An interesting topic which I'm sure people will have many views on due to the large differences between cyclekarts.
My understanding of a cyclekart is that it is a vehicle based on a pre-war car, powered by a single-cylinder engine with a displacement of no more than 200cc (eg a Honda GX200) with the primary purpose of fun. The difference between them is where that fun is, wether it is in the building, the driving, the social aspect, the cheap way of owning a pre-war car, making a work of art etc.
The limited factors other than engine are mainly just track and wheelbase but there is wiggle room there to help make CKs look more like their original counterparts. Wheels change from the standard Honda Cub wheels to pit-bike wheels and handmade wooden wheels to name a few. Chassis change from the Stevenson model to complex handmade chassis, wooden chassis and other materials and designs. Suspension changes from front axle inline leaf springs to transverse springs, torsion bars, elastic bands!!! Body designs change from plywood to hardwood, aluminium, fibreglass and more. You get the point.
Another freedom is inspiration car. Wether a complete replica of a pre-war race car or a loose character or even a new design in the style of that period you, as the builder, get to create a pre-war race car using and building on all the skills you have wether its your first project or you make custom car bodies for a living. This is the area where you can really get creative, for example, the Beast of Turin that has just been completed in the states looks just like the original with hours of hard work put into hand-worked aluminium panels or Geoff May's CK uses plywood and creative use of epoxy and fabric to create and equally stunning vehicle.
If someone chooses to buy or sell a cyclekart is, in my opinion, completely okay as someone may want to build some but not be bothered about the driving aspect but someone may want to drive one or modify one but doesn't have the time/space/skills/motive/reason to build a kart from scratch. As long as the builder has been credited/someone isn't claiming to have built a CK that they didn't build then I think its a great way of getting more people involved and creating an even more inclusive community.
If a CK performs much better than others and fits within those regulations then thats awesome and really impressive of the builder. I don't think that performance should be further limited as long as the CK is safe and built for fun rather than as a competitive driving machine. If it is safe and follows the basic guidelines you could probably build an incredibly quick cyclekart if you put the thought, engineering and money into it but that hasn't happened in the UK yet (of my knowledge).
My advice for building a cyclekart would be to ask about details if you are unsure if they are of cyclekart 'spec'. Lots of people are happy to share their views and the chances are it fits under the cyclekart category. But that is coming from someone building and electric kart with a relatively complex chassis, pit-bike wheels and lots of choices that separate it from a Stevenson design cyclekart.
Marek
PS: I agree with dad, what a kart Graham A! I love it and think the yellow peril is a terrifying-to-drive but fun and safe CK which follows the ethos of cyclekarting and will remain on top of the leaderboards for a while and for good reason!
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