I fell… Pretty hard… No body protection, no helmet. New motors got me too excited and I got a flat with a broken beer bottle (in a bicycle path) at 45kmh. I’m bruised but ok (didn’t even hit my head), so that is not the point.
After a hard fall, what do I have to check of my esk8, i think we could agree on a “on site” list that it’s enough to get us home slowly, and another one for home.
To start off, in my case I checked:
Wheels- Flats and free roll
Drivetrain: Motor cables, Motor free roll and Motor spinning. In that order (when I crashed I went straight to the throttle test bc I wasn’t really thinking lol). In case you have belts, check your tension to get back home.
Remote- Is it alive?
I think the on site revision shouldn’t go further as I don’t think there is a point on disasembling things on the field of you can get home riding.
About the in-depth revision I let you guys have a word, as i only checked for deck cracks, wheel pressure (it got low from the impact) and bent trucks.(bn 220 are like rocks!!)
Are you still at crash site? I recommend just not going over 25km/h (15mph) on the way home if you can still ride it. That’s about the maximum speed you can do a runoff.
No, this was about a week and a half ago but I decided to post it now ! But good recommendation!! I got back home safely at around 20kmh, the crash site was just around the corner so it wasn’t a problem.
Testing a new build is one of the likeliest scenarios for a fall, so I always make sure to gear up when testing something new.
Personally I trust the insides of my board to hold up in a crash, so as long as the outside is fine, I think nothing of it. Some things that could go wrong you might not notice include:
phase wire bullets have come loose / insulation torn up
sensor wires cut up
motor mounts mis-aligned / wiggling loose
motor pulleys could have shifted
wheel pulley bolts could have come loose
debris might be stuck in the belts
hanger axles could have bent
charge port might have wiggled loose
deck might have cracked near the trucks
enclosure bolts might have cracked through the enclosure / come out of the inserts
Thanks, I think I have checked for all of this, but the enclosure bolts… That’s a good one that didn’t even cross my head!
I do also, but I don’t really know appart from the battery what could go wrong.
If you have pneumatic wheels you should also check inside them, I got a ton of debris inside my wheels as the board turned sideways and the rubber got separated from the rim.
To get rid of them I had to deflate the wheel and get all the stones and branches.
I think checking the damage on yourself could be another completely different topic. I have an extensive record of falling (in general😂) so I feel when something it’s wrong.
But I wouldn’t know what to tell a guy to check for in his own body. (Thankfully in esk8, unless you’re crashing against something, you get off with bruises and burned skin)
Check yourself thoroughly. You wouldn’t feel pain from injuries cuz of adrenaline. It would be kindda embarrassing to go on just to collapse in the next corner. The general rule is that if your limbs still flex on the correct side you’re good to go otherwise lie down be the receiving end of sirens.
Check your surroundings. If there are eyewitnesses, ignore No. 1. Stand up, pickup your board and walk away like a boss. Alternatively, you can strike a pose. Pause and wait for a minecraft sunglasses and a joint to slide in from the side frame accompanied by a groove.
Check your surrounding some more. Be sure there’s no corpse that looks like you lyin around. If you’re already a disembodied soul, beg for skatan to erase your internet browsing history.
When I complete a build or rebuild/have changed something big. I never go above 20km/h ish, atleast for the first 2-3 rides.
Worth to mention is that my weapon of choice in terms of head protection is a motorcycle helmet.
In order to stresstest I’m extra ready to fall when throttling up hill. If the board behaves as expected uphil at low speed. chance are that atleast from a power perspective, that it will handle current needed to achive high speed just fine.
In terms of things spinning faster, thats another factor of course.
Recently I’ve been thinking about a DIY torquebench to be able to do these tests more safly, getting too old to eat asphalt.
Great topic. I had a bad spill roughly one year ago. It was a board failure and I went down suddenly. It still affects me. Not physically. I still want to go for a ride as often. Just ever since the weekend in the ICU I think about what will happen if something goes wrong with the board. While I am riding. Something I never did before that accident. If I have a close encounter with a vehicle I weird out and slow down for the rest of the ride.
I’ve been surfing more lately and that seems to help. Knowing it is water and not asphalt if you go down let’s you forget about the possibility. For some reason that translates to the skateboard.
Something to check before you ride: mental readiness. Very hard to tune up.
Look cool while falling it’s very difficult, but even more it’s to look cool after falling…
30secs prior to the accident I passed a ciclist and didn’t even look back. It was very embarrassing when he cached up to me and I was liying face down on the floor lol.
! But good recommendation!! I got back home safely at around 20kmh, the crash site was just around the corner so it wasn’t a problem.