Tuned

[Iconic Ride]

Well sheeeet, Frank. You're probably old enough (as I am, for sure) to remember the original Burt Bindings "retractables." Had inertial reels on both the toe and heel attachment points of the detachable boot plate that would allow stout cable to pay out several inches upon release, and then retract to the "back on ski" position when the face plant was over. They (the company) had to issue a "recall" of sorts, to replace the original design with an updated version, as the originals were causing too many spiral fractures. Luckily, I never had the misfortune to join those statistics, and thoroughly enjoyed their unique capabilities. They were "tres kool" for their time, not that distant chronologically from your mono ski activities. I still have them in the closet, mounted on my (then novel) Hexcel "honeycomb" skis. The extra weight of the somewhat "massive" Burts were effectively cancelled out by the uber-lightweight Hexcels.

And I still remember participating in a nighttime "torchlight snake parade" down Squaw Valley's "Exhibition" run sans poles, a brightly lit flare in each hand, during a Cal Berkeley college ski weekend. They ran the the lift at triple speed, with a guy on each side to brake the chair as it smacked you on the backside, to get everyone up the hill in minimum time. It's astonishing how fast a chair lift can go when they want it to.

[pete]

also had a pair of burt retactables tore ligaments in my leg coming off in powder.Always fancied trying a mono ski but never got round to it

[ronin]

Burt bindings were the reason for my first knee surgery..Whata fuckin small world it is...... Burts and Olin Mk 4 195cm. Scott Boots.

Ahh the good life after surgery.. remember this ?

Edited April 30, 2012 by ronin

[TBD]

Did it all, had them all, broke them all.

The monoski actually survived in France until the early nineties, but never made a breakthru. It was always fun watching monoskiers trying to get uphill or stand in the lift line. Never did like it.

Yeah, the Olin Mk IV were great, I had two pairs. They weighed a ton, which gave them a good inertia but in the end they had no chance against the Hexcel.

I preferred the Hanson boots, filled with custom injected wax. Fitted great and were absolutely top in the bumps. But, you always needed a set of spares cause the cables and the back would breakt atleast once a weak.

Oh and the Burt was great when it worked, which was unfortunately quite seldom. I broke them a couple of times, either the cable tearing or braking out of the plate. Key problem was that when it broke there was no stopper, so the lost ski generally mmade its own way down the mountain. Fortunately my runaway ski never killed anyone, which is known to have happened at least once.

Add them to the list of great inventions that never made it.......... Sounds like toe ronin lotus to me.

[ronin]

Well I skied the Mono from 76-96 and no one ever passed me in the trees or the chutes... I used Look 77 bindings with a ski brake I designed that connected the two in the center so that you could release one foot to make standing in line easy without the brake pointing down as was side stepping up hill. The brake design had the two forks pointing forward and the ski always stopped in any snow..

I was amazed that no one copied the design....

The only reason I stopped skiing was due to a spinal issue that needed to be corrected through surgery....

As for the ronin Lotus it still lives and will be the fastest /best 211 on the freakin planet when I'm done with it....

My little innovations all work for me and that's why I do them...

[ronin]

Maybe if I cared about making money and produced Lotus products you would show a little respect for the compound charger system making 680 whp or the dual stagged fuel system but until someone takes my ideas and sells them they of course don't work...

It's funny that over 350 supercharger kits I came up with sold and are still selling for the Elise didn't get mentioned...but I didn't make any money on those so I guess it doesn't count either....

Some peoople do while others do nothing...

[Bibs]

^ is that in reply to anything or just a random rant?

[Iconic Ride]

"stream of consciousness" observation, eh Frank?

Hell yeah I remember that poster.....and this one as well!

(usually accompanied by the "Ski Bear!" ad slogan)

[ronin]

^ is that in reply to anything or just a random rant?

Just a response to this... "Add them to the list of great inventions that never made it.......... Sounds like toe ronin lotus to me. "

Seriously why do I have to put up with this bullshit from guys that do nothing? fuck em .

[ramjet]

I'm going to pretty blunt Frank. Ease up.

Thomas was categorising your Lotus as a great invention that didn't get appreciated. I think you'll find he was complimenting your car.

Try and take a bit more time to understand a post.

There are a lot of people on here who do stuff with their cars. You are not the only person.

Personally, it is getting very tiresome to read of everything you have done (as if no-one else is capable) and if for some reason someone disagrees with your opinion, it doesn't sit well with you.

[ronin]

Give me a break...please point out one condescending post I've made..

And what difference in opinion are we talkin about ?

[Bibs]

The guy offered you a compliment, you slagged him off - that's condescending by it's very definition Frank!

[red vtec]

A little Humility goes a long way.......

[ronin]

The guy offered you a compliment, you slagged him off - that's condescending by it's very definition Frank!

I read it as sarcasm... If I'm wrong I apologize..

[Iconic Ride]

In fairness to all, the "inventions that never made it" comment is subject to multiple interpretations, though in the context of the post as a whole it was not likely meant as a put down. Chalk it up to the limitations of internet discourse. Without the nuances of actual face time, it's quite easy for real meanings to be lost. That's why god invented smileys, and if I could only get full access to the freakin' things I would have immensely greater latitude in making my case!

Hint, hint.

[ronin]

Add them to the list of great inventions that never made it.......... Sounds like toe ronin lotus to me.

You left out the part that pissed me off, the fact that he has the nerve to mention my toe, them's fightin words..

Edited May 2, 2012 by ronin

[Iconic Ride]

Could be worse. Toe ronin is a lot better than toe jam.

So what's the "timeline" on the 211 project?

[ronin]

The last inspection for the insurance company was done today and parts are ordered. My buddy is in the process of hookin up shippin the big bits by air....

[Vulcan Grey]

are you buying the 2-Eleven body from Lotus (nice light core-mat) or are you having it made from scratch (wider and more x-treme!!!)?

[TBD]

I took the liberty of waiting with an answer

I read it as sarcasm... If I'm wrong I apologize..

I took the liberty of waiting until I had access to a decent keyboard, just to make sure I wouldn't insult your toe again I can only hope those T9 touch keyboards also go the way of the Burt.

Like most of us I find your car very exciting and a masterpiece of engineering. The idea of compond charging is in itself unique and any engine that gets 300+ bhp/Ltr. displacement is certainly more than respectable for anything but a dragster.

But, like most of us I have a minimum requirement for longevity. I expect an engine life of at least 100.000 KM and certainly don't want to even think about engine problems much before that. Since we don't have general speed limits here I drive long distances at high speeds (250+ KPH ) and do about 20-30.000 Km annually in my Evora S. I definitively can't stand an engine failure many hundreds of miles from home.

All my cars over the last 15 years have been tuned, including the Evora and know what I'm talking about. My Audi RS4 blew both turbos at 50.000 KM on the highway . It cost a fortune to get it back to the garage and took 6 weeks to get the parts for the repair. Instead of driving my 480 bhp supercar I ended up doing my vacation in a 140 bhp Audi from the dealer. And that was a 2000 km trip to the nearest "canyons" from here (if you'll accept the Alps as such). BTW the RS4 was a great winter car, made for passing everything on alpine pass roads.

In the end, a car that's not suitable for travelling great distances and returning from there without engine failure can't be more than "an invention that never made it". Reminds me again of the Burts, I never spent so much time walking down the greatest skitrails with a ski in my hand than when I had those bindings!

So, now you've got another challenge for the 2-eleven: add reliability. Or make it a track car, where the rules are different (you can travel long distances on track, but the way back to the pits is never more than a few miles). But rememer that even on track to finish first you first have to finish.

Edited May 2, 2012 by TBD

[ronin]

My Lotus is my toy nothing more that's why I bought it and that's why I don't care if things go wrong from time to time.. It will soon be the only street 211 here in Ca. and it will make it to the track to knock down some lap times for the haters... They need something to aim for..

If I go with an R8GT it will replace my CLS55 and will never be driven in snow since those days are over....

[Iconic Ride]

L.A. NOW

Southern California -- this just in

Snow, hail, rain, cold winds hit Southern California

February 28, 2012 | 5:57am

A fast-moving storm brought gusty winds, rain, hail and snow to Southern California on Monday, with cooler temperatures on tap for Tuesday.

Snow fell across local mountains, causing the Grapevine to be closed for part of Monday. Scattered showers, hail and powerful wind gusts were also reported in the L.A. basin.

The National Weather Service is predicting cold temperatures early Tuesday with some areas experiencing sub-freezing conditions.

A freeze warning was issued for the interior valley of Ventura County from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. Temperatures were expected to range from 26 degrees to 29 degrees, according to the weather service.

Just kidding.

[ronin]

And that's why I have other cars...I'm crazy not stupid...

[ronin]

Retune in progress,,

[TBD]

Waiting for your first track day video.