Cadet Birel Chassis

[Brian Lohman]

What is the hot set-up as far as Birel chassis for the 80cc Comer Cadet class?

[sage karam]

Brian,
Let me make some simple points about my experience over the weekend at South Bend with MRP. First, my son, Sage, has done alot of racing in the cadet category and we've seen alot of products, people/personalities etc. We don't claim to know it all, in fact we are always looking to learn more.
I worked with Chris Lobaugh over the weekend and we bounced alot of tuning/testing ideas off of each other. After our experience, I consider Chris amongst the finest that there is when it comes to tuning a cadet or jr sportsman chassis. Very few people understand tuning the Jr. sportsman category. Chris demonstrated an ability to relate and communicate with my son and extract vital information from him to make the chassis work. I was impressed.
We experienced alot of success on the Birel product in the past. We tested our National winning Birel cadet against the new Birel cadet right out of the box, over the weekend. The new cadet really didn't need many changes to make it work. It has some trick components that work. The brakes are an anomaly. Chris worked hard to set the seat up perfectly. The chassis worked so well, that Sage told me to save my $ and not even buy new tires!
Most importantly, the people at MRP; Garry, Chris, Brent, Steve and the crew treated us with respect and demonstrated professionalism. The racers/parents in the MRP tent were cooperative, easy going and fun.

Thanks,
Jody Karam

[Garry Lobaugh]

Thank you for the kind words Jody and Sage! Our history goes back a few years and MRP is very proud to be a part of the Sage experience. Brent Ebert our youth director worked very hard a few year back to assist a Birel customer in North Carolina, Sage! It was an important win for the family and we have been honored to work with this very talented driver when called on.

It was very interesting this past weekend when Jody and Sage arrived. One local hot shoe said " We were fast until Sage came. .... and he was on a new chassis out of the box blowing everyone away!."

Going back to Brians question..(please see the first post) Let me ask.. what model of kart do you have? The hot set up that Sage did so well on was the L-3. They showed up at the track with the same kart and we insisted they test the new C-28. We know new is faster and sure enough it was.

So before we attempt to answer your question, give me the model you have, the driver experience etc.

I'd like to thank Sage and Jody for taking the extra effort to come test before the WkA Grands at South Bend this past weekend. We all had fun! The Mid West Sprint Series produced 260 plus entries over the two days and we will soon be posting times of the different classes for all to shoot for.

[Dave Thompson]

Jody im glad you took the time to run the new kart. I know Sage is a great driver and now that he is on the best kart he should be unstopable...

Dave Thompson Sr


WWW.davesperf.com

[Brian Lohman]

Thanks for the response Jody/Garry. Bought a used '04 Birel for my 8yr old son here in Jacksonville at the beginning of the yr and are looking to upgrade now. I think his current kart is set-up for a shifter because it has the shifter mounts on the steering column and has a 40mm axle??? It also has the removable front bar. So far in my short time in cadet it seems like the more flex a cadet chassis has, the better. I see all the new cadet are coming with 30mm axles now. I currently have the bar out for 103rd. My son's crewchief(me) had him running in the back of the pack for the last 3 months because of an oversight in the carb settings(low was too lean). Made that 1 adjustment on the low speed & backed out the idle screw and last weekend he ran at the front of the pack for the 1st time and thought he was the big man on campus. He's the youngest in cadet out of about 12.

[Garry Lobaugh]

Good report, Brian. To answer the shifter aspect: At one time SKUSA was promoting a 60 cc shifter program and the eyelits for the shift lever were attached to this model kart to offer the option for a customer needing a cadet shifter style. It does affect what you are attempting to do and the shifter demand died away.

[Brian Lohman]

Garry, does that mean C-28 is alot more different than what I have currently? Looks like the Tony/Junco/Mike Wilson cadet chassis don't have a front bar and are probably alot more flexible, which is what your looking for in cadet because of the lower power output?

[Dave Thompson]

Brian.

If you have a C 28 they all have a removable front bar. We do run the bar in at times.

04 05 06 c 28's are all similer with slight changes.

All 3 karts work well with the late 05's and 06's being the best.

The 06 is the only frame that accepts the new plastics.

Dave

WWW.davesperf.com

[Curt Smock]

on 19. Jun 2006 21:06 sage karam wrote:
> I worked with Chris Lobaugh over the weekend and we bounced alot of tuning/testing
> ideas off of each other.

Chris or Garry: Could you email me please? Can't figure out how to PM on your board!