Dad and Lad (Gareth and Sebastian) – Comer C50 Bambino

Where it started.

We got our son Sebastian into karting when he had just turned 6. I have no prior experience of karting before. The most I have experienced is a few corporate races at Teesside and Teamsport. Looking back at when we first started it’s been a roller coaster journey. We’ve experienced all emotions you can think of, ups, downs, elation, sadness, scared, and angry to name a few, but I wouldn’t change that experience as it has been brilliant.

We started Sebastian on 2 taster days with Total Kart Zero (TKZ) run by Rob Smedley, for those who are not aware this is electric powered karts. The first day was learning the basics, progressively getting quicker, and eventually letting them have a race on the second day. In his very first race, he was put to the back of the grid as he showed some great pace. He spun on the first corner going for a gap and was last by quite some way, Sebastian ended up finishing 2nd with the fastest lap.

After some researching, and joining some karting groups on Facebook, my wife and I made the decision to get him his own kart as the cost of continuing to run with TKZ was astronomical compared to owning one.

We decided to go for Comer C50 class, This a 2-stroke engine with around 4 bhp and can achieve a max speed of 40-45mph. We made this decision as our local tracks had good attendance in this class. We bought him his first kart and engine locally from a Facebook group and gave this to him as a Christmas present. I can remember our very first practice day at Teesside, we turned up with the kart crammed in the back of my BMW along with minimal tools, no spares, and some fuel/oil. I honestly didn’t have a clue what I was doing. Luckily an old school friend has his son in the same class which was a godsend.

After a few practice days we had other parents coming over and helping us, even on the first day I learned so much. Moving forward to the present day 18 months down the line I am still learning things about setup and the engines, it is a constant learning curve.

Bambino/Comer C50 Advice

My general advice to anyone starting out in Comer is:

• Start with a cheap chassis (I would recommend a Wright) and an old blue tag engine.
• Try to get a chassis/package with some spares.
• Get your driver out as much as possible at your local tracks, seat time is everything.
• We spent the first 3 months at Teesside nearly every Saturday/Sunday giving him as much
  seat time as possible.
• Buy spares along the way, keeping an eye out on Facebook groups for anything you need.
  www.zipnorth.com is great for parts.
• Speak to the other parents in the same class and soak up anything they can tell you to help.
• Parents/helpers are very friendly and will help as much as possible, even giving you spare
  parts where needed.
• These engines are very temperamental, learning their characteristics and how best to
  maintain them, and prevent them from going wrong is key. (This is the most frustrating thing I
  have found with karting; these engines can start up fine and then 10 minutes later it will
  refuse to start. This is usually sorted by a change of spark plug but is still not ideal.)
  Get a set of pinned jets, start with a 57/58 jet, and either go up or down 1 jet size to see
  which is better. I could go on for another page about jetting but as a starting point use this
  method.
• Clean the carburetor with brake cleaner after every session. You’d be surprised how much
  a tiny speck of dirt can make these engines run terribly.
• Use Kastor M 2-stroke oil, A general rule is to use 60-70ml per litre on a warm day and 70-
  80ml on a cold day. Make sure you mix the fuel/oil well before adding to the fuel tank.
• Discard old fuel left in the fuel tank after each day.
• Warm the engine up on the kart trolley before sending your driver out. If you have a lap
  timer and temperature sensor, get the engine up to 70 degrees but don’t over rev the
  engine.
• Use chain lube (Tri-Flow is the best) before every session on the chain, and rear axle
  bearings to make sure the rear axle is as free as possible.
• Make sure your chain is loose and not tight and is aligned with the clutch teeth otherwise
  You’ll ruin the sprocket and chain.
• Comer Bambino uses a fixed 80 tooth rear sprocket.
• Tyre Pressures – In the dry I tend to go anywhere from 18 – 22psi front, 20 – 25psi rear.
  In the wet 30 -35psi front, 35-40psi rear.
• Comer Bambino uses Le Cont all-weather tyres. Use worn sets for dry with at least 1mm
  tread on the front and 2mm on the rear.
• In the wet use a newer set as possible to gain more grip.
• Maintain the kart regularly, cleaning it with a rag. A clean kart is a fast kart as they say.