Blackha
Ask the Doctor
LOPPED OVER
All of my friends including myself have
the same trucks and all of our trucks seem
to be lop-sided One wheel comes off the
ground when the board isn't being used. Is
it something we're doing or is it just the
truck? Please help
Brent Geppert
Lacey, WA
Bushings. It's the bushings or grom-
mets or whatever you want to call them.
The reason one wheel might not sit flat
on the ground is probably because your
trucks are tight. Stand on it. If all your
wheels are flat on the ground then I'm
sure your trucks are fine. Sometimes
after you ride your board, then get off,
the truck will be stuck in a turning posi-
tion. If your trucks are tight and your
bushings are of the soft clay type, they'll
stay that way. Also, check to see if your
trucks have been mounted properly, the
base plates should be aligned with each
other and centered properly on the
board (who's your mechanic?).
Here's a question for you. If you roll
your board on indoor-outdoor carpet
and it rolls sideways, but in a straight
line, is there anything wrong with the
board?
GLASS OFF
Doctor Blackhart.
I have a 12 ft. wide half pipe with 2 layers
of plywood. My friend says he can get
plexiglass for real cheap. I was wondering if
it would be a good idea to put this on our
ramp. Didn't they used to make ramps out
of plexiglass? If so, why not anymore?
Sincerely
Jesse Fischer
Auburn, CA
Actually, ramps were never made out of
plexiglass. They were made out of lexan
which is virtually unbreakable and
much more expensive. Cost is probably
why you don't see them much. As far as
putting plex on a ramp that is already
covered with ply goes, it probably
wouldn't be feasible because of board
impact. Plexiglass has a tendency to
crack when hit with a sharp object like a
board. Best way to find out is to try it. If
you do write back, I'd like to hear what
happened.
BROKEN AND BUMMED
Dear Rick
I'm bumming, big time! My skate broke.
Let me give you a little background. I skate
with my friends. Steve S., Drew, Doug.
Chris, Rob, Trev, Ben. We're all a swell
bunch. We're all doing handplants, and
some of us can do sweepers, boneless
ones, and rock and rolls. It's cool.
We, Drew, Chris, Ben, Rob, Trev and I
were skating this totally rad pipe that
Drew threw together. It was a cool dork
session in a hot underground garage. We
were all shreddin'. We were just putting the
ramp in Drew's truck, and I did this little
boneless one on the cement. SNAP! My
precious skate had quit on me. I was kind of
expecting it though. My deck had been de-
laminating for about a month. I tried to get a
refund from the dealer, but no-go. "It's too
thrashed, he told me. I knew something
like this was going to happen.
Here's my question: How can I stop a
skate from delaminating? It's really wet up
here. I tried normal water-proofing, didn't
work. Sometimes I feel like throwing my
skate away and forgetting about it, but
there's just a skating life-surge in my body.
It's my birthday in 3 days, maybe I can con-
vince my sister or parents to get me a new
deck. See you in skate heaven,
Skate and Macerate,
Wez
Bellevue, WA
There's not a whole lot more you can do.
If you ride your skate and it breaks, the
bottom line is get a new board. Now if
you have a problem with delaminating
and you've already gone as far as to
waterproof it then either don't ride in
water or buy boards more often. Going
back to your dealer was a good idea
though because no matter who's at
fault, whether it be your aggressive
skate tactics or a bad board, it's a good
idea to let them know about a broken
board. Hopefully they will pass it along
to the manufacturer. Skating-it don't
come easy.
RAMP WARS
Dear Doc.
Today we received tragic news of
halfpipe removal from our grasp. The city
has some trip about not meeting "code." It
seems to me when I lived in Calif. we had
the same prob. In Calif., their excuse is the
"attractive nuisance" law. Out here in
Florida it seems to be just plain bull.
THER
What is wrong with this photo.
1
We thought about fighting, but surren-
dered to the owner's father. He wanted no
part of it. My question is: Why the hell does
the city pull this crap? It seems nowadays
nobody is content to let anybody enjoy a
sport they like. If skating's a sport that's
dangerous, why not eliminate football, au-
toracing, and white water rafting? Every
year somebody is hurt or even killed in
these sports. It seems to me something is
wrong. Got any solutions?
Sincerely,
Mr. Erik A. Young
Plantation, FL
This problem is definitely on the up-
swing. I get letters quite often (like
about three a month) all regarding rules
and regs on home built ramps. Actually
the upswing of complaints is good, be-
lieve it or not, because this means more
and more people are building ramps.
Eventually city officials, neighbors and
anyone else that complains or has the
power to order ramp destruction will
one day realize that there's more to
skating than just a bunch of punks rais-
ing havoc. Anyway the best thing you
can do is to keep skating and keep
building. Sooner or later the amount of
skaters and pro-skate attitudes will out-
weigh those who believe skating to be a
nuisance.
BURTON
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