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April fools
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Over the coming month Aussie Cyclekarts and its associated resources will formally transition into The Cyclekart Club of Australia.
The reason for this move is to support the need for a formal body so that events requiring insurances can be...Over the coming month Aussie Cyclekarts and its associated resources will formally transition into The Cyclekart Club of Australia.More
The reason for this move is to support the need for a formal body so that events requiring insurances can be organised. Some of this was outlined in the We Need You post made a few weeks back.
This change does not affect existing or future users of the website or social media channels which will remain free to use for non club members.
The main goal with club membership is that it will provide insurance for members participating in club events. So if you are not participating in club events, there is no formal requirement to be a club member. Of course, you may still elect to join the club as it will in time provide other benefits.
Club events may take on many different forms and includes both static events and dynamic events. Dynamic events are the events that require public liability insurance and include any meeting where Cyclekarts are driven. For example the monthly get together that your local Cyclekart group holds.
The intent is that the club provides insurance for dynamic events, like your local groups monthly get together so that you and your buddies do not have to. All that is required is that all participants are members of the club and that your meeting is conducted in accordance with the club (read: insurers) rules.
So over the coming month you will note a change to the website URL which will migrate from cyclekarts.com.au to cyclekarts.org.au and likewise a change to the email address associated with the site.
At this stage we have not determined the best action to take with regards to social media channels which all currently have the 'Aussie Cyclekarts' branding.
We are in current negotiation with the insurers to organise a policy that will cater for our needs. Once we have a view on what this looks like we will be able to finalise membership costs and open membership up to those who wish to join.
If you want to take advantage of the insurance for your local group meetings there will be some pre-requisites that need to be managed. Please get in contact for more information.Post is under moderationStream item published successfully. Item will now be visible on your stream. -
phil33 reacted to this post about 3 weeks agoI've been trying to find a local source of springs for the club. Unfortunately the biggest barrier seems to be obtaining the correct size material. Most (all local) spring manufacturers use 6 x 40mm minimum size which is larger than the 6 x 30mm...I've been trying to find a local source of springs for the club. Unfortunately the biggest barrier seems to be obtaining the correct size material. Most (all local) spring manufacturers use 6 x 40mm minimum size which is larger than the 6 x 30mm that is generally prescribed.More
I even spent some time talking to tuk-tuk & rickshaw manufacturers in China and India but they too use larger material which is generally 50mm wide by 6mm.
I did some calculations on the locally available material size, using the renegade Cyclekarts springs as a baseline. These are 24" eye-to-eye, 1 1/4" wide and 1/4" thick, which equates to 630mm eye-to-eye and 31mm x 6mm.
Using a spring calculator this gives a baseline spring rate of 103.57 lb/inch
To achieve the same spring rate using the locally available 40mm wide stock we can increase the eye-to-eye distance to 660mm to get a spring rate of 102.31 lb/inch, which is only a marginal increase in length. The increase in length would effectively shift the front axle back by 15mm, which is more or less negligible.
So I think that for a small compromise in length we can get a comparable spring manufactured.
Here's the comparison
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Riley 9 Brooklands commented on this post about 3 weeks agoMail call...
Found these springs from a Kawasaki Mule and thought they might work for a Cyclekart. Unfortunately the eye-to-eye distance is a little long at 750mm. Material is 6x50mm so also a little too heavy duty. They have three leaves, two of which are usable. I'm figuring that I can weld some mounting eyes to the second leaves which are...Mail call...More
Found these springs from a Kawasaki Mule and thought they might work for a Cyclekart. Unfortunately the eye-to-eye distance is a little long at 750mm. Material is 6x50mm so also a little too heavy duty. They have three leaves, two of which are usable. I'm figuring that I can weld some mounting eyes to the second leaves which are 600mm long to make another pair of springs. The longer springs could be chopped down and used as 1/4 ellipticals on another build.
Was hoping that these could be a potential source of springs but alas the search continues.
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Interestingly...
Spring rate for the single leaf at 750mm eye to eye is 89.23 lb/inch
Spring rate for the Renegade Cyclekart springs is 103.57 More ... -
BTW The 600mm length gives 174.28 lb/inch - a little on the high side.
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Do you know what kind of length you ended up with? Figure I might add some axle lengths to the tech article to give people a starting pointPost is under moderationStream item published successfully. Item will now be visible on your stream.
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Just a reminder that our monthly meet is tonight.
Hope to see you there.Post is under moderationStream item published successfully. Item will now be visible on your stream. -
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Yes scrutineering is included at part of the event organisation along with a drivers safety meeting. Simple stuff but easy to manage and helps keep things safe. Nothing different there to what happens in any other motorsport really. No need to...Yes scrutineering is included at part of the event organisation along with a drivers safety meeting. Simple stuff but easy to manage and helps keep things safe. Nothing different there to what happens in any other motorsport really. No need to reinvent the wheel.More
You can take a flick through the draft guidelines HERE if you are interested
Must admit I've struck a brick wall with the insurance but I do have some additional companies to contact direct (courtesy of Shannons.). The broker that I originally contacted had a knock-back from every single one of their insurers.
These are all specialist events insurers too. In all honesty after the first few knockbacks I was not surprised.
The other option that I was considering was affiliation with Motorsport Australia but after talking to them I don't think that this is viable either. Affiliation costs about $500 / year from the club. So that's not too much of a barrier, but to be able to take advantage of their insurance, every participant in an event needs to have an MSA 'Speed' license. This is $160 per year, which I think pushes the cost outside of what a casual Cyclekarter might want to pay. This is the same license required for any type of motorsport, simply because the racing is head-to-head. There is unfortunately no lesser / cheaper license available.
Whats more is that there is still a $5000 excess, which is payable on any claim so the club would need to have provision to cover this in case a claim was made. The net result is more cost for club members, which is not a good starting point for what might amount to one or two major events a year.
Things are a little different for say a monthly meet for a local branch of the club as it can be classified as a test-and-tune type event. In this case a different slightly cheaper license is needed but that is still about $130, plus the excess then goes up to $10,000. Quite how a local club of maybe half a dozen members can cover such as cost is beyond me. MSA is simply not geared up to cover this kind of sport at this kind of level.
What I really want to try and get in place is a policy that will cover lcoal monthly meets and the occasional larger event for a cost that can be easily covered by a small clubs membership dues without needing to raid the bank. Even if that meant that insurance for the larger events needed to be treated separately. But I suspect that it might be a long journey to get there.Post is under moderationStream item published successfully. Item will now be visible on your stream. -
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You may recall that I’ve been working on formalising the specifications for building a Cyclekart in Australia. The main reason for doing this is to satisfy insurer requirements and gain venue confidence so that in the future we are able to...More
You may recall that I’ve been working on formalising the specifications for building a Cyclekart in Australia. The main reason for doing this is to satisfy insurer requirements and gain venue confidence so that in the future we are able to organise public Cyclekart events like Tieton in the US.
After trying unsuccessfully to organise local events, I realised that a formal structure is required before we are able to get event insurance and in most cases even be able to open a formal line of enquiry with local councils.
The reality is whilst events of the same scale as Tieton are still some way off, for them to be able to happen we need to start laying the groundwork now. So I have been working hard over the past three or four months to put together a formal club to support this end.
The main aim of the club is to promote the sport of Cyclekarting in Australia as well as provide members with additional benefits like access to parts and resources. Ultimately when we get to the stage of organising public events we would like to be in a position where the event insurance is provided by the club and we can communicate with local councils and venue owners in an official capacity without the risk of personal liability.
I approached the GB Cyclekart club a few months back who were generous enough to allow me to use their guidebook as the basis for the club guidebook. There are a lot of similarities in club legislation and insurance requirements between the UK and Australia which have been directly relevant, plus they also have many years of actual event organisation under their belts from which to draw from.
The guidebook and constitution are now finished and the club is formally registered as the Cyclekart Club of Australia inc.
The intent is to have representatives from all states and territories to better represent local requirements for the growth of the sport in your local community.
We are now at the stage of filling additional committee positions and am looking for volunteers to nominate for those roles. If you are interested in helping promote Cyclekarting in your local area and are willing to volunteer a few hours a month to participate in club meetings and help shape the club into something that works for all, please send me a message with your nomination outlining your involvement in Cyclekarting and what you can bring to the club.
...'From little things, big things grow'.Post is under moderationStream item published successfully. Item will now be visible on your stream.
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