen some of the sorriest looking pieces of equipment given tender loving care and attention to detail by the crew chief/driver and see them win. One of our locals continued to set new track records on a ten year old Birel until one day he drove off and hit a pole, bending the chassis.
The next weekend on a brand new kart, he set another new track record, but only by a small margin.

When is a kart worn out and all used up? It is when you make drastic changes to the kart set up and the kart fails to respond. You don't know these answers until you have tried. Until you have put down a 1,000 laps I don't think what brand, or the age of the kart will make much difference. Of course, every one of our dealers on this forum would love to sell you a kart too!
My advice, keep trying. Find a different kart shop. Go practice.

[CSIRO]

Thank you Garry i glad to hear that :)

[CSIRO]

Ohh yeah one more thing i tried that web site you gave me but i coul not identify my chassis
My model number is : Q31X
Homologation number: 030478
Thanks

[Garry Lobaugh]

Q31 should be on www.gobirel.com, and if not we will add. Over 175 Q31 were distributed in the US in the early 2000-2004.

X stands for the year 2000 for production. We have had very good success with this chassis nation wide. The Q31 won the very first Rotax Grand National International category in the US by our very own super tuner Tim Lobaugh. It went on to win many more categories at local and national races. Even this day, that is my favorite chassis in our rental fleet.( kart 63 in our used kart section)

The key thing to do for your chassis inspection:
look from the bottom up. That is how you tell a lot about a chassis. Certainly there will be marks or scrapes on the bottom from a driver going off track.
Set the chassis on a perfect flat surface. Make sure all tires are inflated to the same pressure.
Rotate the front steering left and right slowly. Look to see if the Right side picks up at the same rate and height as the left side. This may require two people to accomplish with certainty.
If the chassis does not move equal, then you have to determine a way to square the chassis. (we'll leave that discussion open for the moment)

Put your chassis on a kart stand. Take two wrenches ( 13 mm, we use metrics up here too ha ha.) Loosen and then turn your king pin bolts ( they attach the spindle to the kart) Watch and feel how they rotate. The first thing that goes wrong with a chassis is for a king pin to get bent, then followed by a tie rod or steering column and then as a last result the spindle. If bent, replace.

Rotate your axle, look for a wobble. Listen to the bearings. How do they sound, if grinding, then rinse them in a parts cleaner.

Those are a few start up ideas.

Unless the chassis was left out in the rain un attended, I would say that you can feel confident that your instrument is "not junk". Keep us posted and now get on track!

[CSIRO]

thank you for your help.
I will let you know how iam going as soon as i hit the track.
But ai m sure ill have more queastion in the near future.
Thank you again for your help.
BTW where you from?

[Garry Lobaugh]

At the moment I am sitting in the Three Oaks store which is our main distribution point for the 50 plus US dealers for Birel/Monza/ Freeline.

Three Oaks is in Michigan, USA which is 90 minutes from down town Chicago.

[CSIRO]

i from Melbourne, Australia from down under :)

[CSIRO]

http://gobirel.startracingnow.com/how-to/howto-gobirel-chassis.pdf this where i went to see what year is my chassis.
Nothing about Q31X

[Jody Jernigan]

I have the same chassis and I agree there is no info there on it. I'm not winning races yet but I have had guys finish behind me with newer chassis' then mine and also guys in front of me with older chassis then mine. One guy went back to an older style birel torsion chassis. I can't remember exactly where he ended up but I know it was ahead of me in qualifying.
I'm new this year as well and I am learning that although the Kart plays a role in performance the biggest hurdle to overcome is learning how to drive. The harder you try the slower you go seems to be my experience. good luck to you.

[Garry Lobaugh]

What more information would you like on the chassis?

[CSIRO]

what ever info i can get.
year, basic setup for chassis, etc.

[Chris Lobaugh]

Q31 X was produced in 2000 as Garry mentioned in a previous post. I would begin with the spindles in the middle (one spacer on top, one on bottom), 75mm front hubs set with two thick and one thin spacer on the inside which should leave you with one thick and two thin on the out side. I would start with 1.5 degree caster in with the camber at 2mm positive and 2mm toe out. You may have to turn the eccentric bushings slightly to create the 2mm of positive camber which will decrease the caster angle a bit, but, don't worry about that. If you find that you need a bit more caster than you can add a second eccentric bushing. Front bar in, F3.0 axle with 100mm rear hubs set 23.5 cm from bearing to the outside edge of the hub. Seat should be at 59.5cm from the front rail to the front edge of the seat on the left side and 60.5cm on the right side. Top of the axle to top edge of the seat 23cm if you are using a 40mm axle (which was standard in '00) and the bottom of the seat should be 5mm below the frame rails. Start with one seat of seat stays on each side. Lower crash bar on the rear should be loose to begin with. Let me know if there is anything I forgot.

[CSIRO]

thanks
i think thats enough info for now