Go Carts

[keyplyr]

Took a friend's 10 year old son to the Go Cart racing track. I was amazed what has happened to this 'once exciting' activity.

The track is indoors with plastic covered floors. The so-called cars are wrapped all around with a layer of thick rubber bumper. A high roll cage encapsulates the entire cockpit. The throttle is dummied-down to very slow acceleration with a whopping top speed of 12, maybe 15mph... and the thing is entirely electric. Ha, they've actually added a fake growling engine sound.

This is not even near the same exilerating, coming of age experience I remember from when I was about that age, with a dirt track, 40hp gas powered engine, choking fumes and no helmet required!

Now that was cool :)

[not2easy]

I must have been about 11 when I went with my older brother to try out a go cart he'd built with a friend. It was as you described, and all fun. The oldest person there was maybe 14, it was kid fun. Probably mildly dangerous but the worst they ever came home with is a scrape. More fun and learning than danger.

[Shepherd]

I am no longer sure if we are a product of or a force against natural selection.

[graeme_p]

Natural selection favours whatever equips you to maximise the number of descendants you have. In industrialised societies this probably means a strong drive to reproduce, impulsiveness, laziness and/or stupidity to keep you out of education,......

its survival of the fittest to reproduce, not survival of the best in other ways.

Kids are being kept too safe, particularly in environments where someone might get sued if something goes wrong.

[Shepherd]

Reproduction is a by-product of survival.

Kids are being kept too safe

So have we evolved to the point of being better at survival -or- are we cheating natural selection with our bubble wrap society? Both probably I guess. Will the universe conspire to evolve natural selection to counter being cheated. These questions—and many others—will be answered in the next episode of...Soap.

[ken_b]

I think you can still get that old fun feeling if you plunk down the money for a modern competition cart.Get a used one. Sometimes see old carts at automotive swap meets.

I'm not sure if there are any outdoor cart tracks left around here. Indoor electrics are it I think.And those had pretty high ticket prices last time I looked.

[lawman]

High Speed go-carts:

[youtu.be...]

[LifeinAsia]

Back in the day, we had a "Malibu Grand Prix" about 20 minutes from our home with souped up go carts. As part of their promotional strategy, you got a Malibu Grand Prix drivers license when you first came (needed a regular DL to get it), and you needed it to use their tracks. Getting a MGP license was one of the first things I did after I got my real DL. I think I still have it somewhere...

Alas, that location (as are most, if not all?) are long gone.

[Shepherd]

My first go-cart was a home built job with a 5 horse Briggs. After about 6 months it turned into version 2.0 when i removed the Briggs and replaced it with the engine from my uncle's 74 Kawasaki 250. I also drank water straight from the hose. Honestly I do not know how I survived.

[LifeinAsia]

will be answered in the next episode of...Soap.

Miss that show!

[lissajhone]

Its subsistence of the rightest to reproduce, not survival of the finest in other means.