You CAN starve the engine of fuel. The clutch on mine doesn't disengage until around 4000 rpm. You are forgetting that I can turn the ignition off and coast, and as long as the revs stay above 5000, which they do just from the fact the kart is moving at more than 20 mph or so, I can flick the ignition back on and restart if I want to. On the odd occasion that I get the clutch disengaging from a BIG lockup of the rear end, the engine doesn't come down to idle instantly, so I can blip the throttle to re-engage the clutch. The tickover doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the clutch staying engaged under braking. I have won several races against DD karts now, and I don't feel the clutch is of any substantial disadvantage. I will try back-to-back with a DD sprocket when I'm looking for the last tenth to get a lap record, but I've still got about half a second to find before worrying about that.
Unfortunately I don't have any mates, or at least none that live at this end of the country. If I'm out practicing on my own I generally use a half-brick as a handbrake when starting the kart. It works fine.
The clutch isn't high up on the side of the motor, nor does it weigh very much. Funnily enough it's at about the same height as the lead on my seat.
Most of all, what I am GETTING from a clutch is that I GET TO GO RACING and PRACTICING, which I COULDN'T DO without one. I TRIED to do a practice session with DD, and spent the day trying to get a technique that worked to get the kart started. I bought 2 easy start wheels, neither of which I could get to work for me (old and tired, because they were like hen's teeth to find new), fitted a hand throttle, made a genuine effort to go DD. It didn't work out for me. Running with a clutch does.
Liam
|
|