Help with Kava springs

[peteb303]

I have bought a Flexi' Kava, I got it second hand. I am not sure if the springs have been changed around. Two eggs were missing so they have been removed.

As my board likes to go left and feels like a wonky donkey I decided to strip the springs out and see what’s goin' on I have noticed one spring is bigger than the other, this must be to do with the board being loaded (kite specific). So what I need to know is which spring is for healside/toeside.

I have played about with the setting's I think it's right now but not sure, so help would be much appreciated.

[freez]

the springs on mine are equal length, and i have found it far too stiff with the eggs inside the springs in the outer position

and the board comes with 4 elastomers for the springs so you have 2 missing

and the board will turn downwind (left?) a lot easier than it will turn upwind

see here for the kava manual,

http://www.flexifoil.com/downloads/im/Kite%20Landboards%20%20instructions.pdf

[rasga]

because of teh bias one spring would have been mroe loaded than the other, and as such more compressed, hence maybe it was compressed so much that in it uncomperssed state that it appears smaller than the one's that had less compression

 

same thing on my flexdeck pivot things. . hard to explain, but roation should keep things tip top. .

[peteb303]

Nice one, i think it sounds like the rotation thing might be in order to keep these springs equal. Might try some new ones if i can find somewhere that sell's 'em?.

[mgs]

I bought a Kava Landboard yesterday and was also considering fitting eggs but going by what you have said ( freez) I wont.

[freez]

hi mgs, i did end up moving toeside springs to the inside position , now i can get the board turning upwind (toeside) a lot easier, i did fit the eggs into the toeside springs but have left heelside springs in outer position without the eggs, though this may change as i get more used to the board.

this seems to be not too bad for me, but im sure you will find your own preferences, oh and if you dont have friend available to help in changing springs i havre found a G-clamp very useful

[mgs]

Hi freez,

 

Out of interest did your Kava come with eggs,as all I got was the board only,no manaul or allen keys.Is this the norm...

[freez]

if you got it brand new then you seem to be missing bits, mine came supplied with -

 

manual

tools (shifter, allen keys)

eggs

leash

wheels

board

[rasga]

MGS did you buy it new or second hand

 

And the manual can be found online, i think the URL was stated above

[mgs]

Yes it was brand new fully assembled with deck and wheels of course.I did ask at the time if it came with eggs and was told no.I have already emailed the shop who are very good having bought a lot of kites from them before so I dont expect any problems.

[rasga]

sounds very odd

 

you say fully assembled guessing you bought it in person from shop and it was ready to go . .?

 

But i even think that the instruction manual does state what your board should come with (including a sticker!)

[freez]

if you download the manual you will see a list of contents

 

1 kite landboard with trucks and footstraps fitted

4 wheels with fitted bearings

1 safety coil leash

1 tool set

instructions

inner spring elastomers (kava board only)

 

all this came in the box, so i suggest you get in touch with the shop and ask about missing bits

[mgs]

Just one more thing I think the foot straps are from the flexi deck as the screw holes for the foot straps are off centre where as the Kava ones should be in the middle,or does this not matter I think there has been a mix up somewhere.Getting it sorted.

[freez]

the footstraps on my kava are off center as you say ,

this could turn out to be handy, if they get ripped out of the bolts its easy to turn them around and use the other side, making a longer life for them.

it may also be that they are off center to allow the feet to get that little bit further over to toeside because of the shape of the board.

[mgs]

Ok that makes sense,but curious as to why the pictures I have seen show them in the centre.But I guess it makes no difference.May be the person in the factory had to much to drink at lunch time and punched the holes off centre,and the chap in charge of inspecting them was also at the same bar.

[freez]

i know what you mean, on front page on manual the pic shows the footstraps are off centre, but on page 3 it shows the straps are punched centrally.

im not worried about it as the bindings on the scrub are starting to fray so may need replacing soon. i wont have that problem with the kava, ill just turn em around

[rasga]

there was a reason for them being off centred, which i think ran along the lines of the wholes being off centred so that it was easy for your feet to bail

 

If you follow the logic it allows them to bend more, hard to describe!

[freez]

i know what yer on about rasga, and you are right, it is hard to describe, but i do know what you mean.

[mgs]

Having just looked at the Flexifoil info pack that I received sometime ago,the positions of the all the screw holes vary from deck to deck.

Flexdeck is centre on toe side and off centre heel side.

Airdeck is off centre for toe and heel side.

Kavadeck is centre for toe and heel side.

My Kava is off centre for toe and heel side

[rasga]

i think you might find that the pictures were taken for promo before the final positions were decided

[grunty]

new springs and egg shocks arn't a problem. They do get soft with age so better to replace as a set anyway.

Al

[peteb303]

Wow this thread still goin'. Well I will update you with what did with my board. With my odd springs I put the big ones heal side with my two elastometers and the small springs toe side.

It works a well, now able to really turn the board sharply heal side and blast into the wind.

Got a set of new springs and elastometers, not bothered using them yet cos I’m having so much fun as it is.