Cyclekart is a type of gokart racing where competitors drive single-seat, approximately half-scale, motorized cars styled to resemble race cars from the 1920s and 1930s.Jalopnik: Cheap, Fast CycleKarts Are Begging To Be Your New Weekend ObsessionPetrolicious: Cheap, Fun, and Fast: You’re Going to Want a Cyclekart
History The first Cyclekart, as they are known today, was built in 1995 in Del Mar, California. An "At a Glance" specification sheet for the Stevenson "Type 59 Cyclekart" was formally published in the April 2002 (April Fools) edition of Road & Track magazine, representing the first published figures of any kind for the class, laying out the specifications for wheelbase, track, engine type, and transmission; representing the baseline for the "Stevenson Formula" that most future karts of the class would follow.
In addition to being published in national automotive magazine Road & Track in 2002, Cyclekarts were the cover story for the September 2022 issue of Road & Track in the United States in a larger issue about grassroots motorsports.
Design Cyclekarts are compact, lightweight, sports machines, homemade and handmade by their drivers in the pursuit of classic motor sporting.Yakima Herald-Republic: Start your engines: It's the Tieton Grand Prix Jalopnik: CycleKarting: Extreme Vintage Go-KartingAuto Guide: 5 Creative and Affordable Ways to Own Your Dream Classic Car
The mechanical design is a simplified version of a cyclecar. The formula specifies that a cyclekart is a one-seat car using Honda 17 × 1.75 or 2 inch (432 × 44 or 51 mm) rims, 17 × 2.50 (432 × 64 mm) tires, a 38-inch (965 mm) track, wheelbase as close to 66 inches (1676 mm) as the aesthetics of the car will allow, weight no more than 250 lb (113 kg), and powered by a 200 cc class, single-cylinder, 6.5 hp (4.85 kW) Honda or Honda Clone OHV engine (the GX200 or Predator 212). A cyclekart should not cost more than $2100 to build in 2012 dollars and the drivers are required to build their own cars. Power is transmitted via a Comet TAV-30 or clone torque converter unit to the rear axle. Braking is also on this same axle by disc brake.
External links An Introduction to CycleKarting - The origin CycleKarting in North America - Forum CycleKarting in Great Britain - Forum CyckeKarting in France - Forum Cyclekarting in Australia Cycle-Kart-Design - Design of Cycle Karts Blog
See also Velomobile
References