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Glossary of Terms Used in Karting

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These are some of the most common terms used by go karting enthusiats.

🏁 Bin It: To destroy your kart, accident yourself – Bring your kart home “in a bin.”

🏁 Case: The crankcase or “block” portion of a 2 stroke engine.

🏁 Cassette: AKA bearing cassette or bearing hanger.

🏁 Direct Drive: Essentially it means single gear kart, but has spawned two meanings.

🏁 The first type (by far the most common) is equipped with an automatic, centrifugal clutch that operates like a moped.  This is the kind of setup you’ll find on everything from rentals, Briggs 206 and TAG.

🏁 The second type simply has no clutch at all. The motor and rear axle are permanently connected. These karts are started by pushing.

🏁 Expansion Chamber: The section of a two-stroke exhaust system designed to capture the and time the travel of expanded gases past the divergent cone (the “balloon” part of the pipe.)

🏁 Fat: When the carburetor mixture (Jetting) is rich. Typically this is a “safer” setup.

🏁 Flat Kart: Used mostly to designate a non-cage, dirt oval kart.

🏁 Graining: Describes the appearance of a tire that looks somewhat like sandpaper. Occurs usually when the tire has been operated just outside its ideal range.

🏁 Hot Shoe: A frequent race winner

🏁 Jug: The body portion of a two-stroke engine, which includes the cylinder.

🏁 Pipe: The exhaust of a 2-stroke engine. May also be referred to (incorrectly) as “expansion chamber” and (correctly) as “tuned pipe.”

🏁 Laydown Enduro Kart: A kart set up for a long track (Over 1.2mi) and races for at least 30 Minutes. The driver lays down in a horizontal position, hence the name.

🏁 Shifter Kart: A kart with a gearbox. Most commonly comes in 80cc or 125cc two-stroke configuration with six gears and hand-operated clutch used for launch only.

🏁 Stuck It \ Stick it: Usually used by two stroke racers to describe what happens when you run to lean and the piston sticks and usually seizes the engine.

🏁 Tater Digger: Derogatory term used to describe a four-stroke motor in a karting application. Maybe don’t use this one.

🏁 Tow: Another term for “drafting.”