gk sonic 07 11m

[kernow00warrior]

has any 1 ever flown or owned this kite, is it any good or nay.any lil niggles an quirks it has.

all opinions/comments mucho appreciated

thanks

[freefall]

If its better than the 06 it will be a mega kite, I still rekion the 11 meter 06 sonic I flew for a couple of months is better than my ion2. A GK will be my next kite. I think the bar had some problems in 06 but should have been sorted for 07?

[crut]

07 is big improvements over 06.

 

07 11m sonic rocks.

 

I have an 11m and an 8m and you wont regret flying the 11m. Great boosting, great upwind and great fun to fly. They also like to fly fast. You can feeling them ramping up as you fly them harder and faster. Big smiles.

 

If you have any specific questions, let me know.

[bradders]

The 07 sonic is a great kite.

very fast through the air

massive wind range

Big floaty jumps

Very high quality manufactory with great safety system

Down side is that it's a bit prone to over sheeting and back stalling

especially if you wanna try a bit of down wind wave riding or heel to toeside carves, it doesn't 'drift' like a more 'c' shaped kite does.

[vinny]

Hey Kern,

Ok... if you get the 07 11m sonic you will not be dissapointed. I have the 06 11m and i love it, if it had one down side its the power/ de-power cleet on the 06 can be a pain. I have the 07 8m and 07 17m both great kites and the power de-power straps are a deffinate bonus. On the 07 kites you have alot more adjustment as in for bar pressure rideing style etc. The 07 does tend to backstall but to me it only seems to happen if your lacking with enough wind otherwise it behaves fine. As bradders said the safety system on em is great and if you get it wrong just let go of the bar and the kite falls to the edge of the window waiting for relaunch. in saying that its always a very good idea to get used to relaunching from the water before you start heading out with your board, as there is a knack to relaunch when its landed on the leading edge, you do need to practice this as it will happen alot if your learning. i realy cant say enough about these kites, you will love flying it.

[kernow00warrior]

ideal,thanks for the input guys. its really really appreciated.at least i know where to look if i need some info bout them now.

er..... well thanks again for yer time

cheerz

[denny]

the 06 gk sonic is a fantasic kite ,iv had one now for about 15 months ,my mate got this new ,then move over to the ions 2, which he has all ways said that the sonic was a much better kite ,we have change the depower system on the bar to a best set up ,work perfect the only down side on the 06 is that it not a one pump ,but they changed this on the 07 .

i have been thinking about changing my sonic but when u read all the right ups i cant seem to find anything better on the market .im on the water on a 11m from 13mph full powered up ,up to 28mph full depower i can just hang on when all mates are on there 9 m ther has only been one or tow sessions where iv not been able on the water (35mph)

[cbj]

Its a great kite. Fantastic range, huge jumps and I find it really stable for tricks too

 

BTW guys, I've eliminated all backstalling tendencies on my 11m by adjusting to the middle knot at the bar for the front lines effectively giving the back lines an inch or so more slack when the bar is fully pulled in.

[kernow00warrior]

stoked with the feedback,i couldnt find many reviews on the internet bout them.so its good to hear sum good stuff bout them.got mine comin on friday hopefully.

denny you mentioned using a best bar an lines,,does that mean i cud use my bar n lines with a best kite? that be ideal cuz gona buy my bro 7m waroo cheap cuz hes massive an never gets to ride it.ideal.

anyways cheers all for feedback,appreciated loads an settles my mind.

[crut]

The way the lines attach to the GK differ from almost every other kite. Makes it harder to mess up attaching the lines, but does mean you can't use them on another non-GK kite (rather than the back lines larks-heading onto the pigtails, the kite larks-head onto the back-lines) I understand why the guy with an 06 converted the bar over though, the new GK bar is great and doesn't suffer the same issues as the 06 (mainly the de-power trim strap, on the 06 it was a line into a clam cleat).

[JKS]

Hey guys ..... I am stoked that I spotted this thread

 

I scored a 07 Sonic about 2 months ago ... being winter, combined with being a tad soft I have yet to get it out of the bag more than once.

 

The time I did fly it was brief ... and enjoyable. It was on land for about 3/4 hour in very light wind. In fact .... 0 - 8 knots. Even thought the wind was so light the kite was surprisingly stable and responsive. I was really happy with it .... and it flew much better de-powered. I even hopped in the buggy and got a few good runs .... I was even able to self launch it in about 5 - 6 knots !!

 

Keen as mustard to get it out on the water ... when it's a little warmer. But in the meantime, info like you have all given in this thread is gold.

 

Thanks for sharing

 

 

 

 

Happy Days

[crut]

They also go upwind like a monster! Not just any monster, but a monster particularly prone to walking upwind. A lot. With a big smile on its face. And an ice cream. Not that an ice cream is particularly important to a monster when going up wind, just makes the walk nicer.

[JKS]

I found that in the buggy the kite was easy as to keep flying right at the edge of the window. It had good steady pull and nice and quick to turn. Going upwind was no problem .... I was flying on a point ... so I had good options for exploring different directions.

 

I have a couple of kites that have the same connection system .... it's good as it makes it almost impossible to connet the lines back the front (you would really have to go out of your way to fug it up)

 

Happy Days

[denny]

hello kernow00warrior i have loaded a pic of the bar set up , what we have done ,is removed all the sonic bar set up and replace it with the (best) depower system , by doing this its like use ing an older kitesurfing system ,we made the chic loop line smaller so that when u crash just let go of the bar ,it is about afoot away from u , give the kite a second then off u go again ,100% depower

no pulling no trying to fly into the sky .The one down side that we found with the sonics system was that to power up or down u had to look down at the system and when u had a wipe out the bar seemed to be about 3 miles away from u ,with 100% depower , on my bar ,the safety goes to the ring (which iv never had to used ) set up is so simple ,one of the best things is lanch and land , all we do is hook the chic loop to a big sand bag ,which u can gat from ikea ,walk over to the kite turn it over on to its side ,walk back to the sand bag hook in ,and off we go ,all so do the same when landing , so simple

please find pic below .hope this can help anyone

[cbj]

They also go upwind like a monster! Not just any monster, but a monster particularly prone to walking upwind. A lot. With a big smile on its face. And an ice cream. Not that an ice cream is particularly important to a monster when going up wind, just makes the walk nicer.

 

You forgot to mention its quite a good looking monster too . . . .

 

On another matter , I've just recently got my hands on a 07 8m GK Sonic , not flown it yet - anyone got any views on the best AKPO settings for the 8m ?

[john malone]

Give me a 06 sonic in 25mph and ill out jump anyone

 

Matt pendle was way ahead of his game with the sonic .

 

I still blag a go of Denny's ( my old kite ) and ripp it up - sadley missed

[kernow00warrior]

Can Any1 Give Me A Bitta Info Bout The Settings For Me 07 11m.

At The Mo Its On Leading Edge F3 F5 An Back Lines B2.

Im Only 67 Kg An Forcast 18 20mph Winds Murra.

Will I B Ok Wid Jus Depower Strap Or Shall I Adjust Bridles ??

Cheerz Guys

[Elfin]

Well you really want all the bridle settings to correspond, thats what ive heard anyway.

[kernow00warrior]

ok guys, i need a bitta ur sonic wisdom.pretty please.

managed to go to day for 1st go of kite.but didnt managed to get it flyin rite.kept backstallin major.i had tightened the back lines cuz wen i 1st launched it was as it came out the bag,back lines were real slack an no feel in bar.an it wouldnt even take off,jus rolled down the beach.so as i said tightend back lines.had it on 1st knot on the bar an 2nd on leading edge.

bridles wer f3 f4 b3. then the bar was really high.as in the sweet spot wos at pretty much arms length.kite woz ok at 12 clock but wen sined it strugled to get back up.?????? ???????

any help would be so mucho mondo appreciated

thanks k.w

[vinny]

Kern,

the bridles you speak of are for bar pressure (amount of force required to pull the bar in whilst moving) its important you have the f's with the corresponding b's !!! you will know if its not right cos your power/back lines will be really slack and you will not be able to stear the kite or be very unresponsive when you try. If you move the F's and B's forward the kite will be more responsive but you do increase the bar pressure!! i dont like bar pressure cos after a couple of hours ya arms are hanging. So ive got my bridles set back, mine are set at F3, F5 and B3 less bar pressure and ultra stable its purfect for me and dont worry even set at this i found the kite still very responsive and fast turning, you could put your back lines on B4 with F3 and F5 if you wanna make it a lil more responsive ive tried it and it seemed to work ok.

Use attachments F1 or F2 with F4 and F3 with F5 on the leading edge. the rear attachment should match the forward !! For example F1 with B1, F2 with B2, F3 with B3 and F4 with B4.

Im assuming for zero bar pressure you would have it set on F4, F5 and B4 should you set it on that you will notice there are three knots on the bridle that attach to the pig tail on the leading edge!!! (middle knot 2nd on the F3 F5 B4 set up) i would say you need to attach it on the third knot down each side to shorten up the lines and obviously back lines B4. Ive never set up on this so cant say if im 100% correct!!! But i will try it on a light wind day to see what i get from it.

Hope that helps, Please if anyone finds the info i have given incorrect or slightly wrong then speak up, it will help me too.

[vinny]

p.s. oh yeah for more or less power just tweak the power/depower strap. Grey is more Red is less !!! If your going out in 20mph winds you will want the red pulled right in imho and i wouldnt be going out in anything more than 25 mph.

[kernow00warrior]

thanks for info m8,much appreciated.

the kite wos already set up on f3 f4 b2 wen i got it out the bag.an then i changed it to b3. which made it bit better,as for pig tails. i had as u said 2nd 1 on leading edge an 1 nearest bar.(as before back lines wer so slack kite wouldnt even launch).but im quite short an the bar sweet spot woz nearly at arms length.why wos the bar so high. i did have strap at full power.an the kite kept stallin so much.

is this because back lines wer too tight ????

thanks again vinny for ur time

[kernow00warrior]

yeh well they forecast 20mph 2day,but it wasnt that wen we got on the beach.seemed real windy from carpark but wasnt wen we got down there

[vinny]

Hey Kern, Basicly you had the kite set up incorrectly which is why you are having problems!!! You need to use F3 with F5 and B3 keep 2nd knot on leading edge and knot nearest the bar it'll be the same the set up i use. Trust me making the small change makes a big difference. If you still feel the back lines are too slack you can change the back lines to B4, the manual doesnt tell you to do this but i tried and it worked ok OR move onto the 3rd knot on leading edge, its a case of trying it out . When you have set up when you launch, at first the back lines will still look slack but dont panic, once you get wind into it it all tightens up. set up as i said F3, F5 and B3 you will have a wicked session and wont be able to stop smiling. When ever your launching ALWAYS have the red pulled right in and one hand on the quick release on the chicken loop just in case something isnt right, when walking with the kite, again pull the red right in it makes the walk back easier and the kite more controlable = less chance of accidents!!! A little tip for ya, if you find your picking up too much speed a few thiings you can do.. for example if you have the bar pulled right in 1st obviously push the bar out about half way (not all the way because you dont wanna totaly lose power from the kite) pull your shoulders back and edge hard against the kite, as soon as youve slowed down enough just pull the bar back in. What this does is it pulls the kite further round the window and also it will help you get up wind. if you slow down too much just work the kite a little and away you go and just repeat. If that dont work stick ya arse in the water ;@) imo Sonics are not park and ride kites and to me it seems the more agressive you are the better they are.

[kernow00warrior]

yep cool,ill defo try that when i go next time.i think i was so friggin eager beaver to getin water an ava go wid it.i shuda spent time adjustin a few thing.

anyways thanks so much for the info,

cheers mate