Tires

[ron90]

I heard discussions about tires at the Davis race this last weekend. I also saw some narrow wheel widths etc. What tires do the clones run? The Burris rules state Burris tires. But do the clones in Dixon or other places run something different (i.e., YHC's)?

[norcalacr]

ARKA allows the local club to decide.

[brad42]

The spirit and intent of this class is to be thrifty everywhere that it is practical. The guys that invented the class didn't want to have folks "spend their way to the front". On the east coast many tracks spec a tire imported by Mike Clements that are very inexpensive and hard as steel. I think BW might have a sample? I would reccomend specing a tire available locally used. People toss out a set of YHCs every race that would work on a clone for 2 more weekends. In addition, all of the chassis available used are designed to work with YHC type cpompounds. The poblem is how do you keep somebody from throwing a set of stickers on? Maybe a tire claim rule?

I personally have enough seviceable used Burris tires to support a whole clone class for a season

[Simon]

I would favor used YHCs as there will be a never ending supply of free tires.

Is it enforceable? Probably not, but I would hope that we can try and keep people to stick to the spirit of the class.

[ron90]

Clubs for insurance reasons need to have the information documented. That's why I asked. I recall the Blue Max people agreeing on YHC. I think that is what we are submitting.

[viacruc]

Hint: If someone were to attend say, a Grand National event, they could come away with enough used YHC's to supply a whole group of racers for the rest of the season. A friend of mine did this in 2007 and came back with 40 tires (not an exageration). I ended up buying 2 sets from him and supplied my 2007 effort with them. I paid $40/set (his price). I got six race weekends out of those 2 sets.
Just a thought.

-PV

[paulskirocks]

You know, we (Shasta Kart Klub) are hosting the shifter and 4 cycle grand nationals in Redding the week between NFRA's Davis and Reno races. I could see if I can sway some folks to donate their used tires, which will all be YHCs...

Another thing to keep in mind is that Bridgestone is phasing out the YHCs, and substituting them with YKCs, so the used YHCs will be even less important to these guys. I think we should allow the YHCs even after they are phased out...

[mikeduff101]

i will agree with this also i like free stuff and if i ccan get the tires for free im all for it

[brad42]

Here is a guy in Elk Grove selling used YHCs for $25 a SET. Not a bad deal at all. sacramento.craigslist.org/rvs/1227906467.html

[duffy]

All of us from Roseville are running YHC's at this time.

[speedrome]

Just remember, when this class picks up racers and speed the tires WILL become more of an issue and the class will get more costly just as other classes have done over the last 50 years. That is just the facts.. IMO i dont think its realistic to just add a "spec" around used tire availability.. Nothing wrong with free tires but if someone wants affordable "new" tires that should be what the rule is based on. Lets see what happens to the class, if it grows larger make a rule for next year.. That would be my suggestion.

[karlznet]

Jason Hernandez just shared this with me, and we realized it's the same concept we had in mind when proposing the Kinsmen clones run recycled or used YHC's - no sticker tires. No real reason why it should be limited to Stones, that's just what there was an abundance of. On the flip side, folks who are lobbying to run hard (YDS) tires make a very good point, that it would make it even more of a drivers class while giving some of the older chassis originally designed to run hard tires, an even chance against the newer stuff. One problem with the spec hard tire is now the newbie or entry level buget racer that this class was designed to get involved, has to come up with 180 bucks for a set of YJL's (YDS replacement) to race. Maybe the best of both worlds would be to run the recycled tires and have a set minimum tire pressure. Any thoughts on this?

www.ekartingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=84800

Post subject: San Diego Kart Association USED TIRE Race 7/26/2009
The July 26th event will be a "Used Tire Day". The decision to have a used tire race day was made in an effort to help drivers save money.
Here are the details:
(1) All tires for every track session must be used (practice, qualifying, heats, main);
(2) New tires will not be allowed … even for practice sessions;
(3) Tires must be any of the club spec tires (see 2009 class specs). A variety may be run throughout the day;
(4) *Each tire must have a previous race day marking/stamp. The marking can be from any series (SDKA, ProKart, Gatorz, or other club);
(5) Tires can be used from other drivers (SDKA or other) ... as long as they meet criteria 3 & 4 above;
(6) Tires will be “Teched” at grid before each and every track session;
(7) *Karts with new or unmarked tires will not be allowed to enter the track;
( As many tires as necessary may be used during the day, but they must be used spec tires with the race day marking/stamp.

UPDATES:

Tires that are clearly used (not mearly scuffed) but do not have a prior race day stamp will be allowed with no penalty. You must go to tech in the morning before practice begins to have them inspected and stamped. Of course they must be one of the club option tires for the class.

If you have tires with prior race stamps that are worn off or not clearly visible please go to tech in the morning before practice begins to have them inspected and re-stamped.

The July 26th race has been moved to the SE lot. It is still a "used tire only" event.
For more Info visit www.sdka.com
_________________
If you're not having fun,
THEN YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!

[mikeduff101]

because of the many diffrences in chasis, drivers and avalabilty in tires would it be wrong to just run a "open tire spec" as long as it is a "used Tire". I am new to the sport but have a good ear and do listin and from what i hear chassis are designed for the tire that is running that race session. As we all are budget racers we have chasis that range for 1990-2008 and all diffrent brand names, why not let someone use the tire that best proferms on there chassis or what there comfortable with. It would still keep it cheap because your accually "running What You Got" right and that has been a very good comeback anytime somthing has been suggested right? Is there any type of insurence issue? please let me know what your thoughts are. thank you

[Dan Chase]

I just got back from 10 days at the 2 cycle Nationals at reno. We were required to run the new Bridgestone YKC tires there, I had 5 sets of sticker tires for 3 classes and practice. We ran over 200 laps on the .75 mile Reno track in practice on one set and the tires showed no signs of slowing down. I talked with Ken Lupton and he has similar results, but had nearly 250 laps on his set in both TaG Jr. and HPV-2. I put a fresh sticker set on for qualifying on Wednesday, we actually went slower then on the practice set we had used an hour before for morning warmup. By thursday I put in our softest axel looking for grip, something I have never had to do with the Birel. IKF and bridgestone claimed the tires were nearly the same durometer as the YHC's, but we did not find the acted the same, they were very consistent and had no "magic" 2 laps = .5 seconds on stickers for qualifying.

By Saturday, the track had wadded up, we tried going to a medium axle, but the kart went to loose, we switched back to our soft axle and went with long hubs, that worked fine until the 22 lap main when the kart started to over hook around lap 15. We also elected to qualify on tires we had raced with on Wednesday even though we had 2 sets of sticker tires left, I also noticed that some of the front runners chose to qualify on used tires or scrubs as well. The temperatures were at or over 100 degrees every day even when it rained on Thursday. Track temps were between 130 and 140 degrees. Sometimes the wind would blow sand on the track that skewed our test data.

All in all, my first impression of the new YKC's is that they may solve our tire problem for next year with clones. I was very happy with the tire wear and consistency. They will be required next year, so there should be a good supply of used tires available by then. I still plan to do a lot more back to back testing this weekend at PC and then back at our home track at Dixon where I have plenty of test data for comparison. I still have a number of new sets of YHC's so I will compare apples to apples.

I'm not sure what tire I'll run at the gold Rush this weekend on our HPV-2, last time we ran at PC our kart hooked up hard and I couldn't free it up and it cost us the crossover championship in Jr. Super Box. Personally, I would still like to see a harder compound then the YKC's, but this might be a happy medium. I'm sure there will be some good comparison data after the first Gold Rush since both YHC's and YKC's are allowed.

[duffy]

Thanks Dan for the run down on the tires you used at the Reno race this past week. so much to learn in such a short time. What is the differents between the YHC's and the YKC's. ? is one better than the other. I have only run the used YHC's on my kart with the clone engine and would like to learn more about the tires. For example, I have one set of YHC's that came with my new frame I just got and they are 7.1 / 11.0 - 5. The set on my old frame are 6.0 / 11.0-5. The 7.1s are wider, but other than that the same. To get the best ( To Win ) which size would you run ? I like the looks of the wider tire, Looks really cool. But I do want to win also. hahaha . What do you think? Thanks Duffy