This weekend I restored my old beginner's board.

[wardlarson]

I've been longboarding for 16 or 17 months now, and I helped bring it to my valley with just a few of us riding at the time. now the longboarding scene in my town is probably 50 or 60 riders strong, which is pretty good since my high school is a 2,100 student school. My board was a 42" Krown kicktail, a $65 piece of #### that I rode stock for a very long time. it's good for what I use it for, big long hills and bombing steep hills that don't require much carving. other than that, it's too heavy for cruising and too stiff for carving.

Anyway, the stock board had some retarded Tiki-style Hawaiian paint scheme which was extremely stupid. So these past few days I've had some free time and I sanded the deck down to bare wood (10-ply maple veneer plywood) which was very pretty. I then removed all the grip tape and sanded the adhesive off the top and stained both sides. Next I removed the ABEC 7 bearings from my wheels and gave them a quick bath in WD-40 which both cleans and lubes them, then soaked them in isoprople alcohol, which evaporates quickly leaving them clean and bone-dry. Next I reapplied WD-40 to everything (including the axle) and reassembled it all. It rolls about 6 times further than previously, just from the soaking and greasing of the bearings.

Right now I'm going to head out to pick up some grip tape and use an x-acto knife to make it some unique design. I'm thinking of cutting this logo I made the other day into the grip tape before applying it. it's actually a graff stencil i cut out but I think it'll look great along with some striped grip tape:



This is the board as of now, and I'll update after I get the grip tape.









Tell me what you think

[revzack]

Umm, you may want to rethink you decision to use WD-40as lube. It will not last.

[fineout]

+1 go buy speed cream or other bearing lube..it will work much better

[wardlarson]

alright thanks for the tips. i just did it an hour ago so i'll have plenty of time to redo it.

when i go to the skateshop i'll get some cream or lube as well.

[Tai]

alright thanks for the tips. i just did it an hour ago so i'll have plenty of time to redo it.

when i go to the skateshop i'll get some cream or lube as well.

Save yourself some money and go to a bike shop and get Triflow, It'll cost like $5 for a small bottle that'll last u a lifetime

[wardlarson]

okay i might actually do that since my bike could use some lubing up as well haha. thanks for the tips everyone.

[Slim]

Board looks nice. Good job.

[wardlarson]

thanks slim. i want to buy one of these sets from TGM's eBay, because im planning to build a deck really soon and i want new wheels right now anyway.

I've heard good things about the randal 180's and the gumballs.

[Slim]

Yep, the 180 Randal's are great trucks. People on here like to dis them and talk about their fancy mega-buck precision trucks but in my opinion, Randals work just fine! BTW, www.milehighskates.com also has package set ups of trucks and wheels. Right now he has one with randals and the sector 9 GOS wheels everyone raves about. http://www.milehighskates.com/catalo...oducts_id=1493

[wardlarson]

awesome, i'll definitely look into those. thanks for the help man.
since people seem to love the GOS wheels i'll probably just get this set (MHS) that you showed me since it's the same price (actually 80 cents cheaper after shipping) :]

[kookyfish]

nice job on the deck.
as for RII 180s with 78a gumballs get some swiss bones bearings and you`ll have yourself a nice ride, the stock truck is good for carving once you brake them in.
and if you want to go fast theyre stable and the 180 hanger will fit nicely flipped onto a Randall DH base plate.

cheers

[wardlarson]

alright thanks kookyfish for the tips.

[Twitch]

dude, you should totally reshape that deck

like shape the nose into a point like the back of a pintail, and then cut off the current tail and make that the nose.

imo, it would look dank

definitely a lot more work than you probably had in mind