General Safety / Quality question

Frank

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Name
Frank
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Hi

Weโ€™re new to this.

My 12 yr old son wanted to get into karting so we bought a 2018 OTK 401 with a Rotax Junior engine (restricted to Mini-max) via eBay.

I spoke with the guy we bought it off before buying it, he was massively helpful and seems very genuine. Itโ€™s a great kart in good overall condition, as he described, but whilst checking the front sprocket earlier I noticed that itโ€™s had what appears to be a weld / repair in front of the rear axle bearing carrier.... (see pic)

My son will be due to go out for his first test in a couple of weeks, is this kind of repair normal / will it be safe enough for him to use?

Thanks ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
 

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Hi Frank, welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately welds on bearing carriers and seat stays etc are quite common on OTK chassis's it seems. I wouldn't worry too much about it tbh. My only concern it looks like the chassis tube, not the normal weld on the carrier that cracks.

Keep an eye on it and just make sure no new cracking appears. And of course no guarantee on the weld or workmanship will hold up, but it could last years! Who knows.

Hopefully somebody with previous experience can advise. @Team13Karting ?
 
Hi Frank, welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately welds on bearing carriers and seat stays etc are quite common on OTK chassis's it seems. I wouldn't worry too much about it tbh. My only concern it looks like the chassis tube, not the normal weld on the carrier that cracks.

Keep an eye on it and just make sure no new cracking appears. And of course no guarantee on the weld or workmanship will hold up, but it could last years! Who knows.

Hopefully somebody with previous experience can advise. @Team13Karting ?
As Adam says, OTKs and their different coloured variants (Kosmic, Expirit, Red speed, Older Alonso) are known for cracking around that area. You'll have people telling you it's because the engine stop isn't backed off properly but we had the same issue and we've been doing this for donkey's years.... They also like to go at the seat stays and at the front yoke.

Keep an eye on it as it's not one of the prettiest welds I've ever seen. If in doubt I've got the details of two people who'll do a brilliant job of tidying all that up. It might just mean a bit of a road trip....
 
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Hi Frank, welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately welds on bearing carriers and seat stays etc are quite common on OTK chassis's it seems. I wouldn't worry too much about it tbh. My only concern it looks like the chassis tube, not the normal weld on the carrier that cracks.

Keep an eye on it and just make sure no new cracking appears. And of course no guarantee on the weld or workmanship will hold up, but it could last years! Who knows.

Hopefully somebody with previous experience can advise. @Team13Karting ?
Thanks Adam ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
 
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Reactions: Adam
As Adam says, OTKs and their different coloured variants (Kosmic, Expirit, Red speed, Older Alonso) are known for cracking around that area. You'll have people telling you it's because the engine stop isn't backed off properly but we had the same issue and we've been doing this for donkey's years.... They also like to go at the seat stays and at the front yoke.

Keep an eye on it as it's not one of the prettiest welds I've ever seen. If in doubt I've got the details of two people who'll do a brilliant job of tidying all that up. It might just mean a bit of a road trip....
Thanks for the advise, Itโ€™s the quality of the weld that was concerning me to be honest. Heโ€™ll be going out for his first test run at GYG in a couple of weeks so Iโ€™ll keep a close eye on it.

With regards to the engine stop, once adjusted should these be touching the engine under some tension, or should they be barely touching?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Adam
Hi Frank, welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately welds on bearing carriers and seat stays etc are quite common on OTK chassis's it seems. I wouldn't worry too much about it tbh. My only concern it looks like the chassis tube, not the normal weld on the carrier that cracks.

Keep an eye on it and just make sure no new cracking appears. And of course no guarantee on the weld or workmanship will hold up, but it could last years! Who knows.

Hopefully somebody with previous experience can advise. @Team13Karting ?
As Adam says, OTKs and their different coloured variants (Kosmic, Expirit, Red speed, Older Alonso) are known for cracking around that area. You'll have people telling you it's because the engine stop isn't backed off properly but we had the same issue and we've been doing this for donkey's years.... They also like to go at the seat stays and at the front yoke.

Keep an eye on it as it's not one of the prettiest welds I've ever seen. If I'm doubt I've got the details of two people who'll do a brilliant job of tidying all that up. It might just mean a bit of a
Thanks for the advise, Itโ€™s the quality of the weld that was concerning me to be honest. Heโ€™ll be going out for his first test run at GYG in a couple of weeks so Iโ€™ll keep a close eye on it.

With regards to the engine stop, once adjusted should these be touching the engine under some tension, or should they be barely touching?
Just back it off by at least half a turn to take the tension off. That being said, we never ran engine stops that tight and ours still cracked.

90% of OTK adverts come with the disclaimer "Welded in the normal place (s)" so it's pretty much accepted that they're going to go....
 
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If youโ€™re just starting out itโ€™ll most likely be fine. As others have said just keep an eye on it.
 
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Will do. Thanks again.
 
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