Many years ago, I was in Indiana, giving a speech about the sales process to the Evansville Spokesmen Club. Though I had been invited there to talk, during the lecture I was interrupted by the overall director, who bluntly asked why I was qualified to speak on the subject. It was a valid question – if you’re going to teach others, you need to prove you have the qualifications to back up your lessons.
With that in mind, I’d like to use this space to introduce myself. My name is Roger Kramer, and I’ve been working with golf car gas and electrical systems for 38 years. I believe experience is the greatest teacher, and I certainly have plenty! As a new member of the Nivel family, I’ll be contributing informative articles for the “As the Guru” section of the Golf Car News.
I’ve always been a hands-on person, eager to know why and how things work. Simply repairing part of an engine or installing a new control system was never enough to satisfy my curiosity – I wanted to dig deeper into the system and understand it on a more complex level! So in 1970, I attended Lincoln Technical Institute and earned an Associate’s Degree in the electrical/mechanical field, finishing in the top 10% of the class. Over the years, I’ve earned nearly a dozen other certifications from quality companies such as Club Car (twice!), Industrial Power, Clark Equipment, Joint Clutch, Dana, Caterpillar, Teledyne, Thermogas, KW Batteries, Foley, and more.
Learning about gas and electrical systems in a classroom-style setting is one thing, but like I said, I’m a hands-on person. I knew I’d chosen the right profession when I entered the National Plymouth Troubleshooting Contest and won first place in 1972, shortly after graduating. From there, I began a long career working on solid state drive systems, engines, batteries, and chargers for a wide range of companies: Volkswagen, Caterpillar, Clark Equipment, Mid-America Powered Vehicles, Batteries Plus, and more.
Throughout the years, I’ve worked on a huge variety of golf car brands. While Club Car, EZGO, and Yamaha rule the market nowadays, I’ve also dealt with brands like Westinghouse, Harley-Davidson, JCPenney, Cushman, Caroche (first generation of Club Car), Hyundai, Nordskog, Otis, Pargo, and Tee-Bird, just to name a few! I’ve watched firsthand the evolution of electric drive controls: from resistor to carbon pile to Silicone-Controlled Rectifiers (SCR) to modern-day MOS-FETs.
On a more personal level, I’m the proud father of one daughter, Wendy, who lives in Indianapolis. In my little spare time – you know how that goes! – I play golf, fish, write, and repair golf clubs.
I look forward to your questions, sharing of ideas and technical insights.
Submit your questions, or insights to guru@golfcarnews.com
