Andy Mac

Point Henry is okay - From Geelong, take Portarlington Road and follow the signs. Big with the kitesurfers but a good bit of an adventure playground on a buggy or a board. Mind the traffic though. Ocean Grove is in the locations thingo but best with low tide and southerly. If you're picking up a kite (From Kitepower?) ask Goshen for his tip on the day.

Nigel, Nigel, Nigel... you're a small angry man... :roll: At work so missed Belmont common sadly. Good day I hope (With no dogs....)?

Great idea - exactly the kind of non-confrontational, public friendly image we want to be presenting to help keep our sport from being pidgeonholed out of the parks and off the beaches. :roll:

Bob, Sorry - it's not a kit as such. The bigfoot rims should just fit straight onto your PL buggy (Stub axle or axle bolts - they should both handle the standard size rim) and you then need a bigfoot front fork as (Obviously) the standard front fork is too narrow. You can use the same downtube and footpegs, but you might find the ride height will be significantly different (I've seen a couple of rigs with modified downtubes to lower the center of gravity of the rider). Nige - sadly the 'going big all round' bit is true. GF is giving me grief about it too. Have however decided to say 'stuff the UK trends'. Their 'no seatbelt' rule is crap, based on land yachts, and probably more dangerous in the end than the systems that we've evolved over time from experience. Going back to my original set up for beach cruising and jumping...

bigfoots (Bigfeet??) ok to run on a standard PL for cruising soft sand as you'd expect - only the dunes, bumps and jumps that might require frame strengthening. Bigfoot lights are just the same tyre on a narrower rim (Bigfoot tyre + standard rim). They look like (And I'm told they are) a bugger to fit. The bigfoot tyre v's a standard tyre - you'll lose a little bit of control due to slide or whatever but if you're in soft soft sand the standard tyres dig in and you go nowhere. Better of with the Bigfoots (Feet). I'm in the process of getting Big all round myself.... ready to float in the sea for summer....

Joel, I've had a range of Ozone Razors and have been flying them for a couple of years. No experience with others in the Ozone range but based on the Razors the quality of the gear is first rate, kites and sewn lines (Prestretched and I've never, not once, had to resleeve or adjust due to line stretch). The Razors are a go-fast kite. Good for high speed buggying and pointing upwind. Probably not as suited to the landboarding as the likes of the Blades as they don't generate as much lift. They're VERY touchy in gusty conditions. Not usually a problem on the beach in nice clean wind, but with parks and buildings around to dirty up the wind - 'Look Out'. They can snap luff before you can react (Or blink) but an inch of brakeline taken in improves things considerably with minimal loss of upwind performance (Still enough to kick ass against most gear). You need to be on your toes a bit while flying them and I had a fair learning curve coming from the more stable older 4 line kites. One part of the curve was a memorable Belmont Common Race Final with a 2.5m fresh out of the bag - I bounced it on the ground, tie-wrapped it, tangled bridles, the lot, and still finished either first or second. Hadn't learn't that brakeline adjustment bit at that point and the kite spent more time on the ground than in the air, but when it was flying I was lapping people pretty quickly. The smaller kites in the range are fast and can be dangerous in high winds due to their speed (Things can go wrong in a hurry, but that's the same with any small powered up traction kite) and the big ones are more stable and friendly as they're that bit slower to do something you aren't prepared for. Overall I'm a big fan and wouldn't swap the performance for the stability now. Highly recommended. Mac's large smiley face rating out of 5 = :D

Still on photos and making the site as friendly and useful as possible.. and given the amazing speedy response to the last request - thought I'd ask the question: Can we set up the site so that we can place photos directly into the For Sale category? (Bigger than 7kb ) I know you can stick the photos in the gallery but it would make it more user friendly (In my humble opinion). Cheers

Now we're talking Any and all info appreciated Joel/Gav et al. Thanks guys (And don't stop while you're on a roll). Going into the city today and might stop at a couple of shops for a chat with the yachties about them too - armed with what you've all mentioned already. Cheers again.

Cheers - Craig also put me onto similar range of products (He's been thinking about getting one too). I can check them out on the net until the cows come home but all the techno weeny information overload shits me to tears. I just want a few opinions on the gear that people might be using already.

JPEG wouldn't load. You must have a fancier bit of software (Or more probably just a better handle on computers). Can get a nice small JPEG but as soon as I convert it it loses quality. Noticed earlydaze above also had the same issue. Will keep trying... but I'm not clever enough to come up with too many more different methods... And THEN I have to learn how to do those little animated ones....

After tips on GPS for buggy use. Needs to be waterproof obviously, and one that floats ideal (May end up with it in a yacht at some stage...). After a basic one, not one that will direct me in Melbourne traffic, change my TV channels, and wash my clothes when I get home grubby. Just the basics: Max Speed, Avg Speed, Distance travelled, and location stuff that GPS's do... Keen to hear who has one, why it's good, any issues that you'd change, make, model, price (Indication at least), etc. Cheers

Yep - the Razors rock all right. And I reckon you got a bargain at that price! 5.0m Yakuza was to fill in a gap in the quiver after selling off the 4.5m that had had a hard but fullfilling life. Picked it up last time home but haven't had a chance to get it in the air yet. Goshen (KP Geelong) road tested a couple down at Sandy Point a week or two ago. So Canberra is where the real competition is eh? A few of you flying Razors would make good running mates for some long haul cruising at speed on that nice big lake (When it's dry). Will have to get up there at some stage - or catch up if you come down for speedweek or something similar in Victoria. So how did you damage the leading edge? Dragging it while it was leading edge down across the ground? :shock: An OBE? Doubt that it was due to a specific design flaw of the Razors - any kite copping that in similar circumstance would probably suffer the same. I've had all of mine for at least two years and they've lasted well. I'd rate the build quality right up there. Although I guess if the leading edge material is held firmer against the ground it provides potential for more wear. Sad news either way... and don't want to see the photos.

Yup - that do look just a might boggy. Your main aim is admirable and all in favour this end. Keep up the good and noble work.

81km/hr in a Blokart!?! That IS quick. Just stuck the dates in my calendar and noticed that I am home The difficult part will be to convice the other half that her last weekend before going back to work following holidays is best spent in a lovely little remote-ish caravan park in Sandy Point. Will work on it. High winds and record speed attempts with a 2.5m kite being the smallest in the quiver? Might be time to dig the old sand rockets (Ballast weight) out of the garage.... Nigel - you did smell Yakuza. And catching you has never been much of a problem :wink:

Used 5.5m Razor for sale on the Kitepower website for $400 (Ozone lines and Handles included). Also a new 5.5m for $500, ad a 6.8m for $600. http://www.kitepower.com.au/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16425 Assuming that the site is kept up to date (It usually is) - They're all damn good value for some awesome performance (High speed buggy style - not so ideal for your landboard lofting) - I reckon they hid it until I invested in something slightly more expensive.... :roll:

That's the day after the AFL Grand Final... so can't make it. (Trying hard not to put in any 'You'd have to have something REALLY big to entice us to Canberra" jokes there also. Too impressed by the sound of Lake George so aiming to stay in your good books...)

Ah HAH! (Bit fuzzy though with low res...) Only minor stuffing around required - any more tips to achieve better quality?

This could be a long thread... Cousin had been at me to come and see his kite for months. Had visions of usual static line display kite, one bit of string, boring as hell. VERY windy day on his farm directly inland from Peterborough (Near Port Campbell, Vic) he dragged me out into the paddock with a near new, two line, 8ft Flexifoil stacker. Launched it, took off like on jet powered skis in his gumboots skidding through foot high grass across the paddock. Once I picked up my jaw and then had a go, that was me hooked. He was introduced to it by a Warrnambool local (Not sure of identity but would be interested to know) and bought one of the first five original (Peter Lynn?) Land Lizards imported into Australia (Or so he told me). I took an 8ft Flexi to the UK and came back with Skytigers and a PL copy buggy made by a bloke over there. Peter Lynn Peels were the latest and greatest as I was learning to buggy and the four line kites were only just being developed. One I liked early on was a Spider something or another that had zip in/zip out extensions to allow you to cover a wider wind range. Cousin's Land Lizard is still sitting in my garage (I use it as a trailer to take kids for rides occassionally) and I have his Hi40 Skytiger also sitting in the cupboard - what a waste!!? Ask him every now and again if he wants to sell but haven't had a commitment yet - might be time to ask again....

Nice work! And FAST! Now all I need to do is figure out what an Avatar is. Obviously not a JPEG file cos I tried that and failed.....

Have noticed that in many other net forums it's possible to put a little photo in your profile. Any chance we can do that in here? Would add another small dimension to the entertainment...

Who you calling common? :shock:

Nice work Gav - good to see promotion of the sport.

Mick Fardon - try and contact through the South Australian crowd (http://www.akfa.net or info@kitefactory.com.au) - has taken loads of good footage on the buggies. He flies one handed while filming with a standard video camera and has some good stuff of buggying on the claypans and beaches over there. Also has kiteboarding and possibly some land board stuff too. If you don't get a response let me know and I can email him direct. Mac

Checked out your video - VERY nice work Better be careful getting that air, that chair looks like it has a high center of gravity already and you could get a nasty flip on a crooked landing. Would be cool though....

No good for me - running a Mac Looks interesting though... Might try it from work.