Maintenance

• All Terrain Boards (2006.Jan.24)
• Kite Bars (2005.Nov.24)
• Kites (2005.Oct.28)

• Make sure you regularly check your bar for wear and tear. Especially have a regular checkup on the depower loop, all quick releases, depower line, power adjusting strap and line attachments.

• Most of us at one point or another have gone out, played hard with our boards in wet, muddy places, or salty beaches, and then put them up without too much thought just to come back to a board with seized wheels, locked bolts or worse. All metals (yes even Stainless Steel) can and will corrode in the right conditions. Now I could ‘Dork out’ and describe how this all happens but I’ll spare you the details.

• Basically the two types we deal with are Oxidation (rust) and Galvanic. What’s Galvanic corrosion…simply put, it is a type of corrosion that occurs when 2 different metals are touching and one basically eats the other...Bad stuff. The best way to prevent or slow these processes is to keep the water off your board. I know they are meant to get wet and dirty. So here’s my tip.

• Before you go out next time take 10-15 minutes to do the following. Clean off as much dirt, sand, and whatever else you’ve got stuck on your ride, especially around the Truck bolts, Bearings, Kingpins, etc. Then get a water dispersant (WD-40 or similar) and spray a light (READ…VERY LIGHT) coat on your metal components. If it is running and dripping off the board you went too far…wipe some off. **WD-40 will dissolve the grease in your bearings so go easy with it…it’s not grease.** I’ll talk more about bearing maintenance in a later newsletter.

• Now go have fun. When you get home, rinse the board thoroughly with clean, fresh water and re-apply the dispersant, wipe off the excess and store your baby. She’ll be ready to rip next time you pull her out!

By the way-- never, never, never, ever spray dispersing fluid in your mouth, nose, or any other hole in your body-- just in case you were wondering.

• Make sure you regularly check your bar for wear and tear. Especially have a regular checkup on the depower loop, all quick releases, depower line, power adjusting strap and line attachments.

• Before launching, check that your lines are clear and the leash is not tangled around or through the power adjusting strap.

• Before launching, always make sure the small tube on the red ball near your top line attachments sits inside of the metal ring.

• When reaching the water, before starting your kiteboarding session, splash some water op your bar to rinse off sand that has stuck to it. Especially the depower line, power adjusting strap and hole in the bar need to be sand free, reducing the wear on these parts.

• Before winding up your lines, take off the neoprene end covers, wind up the lines and pull the covers back over.

Always remove sand and water of your kite. Always store your kite dry. Regularly rinse off your kite with tap water. Regularly check your equipment for wear and tear.

• Fabric: Check the fabric for holes or tears. Do not use your kite if there are holes or tears until accessed by a knowledgeable dealer/distributor.

• Zippers (Twin Skin Owners): regularly check if they are still intact. Use silicon spray to clean them in case of salt residue on the zipper.

• Line attachment loops (Twin Skin Owners): Regularly check that the line is still intact and that loops are free of wear. Also check that the loops are still tied on correctly (check the Twin Skin manual page 11).

• Pockets (Twin Skin Owners): Regularly check both ends of the pocket for wear. If there are problems please contact your dealer for the best solution.