What do you do to keep the Hobby fresh?

[Daveo]

I have been doing RC cars for around 5 years now and I am starting to get a little bored. I don't have the money to keep upgrading, and I don't have the time to race ( I have 8 eight kids, 2 of which were just born last week! :eek: ). So can you make any suggestions to keep this fun and fresh? I really like building kits and fixing broken parts. I also like doing homemade mods, but you can only do so much of that. Any way thanks in advance for the advice.

[Greg B]

Dave, With 8 children, I dont know how much time you actually have. I would check with your local hobby shop and see if they are interested in having you do repairs or even build kits for them.
Staying fresh is often being content with what you have. You have 8 children to introduce to the hobby. Thats what fathers do best .:)

[JasonC]

I have been doing RC cars for around 5 years now and I am starting to get a little bored. I don't have the money to keep upgrading, and I don't have the time to race ( I have 8 eight kids, 2 of which were just born last week! :eek: ). So can you make any suggestions to keep this fun and fresh? I really like building kits and fixing broken parts. I also like doing homemade mods, but you can only do so much of that. Any way thanks in advance for the advice.

Try RC Crawling.

You can build the chassis, suspension links and other items yourself. This will not only allow you to enjoy building, but it will also reduce the cost of building the vehicle.

Once you've built the rig you can have fun trying to drive it through what you may think to be impossible.

The great thing about crawling is that it really puts a focus on the abilities of both the vehicle and driver.

I got tired of the local nitro touring scene after getting hacked constantly. Crawling eliminates outside factors like other drivers hacking you.

I have a few crawling videos here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JasonInAugusta


This one is rather impressive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPrJWc4J7i0

[DaveC]

Limited funds, limited time, but lots of extra helpers?????

I would build a track and get a racing club organized, then open it up to the public...before long you could have a steady stream of income from it.

First idea I had, and one I would love to do myself.

[z-man280]

i was in the same boat as you....

i tried drifting, and fell in love with it... but just recently, i got into trail scale rigs ( is that even a term yet?)

anyway, i took a TA02 S-10, locked the diff's, and started doing some slow technical stuff, but nothing as extreme as the big crawlere guys do, and i have a blast. Its fun seeing where you can go slow!

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m8/z-man280/th_P3310156.jpg (http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m8/z-man280/?action=view&current=P3310156.flv)

[Evil3]

Well you don't have to race to enjoy RC. You can rock craw (I want to get into it, but there is nothing to craw over where I live), you can drift, bash (that means playing in an empty lot or the back yard), you could go scale (that includes tanks, big rigs, etc), or you could even give some of your kids the transmitter so you can have fun running with them or just watch as they have a time of their life with the joy of RC. Also there is another route you could even go, and that is taking to the air or the water with a boat, a plane, or a helicopter.

[DJ1978]

You didn't mention what type of vehicles you have. On Road?? Off Road?
Take time off to be with your family.. Play on occasion with your RC Stuff.
how old are you kids?? are any of them interested in driving a vehicle? How about getting them AND their friends involved. Do you have enough property to build a small track? All you need to do is cut a track out thru the grass with a rototiller. The grass acts as the track edges.
If you are into Off Road, Make your own jumps in your yard. See what kind of tricks you can to with your vehicles.
I have been in the hobby 20 years.... BUT I still make time for other aspects of my life. I only race every other weekend at the most.
Dan


I have been doing RC cars for around 5 years now and I am starting to get a little bored. I don't have the money to keep upgrading, and I don't have the time to race ( I have 8 eight kids, 2 of which were just born last week! :eek: ). So can you make any suggestions to keep this fun and fresh? I really like building kits and fixing broken parts. I also like doing homemade mods, but you can only do so much of that. Any way thanks in advance for the advice.

[JasonC]

I have been doing RC cars for around 5 years now and I am starting to get a little bored. I don't have the money to keep upgrading, and I don't have the time to race ( I have 8 eight kids, 2 of which were just born last week! :eek: ).

Sorry, Daveo...but I gotta ask...

How does a guy with eight kids have time to get bored? :confused: :D

[Daveo]

Sorry, Daveo...but I gotta ask...

How does a guy with eight kids have time to get bored? :confused: :D

Well I guess I am never really bored, there is constant turmoil in my house. We all live in a 3 bedroom one bath house that is around 1200 square feet of living space so there is always something going on. I have 6 girls and 2 boys. I have tried to introduce the hobby to the older girls, but they don't seem too interested. My eldest daughter however built a Tamiya buggy as a school project, but it seems to sit on a shelf and does not get run unless I take it out. My sons are 5 years old and 1 month old so they have a little time yet before I will let then take out the "good" RC cars. Money is kind of tight so I am leary of handing the control of a 500 dollar car to a 5 year old. But I am sure soon he will be racing with dad with his own car. I guess with the RC stuff I have just reached the end of the Newlywed phase of the hobby. I used to eat drink and sleep RC. I would search for hours just looking to find more information. I had all of the magazines, I read all the books, and I was a member of tons of forums. Lately everything is kind of laid back, I have only one magazine I subscribe to (betcha can't guess which one) and I work on the cars when I get a chance. I am hoping that this summer will allow me some more time to run my cars. I think I just need to get used to the slow simmer I am at with the hobby since the Fast burn has passed.:)

[boone722]

Daveo,
I too feel that way sometimes,whatever you do don't sell them ! I sold some of my older rigs and I am sorry today.They are worth more now but we all live and learn I guess.I have to ask where did you get your avatar?Very cool.

[Daveo]

Yeah I don't think I could sell any of them, I would get nothing compared to what I have into some of them.

I found that avatar on a site that clips from old cartoons. I cant remeber what they name of it was. He is the little car from the old hannah barberra cartoon where the taxi cabs have a kid but he wants to be a hot rod. It is my favorite cartoon ever!:p

[crazy4rc]

Daveo,
I too was getting board an looked into something else. I recently, within the past year, got into planes. Alot of guys I used to race with were breakin my b@#$s but I needed something else. Well 7 planes later I'm still learning and made a bunch of new freinds at my local flying field. I still have the cars, trucks, boats and all but the planes are what keep me going right now. BTW I also have 2 kids and almost never have time, but I find it whenever I can.:cool:

[OldSchoolRC]

i know the feeling also, i just bought my first house and finding out $$ is a little tight, so i'm working a ton and do not have a ton of time anymore for the hobby. i may be jonesing for a nitrage, but it's just not in the works right now. i am more of a builder and tinkerer (did i just make up a word?) so have have started taking old cars and trucks that i already have and either re-building them with custom parts, or buying a hop up here and there and getting out for a run, installing the new part, and then another run just to see the changes it makes. then if i have time, making some tweaks...at most i may have time for a few runs a week, sometimes less, so i keep it interesting any way i can. when i'm not out running and have some time, i get time i head down to the basement to see what i can mess around with - if only for about 30 minutes or so. you get pretty inventive without any $$!