Friday, July 20, 2007
Long Skate Board
My friend made me a long board a couple of weeks back. It's got the softest wheels available and grips very well and handles rough surfaces very well. The front has got poly as springs and is very soft. That makes it very sensitive and hard to push a high speeds.
Coming down my company's garage, it feel very much like a snow board with better grip. Tail end slides are very predicable. I'm trying to learn how to pump the board for speed. My friend was able to get up to a fast running speed on my street, which is flat and a bit rough. My board is setup sort of like a slalom board with a very quick front trunk and slightly slower rear trunk. My daughters love it too. I'm trying to setup another one so they don't fight over it.
Followup on 10/17
I figured out how to pump instead of twisting the board. I was walking my daughter who was riding her tricycle. She decide to walk and I had to carry the tricycle and skate at the same time. I swung the tricycle with my leading arm. This got me going pretty quick. Once you learn the motion, it's just like pumping yourself while standing on a swing.
Coming down my company's garage, it feel very much like a snow board with better grip. Tail end slides are very predicable. I'm trying to learn how to pump the board for speed. My friend was able to get up to a fast running speed on my street, which is flat and a bit rough. My board is setup sort of like a slalom board with a very quick front trunk and slightly slower rear trunk. My daughters love it too. I'm trying to setup another one so they don't fight over it.
Followup on 10/17
I figured out how to pump instead of twisting the board. I was walking my daughter who was riding her tricycle. She decide to walk and I had to carry the tricycle and skate at the same time. I swung the tricycle with my leading arm. This got me going pretty quick. Once you learn the motion, it's just like pumping yourself while standing on a swing.
Wii Sports Rule
I got the Wii for father's day and it came with Wii sports. Everyone except my wife plays this game, even my 2 and 4 year old daughters. Whenever my son's friend comes over, they play this game. We also have Pokemon and Zelda, but those don't get much play time. I heard that Rockstar may put out their ping pong game on Wii. I can't wait.
Got new sway bar and drove worse
I got a pair of FM sway bars. They felt really good on the recommended settings. However, I drove worse on the next autocross event. As I haven't been at an event for about a month, my tendency of driving too fast and the false confidence that my sway bars will help me turn faster really hurt my time. I eventually brought my time down, but I'm still running way too fast into the turns and not braking well.
10/23 Followup
I broke the rear sway bar bracket bolts on the passenger side. I had to take off the cat-back and drill out the bolts. The bolts seems like they're pressed in, but I coudn't tap them out. Even after drilling the bolts out, the back of the original bolts are still attached to the frame.
I had 3 track days without the rear sway bar and it was definitely interesting. Luckily, I'll have the sway bar back on for Infineon. I have the front FM sway bar set at the firmest settings. I'm going to reinstall the stock rear sway bar and test it out this weekend at autocross. I also got a set of Gearhead Garage adjustable endlinks. I have my son sit in the driver seat while I adjust the sway bars to have them neutral as possible. It's also near impossible to change the rear FM sway bar settings with the stock end links.
10/23 Followup
I broke the rear sway bar bracket bolts on the passenger side. I had to take off the cat-back and drill out the bolts. The bolts seems like they're pressed in, but I coudn't tap them out. Even after drilling the bolts out, the back of the original bolts are still attached to the frame.
I had 3 track days without the rear sway bar and it was definitely interesting. Luckily, I'll have the sway bar back on for Infineon. I have the front FM sway bar set at the firmest settings. I'm going to reinstall the stock rear sway bar and test it out this weekend at autocross. I also got a set of Gearhead Garage adjustable endlinks. I have my son sit in the driver seat while I adjust the sway bars to have them neutral as possible. It's also near impossible to change the rear FM sway bar settings with the stock end links.
