New Club?

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Jeff Campbell
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Vintage Karting items owned: 1961 Fox Go-Boy MC20's
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Re: New Club?

Post by Jeff Campbell » Sat Jan 23, 2010 3:14 pm

Dan,
Many people are curious why your new club doesn't require the karts to be authentic? Allowing modern brakes and requiring only 90% of the parts to be vintage isn't what I expected your group wanted to do ... a kart like that wouldn't even be allowed to run at TBO.

I will change the REAR word ban list, if you want to post your club link here, and tell people about what you are doing. You guys have your own club now, it's time to move forward and co-exist with VKA folks.

I have heard you make the same statement before, that I just read in Rob's post on this thread, no the VKA is not dying. Last year was a horrible recession year and the VKA didn't really push for renewals .. .even then, membership was only down 10% from the previous year, and these last 2 years had the highest membership levels of any years in the history of the VKA. This year the VKA is already at a record renewal and new member level for this early in the year.

Jeff

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Dan Flanders
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Vintage Karting items owned: Pimped out Yerf-Dog with 22" spinners
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Re: New Club?

Post by Dan Flanders » Sat Jan 23, 2010 7:05 pm

Hi Jeff-
Thank you for the opportunity to respond. These are my own personal opinions and interpretations and may or may not be in line with the VKCA. I am not the official spokesman, I just happened to be the one to respond to Robs post.

In terms of the rules, and authenticity, the guiding principle "...is very straight forward; run the karts the way they were run back-in-the-day and you are guaranteed to comply with the rules." My interpretation and understanding of the 90% rule adds a degree of flexibility and is a recognition that the majority of karts are runners rather than show karts. There are certain parts that can be found on a majority of karts that aren't strictly period correct, but add a degree of ease and functionality without straying from the spirit and intent of vintage karting. (e.g. Appco style clamp sprocket hub in lieu of an Azusa MarkIV or the addition of a modern brake or the addition of braided brake line on a Hurst Airheart brake). We are talking about relatively small component parts, not big ticket items like spun rims, wide tires, mychron gauges and modern brakes.

Personally, I don't agree with the use of modern brakes, the Airheart brakes worked just fine back in the day and were OEM on many karts well into the '70s. That said, they are a necessary evil in the interest of safety. I also understand the price argument, but no one said vintage karting is cheap. Yes, in a perfect world it would be cheap, but that just isn't the case. I just bought 8 caliper and 4 m/c rebuild kits from ScewO'Matic (enough to rebuild two 4-wheel brake set ups)....Could have bought 4 brand new MCP calipers and master cylinders for the same amount.

I agree that we need to get past the squabbling. None of this petty bickering should be necessary. There is plenty of room for two clubs to exist that have two different formats. The VKCA will continue to support VKA events by attendance, and we will also list their events on our site calendar. We have no animosity towards the VKA, and certainly not its membership.

Well, I am glad to hear that VKA is doing well for itself and certainly wish them continued success in their endeavors. In my opinion, forming a new club was the option of last resort, a group of us tried affect change from within, but there isn't a mechanism to allow for member election of the board, nor direct member voting on the club policies. Many of us feel that the VKA has strayed too far from the spirit and intent of preserving vintage go karts by allowing the inclusion and promotion of non-vintage monster karts and the continued promotion of timed, scored racing events that promote all out performance rather than period correctness. In my and many other people's opinion, this isn't in the best interest for the long term survival of vintage karting. As others have pointed out with regards to a variety of vintage motor sports (motorcycles, snow mobiles, cars, dragsters) once they start moving away from period correct equipment, they become vintage in name only.

Do me a favor and count the number of karts at Riverside running oil bath clutches and pipes....A couple years back they were relatively few and far between, now a greater number of drivers are opting for that set up for increased performance. Kiss the diversity away, were seeing homogenization for better placing in the heat races. Ultimately, I fear we'll see all the runners built out to '75 specs with everything else being relegated to 'show only' status.

Thanks again for the opportunity for an open discussion. At the end of the day, it is just go karts. We may not see eye to eye on everything, but we can have an open, respectful discussion of the whys and wherefores. A wise old mechanic once told me "Don't sweat the petty stuff, pet the sweaty stuff"

Dan

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