UK Karting - Notice Board (General Karting) : Can we think about this, guys..... please!

Notice Board (General Karting)

Can we think about this, guys..... please!
Posted by 'itpro' on 10 Nov 2010 @ 12:38

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itproJoined: August 2001
Total Posts: 6
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First..... kart brakes are DESIGNED to be RUBBISH! If they weren't, we'd have FRONT brakes as well. The LACK of front brakes makes our braking distance LONGER and increases the chances of overtaking, and that makes for BETTER racing!

The problem is that the 'weight' of the kart moves forward under braking and LIFTS the weight from the rear. That HEAVILY restricts what ANY brake system can DO for us: if you take weight OFF the 'braking' wheels, you reduce the braking power available to you. Watch Mortorbike racing to see this at its most clear...... the rear brakes are almost USELESS on a racing bike..... 99% of heavy braking is done on the FRONT!

Next.... you need to THINK about what you NEED from your brakes! All you ACTUALLY need is the ability to LOCK the brakes and the abilty to FEEL what the brakes are doing and a good degree of ability to adjust the degree of braking around the locking-point! As a final thing, you need the brakes NOT to be over-hot or over-cool!

Now, when I started, we had DRUM brakes! I then moved to the first DISK brakes and I can GUARANTEE you.... the Drums and early disk brakes were EVERY BIT AS GOOD AT BRAKING AS A*N*Y MODERN SYSTEM! However, they were MUCH hearder to adjust properly and could suffer over-heating. But they DID slow/stop the kart EVERY BIT as effectively as modern brakes!

Because brakes CANNOT do a good job on a kart, there is VERY little difference to the performance between brake makes! Ther's just no ROOM for 'difference'!

So.... those of you who find the Magura is 'snatchy'.... you CAN adjust that..... Either RAISE the cable UP the pedal/caliper-lever to make you need more PRESSURE to lock the brakes...... or move the cable DOWN the pedal/caliper-lever to give you a larger range of pedal MOVEMENT from light braking to FULL braking. It jut depends how YOU like to 'feel' your pedal! Try ADJUSTING your brakes before you buy something new and EXPENSIVE!

Kelgates ARE brilliantly made and will give you PLENTY of 'feel' and are easy to service and maintain..... BUT..... you are FOOLING yourselves if you think that you cannot adjust your CURRENT system to deliver damned nigh IDENTICAL braking performance from your existing system....... even if they are CABLE OPERATED DRUMS!

Ian

Message Thread:

New Brakes?? by 'JamesHall' (07 Nov 2010 @ 15:14)

Re: New Brakes?? by 'pratty' (07 Nov 2010 @ 19:10)

Re: New Brakes?? by 'mini60matt' (07 Nov 2010 @ 19:56)

Re: New Brakes?? by 'kartster' (07 Nov 2010 @ 20:08)

Re: New Brakes?? go kelgate by 'positivekarter' (07 Nov 2010 @ 20:13)

Re: New Brakes?? go kelgate by 'JamesHall' (07 Nov 2010 @ 20:20)

Re: New Brakes?? go kelgate by 'kartster' (07 Nov 2010 @ 20:59)

Re: New Brakes?? go kelgate by 'lambstales' (07 Nov 2010 @ 21:07)

Re: New Brakes?? go kelgate by 'GJM' (08 Nov 2010 @ 14:52)

Re: New Brakes?? go kelgate by 'Kartmasters' (09 Nov 2010 @ 1:43)

Re: New Brakes?? go kelgate by 'cjm2009' (09 Nov 2010 @ 13:48)

Re: New Brakes?? cjm2009 by 'Kartmasters' (09 Nov 2010 @ 15:23)

New Brakes?? go kelgate for OTK by 'positivekarter' (10 Nov 2010 @ 19:27)

GJM by 'itpro' (09 Nov 2010 @ 2:11)

Re: GJM by 'GJM' (09 Nov 2010 @ 14:17)

Re: New Brakes?? by 'hetherip' (09 Nov 2010 @ 13:40)

Can we think about this, guys..... please! by 'itpro' << You are here!

Re: Can we think about this, guys..... please! by 'QuickOldTimer' (10 Nov 2010 @ 13:27)

Re: Can we think about this, guys..... please! by 'RobF1' (11 Nov 2010 @ 9:09)

Re: Can we think about this, guys..... please! by 'itpro' (11 Nov 2010 @ 18:45)

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