What would you do?

[LikeStig]

My dad got a Birel to run TaG with, but we had to buy two karts as a package. One (the one he will be using) has a Adkin's blueprinted Leopard on it, while the other has a newer, stock Leopard on it. I think he's just going to be doing practices with us and the occasional race, so I'm putting the stock Leopard on it for reliability. Is this a good idea?

[JET Karting - Andy Finke]

I know the karts you ended up with, and sounds like you got a good deal. The stock Leopard I sold to him, and has at least two seasons of running on it, and I know he bought the Adkins Leopard used from Adam and Johnny Johnson, who race ICA with Stars.

I would suggest having either engine rebuilt before you did a lot of driving, and to keep RPM under 15k i fnot rebuilt.

I was looking at purchase of the package for re-sale in the shop, but definately was going to have them both gone through first.

You will not likely notice the difference between stock and Adkins in your first season if not told before going on track.


FWIW- Rick has had a Woltjer Leopard, Viking Leopard, and a stock one I broke in and rented him for RIGP 08. Ask him which he liked best...


Andy

[Rick]

So far, the stock one has been the best. No electrical/starter/charging issues. It's actually a real "Touch and Go"! Power wise, I actually think the stock one is better. Perhaps thats because I don't rev the engine to 17,000 RPM. I generally try to keep it below 16,000 RPM. So I might not be taking advantage of the "blueprint". I have heard that most of the guys who use blueprinted motors routinely rev the engine to 17,000 RPM. You also have to rebuild the engine every 6 hours if you do that. That can get expensive quickly.

Actually, a lot of people who race have told me that they like the stock Leopard. It really doesn't matter until you are competing at the regional or national level and always running at the front.

To be fair though, when it's time to rebuild the engine again, I will still probably go to one of the big names like Wolter, Swedetech, Adkins, CKT, VKP or LAD.