The Blokart...

Also the offer still stands. If you are traveling through Oklahoma(I-35/I-40) or are able to travel/vacation(or even consider moving here?! I'll help you find employment); It would be great to have any additional Buggies or Blokarts or even land boards ride with us. Even kiteboarding and windsurfing. They do sailing too but I'm just not into that.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/115998078419854/permalink/19...



It's basically me(Blokart), another guy(64) who Buggies, and our other guy(50 something) who is out of action right now. Then we have; believe it or not 7 buggy owning fairweather kiters who come out ~ once a year or every other year(in the spring!).

I will say and still feel: The amount of hours and miles I have on a buggy(most of them on my folder) to this day will never be exceeded by if you add up all the hours and miles combined together from all those other buggiers that they have now plus any they get in the future. I had some serious years when I put in some serious time and miles. Most of those guys won't ride alone. In fact; only the 64 year old guy I ride with will(rock climber of 20 years(1974-1994), MTB, then buggy since 1999). I used to think I would be the last buggier left. But I didn't have the Blokart then either...

Thanks Ed. I've windsurfed for more than 20 years so I have lots of various sails, and other random parts available for a conversion. My main concern is that the places I ride don'e have very long fetches so I am concerned that at ground level there won't be enough wind to make a sail work. Kites can fly above the tree line so they might be better. Anyway, I have in mind a fairly simple way to make a conversion using a windsurf 2 bolt mast base and universal joint along with a small sail. The first video looks a lot like that in my link look like that. If it works then I might try something more complicated. I'll look at those links and see if I get any ideas.

Now that I think about it - I could mount a windsurf sail on this in a few minutes and try that at my local buggy spot before screwing around with modifying my buggy.

Quote: Originally posted by rtz

Those 2 bolt mast bases are so versatile! Bolt one down to any skateboard/long board for a skate sail or even bolt or clamp one to a buggy downtube: 2 style to keep in mind. US Base Cup and Euro Pin. Both are valid. But which one you get; your mast extension will have to match. See which design one you like best. https://chinooksailing.com/collections/mast-bases-pin-style https://chinooksailing.com/collections/mast-bases-us-basecup

That is exactly what I was thinking. A really quick conversion just to see if a sail would work where I ride.

BTW - the earlier comment that interests choosing us is so true - at least in my case.

Little Stevie Wonderful,

You are welcome to ride my land sailer anytime. Yes, it is a little bigger than a blocart, but I dare say we are both a little bigger than a blocart.

Each time I see you I offer. Really...it is fun. It will never replace my buggy(s) but it is a great alternate when you are tired after a day of 100+ mile day.

Ok...now two goals...first to take you into the shrubs and second to get you only my land sailer.

See you in April!
Paul

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck

That is one heck of a tale and I am very sorry for your friend. I hardly blame him for being spooked. From first hand experience I know exactly what he is speaking about in not being able to remember the incident (in my case, a freak gasoline fight accident on aptly named wheels of doom) and how frustrating that is. "Did I do something smart in the air or scream like a diapered toddler at the moment of truth?" The Blokart argument and explanation is compelling. I have business reasons to go down to Las Vegas from time to time and I think next time I'll try and take one of those Blokart tour days down to Ivanpah that they advertise and you see on the playa. I'm still going to buggy at IBX but this would be a fun way to dip my toe in the water. Thanks for the write up - nicely played.

And he returns to the buggy world. Rocking his old school helmet for the moment. I told him he should contact Bell and tell them he was wearing their helmet and it broke and he ended up in the hospital. He thinks cause he wasn't riding a bike they won't care too much? Well he could have been going faster on a bike and impacted pavement too! This happened on a grass field and not at topped out road bike speeds(25-30mph). How well would that helmet have faired on pavement?



And all that tape is from last winter when he had the vents taped up.

regarding both rtx's comment and jeffnyc's;
I would think that any of the helmet manufactures would be interested in crash data. It is a safety device so there is no "warranty" when it is used as designed/ intended.
Several points of clarity about helmet tech:
-topped out road bike speeds are actually more like 60 -70 mph. In The Tour they regularly outrun the camera bikes coming down the winding hills and I saw a video recently where a bike caught up to and passed a "gang" of crotch rockets coming down a hill.
-in the offroad world the downhill and enduro bikes can easily reach 30 -50 mph and much more comparable terrain to what we kite/ buggy/ sail on which is probably why most on this forum end up with full face helmets developed for DH MTB
-that helmet would have done its job on asphalt just like it did on grass/ dirt.
-it is encouraging to me to see that even in its broken state the gentleman is wearing the helmet properly. It drives me bonkers to see people, including in advertising, wearing their helmets on the back of their head [so their pompador or bangs dont get messed up]. Spend three seconds thinking about the mechanics of how a bike wreck occurs and you realize that they are usually, arm/ leg/ shoulder intervention not withstanding, forehead first and seldom if ever [except when doing wheelies/ trials/ BMX vert] hitting the back of the head.
-as to the "single use" comment -some, not all, BMX helmets are "skate style" with lots of thick padding intended to deal with multiple light impacts from learning your X Games move du jour. I cant tell from the photo if that helmet is skate style or normal helmet style with only styrene to crush before the brain cells.
-I will let others comment on the stringency of DOT versus Euro standards but I also have suspected that their standards are more stringent. It has been a while since I followed the industry closely but I think Bell or Gyro or ... were starting to develop and use more comprehensive testing to better engineer the bike helmets for the forces we encounter instead of "current" understanding from the '50's or whenever the DOT standards were developed.
-regarding the concussive forces -most modern bike helmets allow movement between the shell and the harness that holds the helmet on the head. These tend to be designed for light weight and air flow which I feel makes them less useful for the speeds and conditions that we tend to operated under in the buggies and boats.
-we are all guilty of it but helmets and their materials have a life expectancy due to exposure to sand, sun, sweat, ... [none of which we ever see right ] so the manufacturers recommendation to replace every few years is not entirely a marketing ploy to sell more helmets. That classic lid with the lycra cover that your grandfather rocked when he was bike commuting in the '70's should stay on the shelf just like you wouldn't dream of using his Nike's to run the Boston Marathon.

Enough soap boxing from me. I am glad that the gentleman is back up and active in our sport [be it buggies or boats] with little or no long term damage.

Quote: Originally posted by Demoknight

I took Chris's Blokart for a spin a couple times at JIBE. After 5 minutes I was comfortable enough to lift the upwind wheel and able to keep my balance for longer and longer. It was a blast. It really appeals to me because of all the times I have been on beaches or in parks or parking lots and felt a breeze and could only think, "Man, the conditions are perfect except I don't want to set a kite down on asphalt, or there are too many cars, or not enough space downwind for the lines, or powerlines..." The fact that it packs up so small and takes up so little space while operating is very appealing. So I bought one.

Cool!! If you get in the mood to try it out locally give me a U2U.