Modifying prebuilt junk, in stages, to be less junk like.

[SternWake]

The chariot’s forks and basket are tapered in width toward the handle.

Placing the flipped long cruiser in from the back, the 8x3 turfs basically lock into the new topside rails, and the balance is pretty close to perfect, and can easily be made.perfect, so that there is basically zero tongue weight on the handle.

I’ve been riding the turf tires at 9.1psi cold (~87.5f.)

At 118f their psi rises significantly which is a weird feel as rubber is softer but they are at higher inflation pressure

Their remaining wobble was very noticeable the first few hundred meters after lowering psi, but lessened as they warmed, and some 20 miles later have gotten even better, and I might try even less prussure, get them hot and top speed them Briefly, and see.

The drag penalty is not that significant to our cruise, nor the slight loss of top speed, but the bigger contact patch is not significantly more comfortable than 17+ psi, and any benefit over most of the shell trail, is not significant.

Ive lowered the chariots tire pressure to 11.9.

Too low a pressure risks these 10.5" tall handtruck tires decentering themselves, but i have no idea how low is too low at this point.

The chariot is coasting better than the esk8 with my weight centered, but i can influence this by weighting the urethane more or less.
The tread noise is a neat indicator too.

[mulletboardermobbin]

@SternWake

cold (~87.5f.)

Thats what we would call warm at least

[SternWake]

That’s the temperature of garage in the late AM.

I just lowered them to 6.9psi when tread measured 117.5f/47.5C and did some progressively faster front side and backside circles at same radius, solo.

I can see a very slight radial tire bulge down this low, and the first few circles felt and sounded very uneven, like squirmy at the apex of the wobble, but seemed to lessen the more I circled and the individual tread blocks that never saw lateral forces before, had their edges rounded a bit.

I wonder if the cording in the tire needs a bit of break in period at different psi and loading, as sort of a break in process, which then might help reduce any wobbling.

Perhaps too high a psi never allows the cords near the edges to relax within the molded rubber, and a lower pressure and a hot tire being loaded laterally does.

Anyway, these tiny pneumatic tires are basically new to me.
I have to experiment to figure out their non extreme limits, to discover my happy medium, and PSI measuring needs to be used to train my thumb.

If I can get them to be completely wobble free in the process, all the better.

The 13$ ‘project farm’ approved Etenwolf digital psi gauge is easy to get a reading without losing too much PSI, and is not much bigger than my remote.

With the 8x3" turfs, I lose 0.2psi each reading in the 10psi range.

[trancejunkie]

maybe try some nitrogen?

[SternWake]

I am not so concerned by the psi change from ‘cold’ to hot, I just thought the data points interesting.

I’d bought a hand pump with a psi gauge, but the gauge reads way high and nothing until after the first pump, and below 10psi is kind of useless.

78% Nitrogen will have to do.

I have some adhesive balancing weights, but only tried them on one hand truck tire so far, then noticed i could completely change balance by hand at lower psi,since they don’t self center on the rims.

I also noticed that the HT tires were the most wobbly, and I want to see if dewobbling is possible and to what degree, with breaking them in.

Their initial revolutions underfoot were horribly wobbly to the point I swapped to chariot.
They have gotten a lot better with heat and mileage, but the chariot is not putting much weight on them.

Perhaps some lateral loading underfooting of them at lower psi and higher temps will further help them not wobble.

I want to get all tires as dewobbled as possible, before using balancing weights and sealant.

[SternWake]

Turns out 5.7 psi cold is still a viable pressure for these turf tires.
They sing quite loudly at speed, and when carving.

Freeroll sucks in comparison.

Was able to hit 25mph solo, with some terrain and wind assist.

Seems like they nearly double in singing volume between 20 and 25mph at this psi.

[SternWake]

I got a call from the emergency animal Hospital.
The results of the bacterial culture test of fluid squeezed from infected mammary came back.

Lab stated heavy growth of VIBRIO VULNIFICUS

Vibrio vulnificus

Present in marine environments such as estuaries, brackish ponds, or coastal areas, V. vulnificus is related to V. cholerae , the causative agent of cholera.

So as feared, this was my fault for letting her swim in water whose quality was highly suspicious.

They Vets were happy to hear, then see, her mammary swelling was so far down, but stated that the antibiotic they had previously prescribed is ineffective against this particular bacteria, and sent me off with one which cost 10$ per pill.
Marbofloxacin.

[trancejunkie]

i dont want to worry you, but vibro is very serious

[SternWake]

Well, she seems to be doing well and has the correct antibiotic now.

We’ve a vet appt in 10 days with her regular vet.

The regular vet called saying they could fulfill the new AB scrip, for 50% less than emergency hospital, but one was already ingested at that point.

[SternWake]

Being distracted, I connected my CC/CV voltage booster backwards, and blew my charge port fuse.

It had been a while since I did any close inspection of enclosure interior, and there was a little bit of dust inside, but nothing was chafing.

While it was open, I busted out my 11 pin male 2.0 JST/balance connector adapter and my two 7 cell ‘capacity checkers’( 2.54mm JST)

1: 3.881
2: 3.880
3: 3.879
4: 3.899
5: 3.869
6: 3.882
7: 3.890
8: 3.886
9: 3.886
10: 3.890

I am OK with a 31mv difference.

I buttoned everything back up, padding and securing everything into complete immobility, cut a new full size gasket and strapped it back to the long cruiser, and charged to 41.96v.

We had the pavillion to ourselves for our sunset cruise.

Woof! indeed.

[SternWake]

I wanted to try 2 of Psychotiller Sixshooter rims that Trancejunkie sent me, on my front truck’s 10mm axles.

I cut apart some worn bearings, for their center race, to use as spacers on either side of the new Fast Eddy 10x22x7 bearings.

I still need spacers for in between the bearings, so I did not try to carve very hard, and the axle bolts are not torqued hard.

At 28psi, their free roll is pretty good, far better than 8x3" turf tires at 12psi, and are far quieter.

I can notice their far less weight, but the taller 8x3" turf tires up front, have the board and front truck angled far more, and rear truck less, and the turning feel is quite different.

Cruising over bumps\paver cracks, they do better than expected, absorbing the shocks.

I have not tried the crushed shell trail with them, yet.

I need to figure out the bearing spacer width, and achieve that, somehow.

At the beer store, some guy commented how cool my board looked, and I guess it looks less ridiculous with 6x2’s uo front compared to 8x3’s

[SternWake]

The 6x2 tires at 26psi on the crushed shell trail’s soft spot’s really dig in, and slowed us down, and it was difficult to regain speed on the firmer areas.

I didn’t try them at lower pressure.

Their on road manners is very good, but I did not have confidence to push hard with no bearing spacers.

With 90mm urethane hub motors pushing, I want the 8x3 turf tires up front over the crushed shells, and we’ve been going there twice a day.

Sounds like the valve stems rattle on the aluminum of the sixshooters.

I hate rattles.

I put the 8x3" turfs back on, and 17psi seems like a good preesure for freerolling, and crushed shell trail traversing.

I really like the on and offroad manners of these turfs and how my board handles with them.

I was looking at some MBS rockstar 2 dimensions, and saw the inner lip measurement, at 34mm, is 10mm less than the rims which came with my Vevor mountainboard, and likely a factor on why the 8x3 turfs work, and the 4.10/3.5-4’s also fit, though they don’t self center.

While the water clarity is much better, Fiona is still not allowed to swim, and while I hose her down to keep her cool before we go, she basically refuses to leave the pavillion, and then decides she is going to roll, while I walk the chariot the first 80 meters. I intend to have a way to mount the skate on its side, but for now she can share the chariot.

I want a functioning back up board even if temporary, and been trying to decide the easiest way to accomplish that with what I have.

Time to make another enclosure.

I thought perhaps I could use the FSESC 6.6mini inside my 7s2p enclosure, and while it does fit atop its heatsink, and I could make it work, it woukd be very very tight with loopkey wiring and receiver and phase wire mr60s.

I decided such effort/time is better expended on diagonal mini enclosure.

I am making new chariot poles out of some clear western red Cedar, but it needs to bend to my will first.

[SternWake]

Fiona became my dog officially, at about 4 years of age, but I knew her from when she was a puppy, freshly imported from Poland at about 5 or 6 months old.

She was always wanting to play ball, and her owners couldnt be bothered, so she’d wander over to my door, ball in mouth, tail wagging.

One thing that always cracked me up about her personality, was than when playing ball, she, sometimes, whe chasing the down the ball, but usually when retreiving it, she’d be trotting along, snorting with glee, then stop suddenly, hunch, and take a big poo, and continue on as if that didnt just happen.

Tonight, on our evening cruise, we went to the park, but I didn’t have the ball with me, and there were a few people around with whom I did not wish to interact.

She agreed and pee’d, and then climbed back in chariot, and we split.

She barks twice, I bark twice, she barks twice, I bark twice, on and on.

One section of road, were cruising along about 18mph to 20mph, and she missed her bark, and I felt the weight on chariot handle change.

I look behind me, and she is in poo hunch mode, dropping a deuce right there in the chariot.

So I coasted to a stop while she finished doing her thing, and then she jumped out.

Thankfully, I had a bath towel laid down over the Yoga matt, and it was a solid one which was easy to bag, and nothing stuck to the towel.

I rolled up the towel anyway, and she climbed back in and we barked up the hood for a few more miles.

When you gotta go, you gotta go.

Same sweet Fluffy goofball, just like a decade ago.

[SternWake]

With Hurricane Helene almost due west of me, the conditions so far are not very impressive, about a mile inland from Gulf of Mexico.

Not much rain so far, and some maybe 50mph/80kph gusts, but between gusts it might become nearly calm.

I saw the roads were mostly dry and went for a solo skate, and there is not really much tree debris on the roads yet either.

One northbound straight away, with tailwind, I was going about 22mph and there was no wind whatsoever, but I could hear, then see a gust coming up behind me.

I let off he throttle and was hit in the back with about a 25mph gust, and leaves and small branches were quickly passing me as I was doing 20mph and accelerating, despite no throttle input.

It was a pretty unique feeling.

[SternWake]

This is the part of the trail we usually walk, instead if roll, as the shells are not very crushed, or compacted.

I’ve never seen the water this high here, but it peaked about 2.5 feet higher than this.

[JaysTCB]

The Board: Lucier7 modified SRB V5 #011

Everybody that knows anything about skateboarding fast knows that all your turn comes from the front. For example. On my DH setup I use 45deg front and 20 or 30 deg on the rear.
So on the V5. It never made sense to me that the frame was made with more rear wheel turn clearance than the front. So when I started modifying this board. One of the first things I did was flip the deck around, then modified the 3link and heim to give me more turn. Now all the wheels stay on the ground when in full turn giving me more traction and a tighter turn radius.

t

[trancejunkie]

that looks so cherry dude

[SternWake]

Fiona and I continue to bark up the hood, but the Vibrio vulnificus mammary gland infection did seem to slow her down some, and she is not 100%, yet.

On The Followup visit, the vet said:

‘consider ovariohysterectomy and mastectomy.’

direct quote:

“I am unsure if I can strongly recommend these two surgeries for Fiona.
She has a fantastic quality of life right now, if anything changes please let me know”

I had showed the vet Pics and video of her in the Chariot and on the kayak.

She is 11, and the Book says 10-12 years is the expected lifespan for a Polish Lowland Sheepdog working dog in Poland. As a cared for pet 14+ is possible.

I’d love for her to be around for much longer of course, but major surgery now as a potential lifespan extender, could be regretted, disregarding the cost which I cant really afford anyway.

So the goal is to keep her happy, and as healthy as possible, and that does not currently include major surgery.

She loves to ride in the chariot, and we ride no less than 10 miles a day, and My cheesy Puaida Hub motors and Ebay Lingyi have proven reliable

She loves to swim, but the watering holewater quality is the cause of her recent health scare, and is still Nasty, and we are forecast to get another tropical system dropping 6+ inches of rain starting Sunday,

We still roll to the watering hole daily, but no swimming,.

It is still ridiculously hot, and she needs a shave, but on the walk back she slows way down, her tail falls, the tongue lolls, and she looks at the chariot, so I take the Eskate out of the chariot, and tip it for her so she can easily climb in, and off we roll on the crushed shell trail.

Accelerating on the shells, can be difficult, as I am still using 90mm hub motors with trashed sleeves and a 62$ Ebay Lingyi ESC, and a 10s2p battery with 15 amp 2600mah cells with what has to be close to 2K miles/3K kilometers on it now and the remote will sag to 1 bar from 3, or even 4, on the shells when trying to get going.

The wheels are not throwing huge rooster tails, as if traction is a huge issue, it more seems like at lower rpm the Lingyi can only send so much power to the motors, and the 270LB load of me Fiona, the chariot and of the 2 8x3 turf tires and the 90Mm urethane and the Chariots’ 4.10x3.50-4 is too much.

On the harder sections of trail when I can get 10 to 12mph going, then there is excess throttle available, and if i do some S turns and slide the urethane, they spin up faster and I can then get going faster, and part of the strategy to get going is unweighting the urethane so they spin way up with little traction then feather in some back foot weight. Much easier without the chariot I imagine, but I’ve never ridden the shell trail solo.

S turns Fluff up the crushed shell trail and makes subsequent passes more difficult, if it has not rained, and recompacted them between runs.

I Do have new 90Mm sleeves for my hub motors. They took 2 weeks to arrive from Dongguan. I’ve made no attempt to mount them.

I have finally finished the electrical aspects of the flexible 10s1P P42a battery designed and built for the diagonal Mini. The cells were bought in November last year. They have a 50mV disparity at the moment, in the 3.51v range.

My hot glue seems to not stick to fishpaper very well.

I wanna use some Kafurter K105 to secure the leads and both kapton tape and Tesa tape atop that.

I am wondering if the thick blue heatshrink is too stiff for a flexible battery, if I should even attempt to use it.

I think the surface of Tesa tape has little friction and the heatshrink atop Tesa should still allow flex without stressing the balance leads or series wires below.

I really want a functioning back up board before removing the lingyi from Old reliable and trying to Vesc it again, but if we get 3 days of rain as forecast, I cant ride anyway and the garage should only get to 80f, instead of 90f, and maybe I can be out there without losing my mind from the heat.

I’ve not worked on the chariot further. I am still stretching the new cedar Fork, and considering ways to make it easy to disassemble and transport in a vehicle, so We can explore areas far and wide.

[SternWake]

Crap.
Wx models and National Hurricane Center say 110mph Cat 2 hurricane incoming on Wednesday.

Our house is only 11 feet above sea level.

[SternWake]

Gotta ride and bark the hood as much as we can today, as days of rain and more coming.