OK AND OKJ TECNIENGINES: LIGHTWEIGHT, COMPACT

TKART Staff

19 May 2016

TYPE
Like most kart engines on the market, the RKZ is a 2-S. 4-stroke engines are still a small niche

125 CC

DISPLACEMENT
125 cc has been the standard for some time now, while in the past it used to be 100 cc

PUSH

START
Avviamento a spinta, con nuovo sistema a valvola di decompressione per facilitare il movimento del pistone in questa fase

NON-SHIFTER

TRANSMISSION
OK and OKJ name the new clutch-less non-shifter engines that have replaced the KF and KFJ

HOMOLOGATION
CIK-FIA certified at the first OK homologation session in history, valid for 9 years starting in 2016

It is one of the largest kart engine manufacturers, but it has a lot of ideas and is very brave: the with its new OK (T101) and OKJ (T90) engines, Tecniengines amazes with numerous new ideas

The Tecniengines Group was founded in 2015 with the aim of designing and developing engines for karting use. It became immediately involved in the development of the brand new OKJ and OK engines to ensure their on-time approval. All of the design work was carried out in just 2 months and 10 days. Development is, of course, still ongoing.

Giovanni Gallini told us the secrets of the so-called T90 and T101 models. A very young man (28 years of age), a former driver, he graduated in economics and launched the company with two other partners “to avoid ending up behind a desk”.

The main objectives of the innovative solutions developed for both Tecniengines engines, according to John, is simplicity and lightness. In this sense, the connecting rod, piston and piston rod are impressive.

The first is small, with a minimum middle thickness of only one millimetre. It weighs 102 grams, compared with the competition’s engines that are about 120. To make the rod-resistant despite its size, it’s subjected to an extremely thorough hardening process (pressing).

In general, without the starter motor, clutch and water pump (which is now on the outside), the OK (pictured above) and OKJ (below) are more compact than the “old” KF and KFJ. This has resulted in a gain in weight of about 5 kg

The heads of Tecniengines motors are made of a single-piece cast, complete with a decompression valve. This is positioned at the front, in the coldest part of the head

The connecting rods are usually made starting from a cast and, then placed for 25 hours in a kind of washing machine with stones inside that crush and compact the material, making it more resistant. This process lasts 60 hours for Tecniengines, so as to further compact the molecules. In addition, the head of the connecting rod has two lateral engravings instead of a single one at the centre, to improve lubrication and avoid cutting in the most stressed point.