All good things must come to an End...

 I guess I can't start this post without explaining my situation. As a human being, we are trapped within the capitalist financial system. I am currently nearing 51. In Malaysia we have our retirement fund called Kwsp. 2026 has been a very eventful year, from the controversial US president starting a war with Iran, and me breaking my left foot toe a few days into the new year. My wife kept pestering me to check my Kwsp money and I finally did in June.

I also just found out that I could keep the money in Kwsp itself and just withdraw the dividends for the previous year. That way it could act like a perpetual pension fund that will never deplete till end of your life or 100 years of age.

I asked my wife and brother if they knew that and they didn't know. My brother as well as I were excited and we promptly tried to put as much money as we can scrounge at this time into that fund. We only have a little less than 5 years left to grow that fund.

My wife on the other hand didn't think much about escaping the rat race, because.. well she loves her job. Me and my brother... We hate our jobs. We only work because we have too. I would rather spend my free time with my family, dogs and my rc cars.

My situation now is while I am not poor, I am also not rich. My funds are limited. In order to have free time once I reach 55, I need to sacrifice my disposable income now till 2031.

So that means cutting down on rc spending as much as possible. No new car kits. It's not that difficult in that sense as there is one more thing required besides money in this hobby, and that is TIME.

My job requires me to sacrifice a lot of my time. 9am to 7pm Monday to Friday. 10am to 4pm on Saturdays.

Have to work on public holidays too. It's not easy to get a job in Malaysia that pays what I have now, besides the finish line is kinda near so best not to disturb it.

Of course if I win 1st prize in Toto 4D jackpot or toto 6/50, I can retire immediately and still build my retirement fund till I reach 55. But thus far, no luck. I have been trying since April this year. I am not greedy. I only need RM1 million. That would buy me 5 years of my salary and 5 years of topping up my Kwsp. After which I could access the Kwsp once I deplete the lottery winnings. I could spend a lot more time on RC cars right away instead of spending my waking hours for a greedy CEO  ... I wish...

Anyway what is all this coming to? Well a friend of mine wanted to help me so he is giving away his 2022 sakura cero Ultra V1 to me. So this could be the last year that I actively use the Kawada Alcyon II. 

I don't know if I would jive with the car, but I am willing to give it a try. 

I will probably keep the Kawada as it is, so I can take for a spin anytime in the future. 

On this note, yeah 2026 is a year of upheavals, revivals and excitement. 

So here is hoping for more good news for this year. HINT.. TOTO 1st prize please pleaee pretty please 😁. 

30th August test Run

 So I was at SACC on Sunday the 30th. I had to test the car "alone" since my buddies couldnt make it. I used a spool for the first time. I ran 12 packs throughout the day. The good , I reshimmed my V3 motor days earlier, and the motor is now noticably faster. Runtimes is also longer. It is still overheating though.

 

Problems? Yes, for one, i have to keep trimming the steering, and I had no idea why. Until I went home and took a very close look. 

1. the right front knuckle lost a lower kingpin screw, because the knuckle thread has gotten weak. Removed the old knuckle tossed it and replaced with new one.

2. One of the rear wheel had a lot of slop, I looked closely then I found out why, the knuckle has a crack along the hingepin hole, causing it to expand as it is forced. No big deal, toss the old one replace with new. 

3. The rear hingepin holder was moving left and right by 0.2 to 0.3mm. I had a suspicion that the 1st aliexpress chassis I bought had the rear bulkhead countersunk screws about 0.2mm further apart causing the gap. So i removed that chassis and installed another chassis i bought from a different aliexpress supplier . This new chassis made the hingepin holder real tight and couldnt move around. So i guess the car wondering the track is because the rear toe in was shifting left and right . Now I solved that problem for good. 

 

4. I bought a new Surpass V7 motor from aliexpress and still waiting for it to come, its faster and more efficient, and very much lighter at 142g.

Overall the car perfomed quite well, i was able to catch up to some of the modern cars, even with these problems. The net round the car should be even better when everything is fixed and aligned correctly.