Two items have come up, and before the season starts I am starting to hear rumblings. FIRST ITEM- There are some members that own JR karts that don't want to align with the WKA and Avon rules. Question I get is "why can't we run using our own rules" It seems that not everyone is on board with spending gobs of money to run at the track In Avon. We will be running two, possibility three other tracks. In spite of what some people think, Avon is not our home track. Because there is no concensus on this idea. The competitors will be running using the BKC rules. Those who choose to have their engines blueprinted per WKA will not be elligible for BKC points as the engines would be elegal. SECOND ITEM- At the last meeting it was decided to start the season on the Burris 55a tires. The preceding meeting we were in agreement to let the members use up their stock of YHC or YKC tires until the third race of the season in order to burnup good rubber and then migrate into the Burris tires. It seems we have quite a few racers that still have good Bridgestone tires that will go unused. If I were king I would keep the current engine rule package as per the BKC rules. This lets new entrys come out to race without first visiting an engine builder thus keeping costs down. I orginally liked the original plan to race on used bridgestone tires to use them up. A new set of burris tires will be faster but leaving the opportunity to use the tires we have makes perfect sence. For those with multiple karts this would be a godsend. I could call a meeting to revisit these two items but realize time is getting short and maybe we can come to some common ground. You know my position, what are your thoughts?

I am gonna run the bkc rules and would like to run 3 races on old rubber. I am gonna purchace burris tires within the next week. I did not know that the blueprinting and the extra cost on running avons rules would take a bite out of my pocket book. I feel with the traveling expense; money would be best spent enjoying the different tracks and having fun this year. Don

Oh look, a set of sticker YHC'S and there a year OLD.

If we're allowing YKC/YHC to compete for points against the Burris tires then someone is going to have an advantage. Burris 55As are a 70 durometer tire, YKCs are 54. If we open up the first races to allow people on Bridgestone tires to score points it's going to increase costs for me, as I'll have to get a set to stay competitive. I've already placed a tire order with the club for the Burris tires.

My vote is to allow people to race on Bridgestones, but not for points.

Whatever we decide, it's going to cost somebody money. I'd prefer we err on the side of a level playing field for competitors.

BINGO! What Craig said.

Well its 4 sets of bridgestone and we'll race the burris Jr. class

I agree with Randy and Craig. I would rather run the Burris than have to buy both.

Well said Craig. My only thought about ykc/yhc would be to only allow points no greater than your highest Burris finishing points race. That being said I ordered my Burris tires the other day and will be running only them. Looking forward to the season, this warm weather makes me want to get to the track!

So do we make rules by vote at scheduled meetings,or do we make rules on the forum based on some generalized "concensus"
Dave

I think definitely you have to make the rules by vote at a meeting. There's no reason not to discuss it here though.

OK I learned my lesson

Lets not get out of hand here, first it has been decided by the membership at the last meeting that we will start the season on burris tires. I just wanted to get a feel for the original plan. That said, I want to thank you for your imput. as far as the juniors are concerned they will be running under the BKC rules since there has not been a unanamous decision by the participants to go in another direction.

Craig, I see that the Comet site has the 55A's at 70 but the information I received from Mike Burris was:

"Burris tire Model with durometer readings: B44A(58) and B55A(62)"

I have emailed Mike to get the facts straight. Lets not get all in a twist about the tires being non-comparable until I get the confirmation of the above information from Mr. Burris.

Even so they are not a directly comparable tire. The bridgestone is a softer tire. If we are allowed to run ykc for points whoever runs ykcs will be at an advantage.

My email reply from Mike Burris,

To get accurate and repeatable durometer reading two things have to be considered. First of all the temperature of the tire and second the air pressure and rubber thickness. That sound complicated but its pretty simple if you have something to compare to. To begin with if you had a mounted tire (20 psi)and the rubber temp was about 70/80 deg then the B44A usually reads about 58 and the B55A’s about 62. Keep in mind that a durometer measures deflection (not penetration) so if the temp goes up the rubber gets softer and if you drop air pressure then the needle will deflect more and get a softer reading even though the compound hasn’t changed(Also keep in mind this applies to all tires and rubber products not just ours). The best thing to do if you are looking to police the hardness is to take a new tire and mount it and leave it out side so it is the same temp as the competitors and do comparison checks instead of shooting for a specific number. (it is best to check the outer shoulder of the tires because this is where the least wear takes place) Once you get the hand of it the whole deal becomes pretty routing.

Bottom line is B44A is 58 and B55A is 62.

If you have any more questions email or call me and I’ll be glad to help you out.

Regards, Mike

I'm OK with those numbers. When we tested tires for the club the feedback was that the 44A was comparable to what we were running, and the 55A was harder and lasted longer. The measurements bear out the subjective feedback.

The YKC is going to be faster.

I'm OK with people saving money. I don't care what we allow people to run as long as it's safe. However, when it comes to where I finish in the points, I don't want to get beat by somebody's softer tire (or built motor, or underweight kart).

Sorry I am late to the party. We will be running the Avon's rules for Michael's kart. And I don't think I will be racing this year so I can focus on helping him. It was too hard racing and getting him to grid all set to go.

Just to clarify however, Avon has a box stock rule for the JRs AS WELL AS an option to run WKA rules with blue printed motors. So you don't have to run WKA rules to run Avon rules. That is why I suggested that our JRs run Avon rules (the box stock).

As for us, we are running the Avon box stock rules which means Avon's pipe and clutch and their tire choices which includes 3 or 4 tire choices. I think that Avon's lesser clutch (remember we are open on clutch for the JRs) and Avon's pipe will mitigate the avantage of the Dunlop tires. If that DQs us for BKC then we understand but then there is no sense in us joining BKA.

I want Michael to compete with as many kids as possible and simply said, that means following Avon's box stock rules. Further, if he does well at Avon it will be because he is running their rules. I have a chance to co-drive a couple racecars this summer so I am also not sure that we will travel the the away races either. If I am in town, we would most likely will race at Avon on those weekend if we are not "legal" with BKC rules.

Rick Gamrod who builds Jared's kart/motor said Jared is also running Avon's rules. So what do we do if we have 1 or 2 racers running BKC JR rules and 1 or 2 running Avon's box stock JR rules.

Let me know so I know what to do.

Vince

I forgot to say, if you want to run Avon's JR rules, you can run their box stock rules and do NOT need to spend "gobs of money". I want tomake sure we are making informed decisions.

Vince