Fantastic Reflections

Ah the memories… I used to play with mini yonku too. Those little AWD cars that run in tracks with walls. I should still have my baby somewhere. I started with the stock engine (25,000rpm motor) and plastic stock frame. I first upgraded the frame with new wider aluminum frames which would support new guide wheels too. You can’t see the guide wheels in this scene with Ayasaki Hayate and "Mysterious Butler #3" but trust me the guide wheels are needed–they basically control steering of the car. The guide wheels are on the four outer corners of the car (usually mounted on the bumpers) and would roll along the walls of the track. After putting in the new frame I put in ball bearing polycarbonate guide wheels. This was when I started actually racing in public and noticed my stock tires weren’t capable of handling hills, so I upgraded my axle bushings to ball bearing bushings and upgraded my tires to super soft sponge tires and aluminum wheels which really did the trick for those hills.

So after all this I’ve already spent about $30 upgrading my little rice rocket. I now needed a better engine. I saw a 100,000rpm motor selling for $50 but that was way too expensive for me at the time (I was only 14 or so). I then asked my friend’s dad to help me make my own. We spent a few days coiling copper wire around magnets and finally created a motor that did approximately 100,000rpm. Hurray! Banzai! Time cost was definitely way more expensive than paying the $50, but we had fun. We actually made 3 of them: 1 for me and each of my friends who raced with me. With this baby I was able to whoop everyone in the area!

I miss the good old days when I had no realistic worries. 幼年時代に戻りたい！