Wheels on Batman:KnightFlight at SFWoA ?

I tried searching for an answer to this with no luck, so here goes....

While I was standing in line for B:KF on Thursday (day of the Great Blackout), I noticed that both trains had a weird wheel setup. OK, maybe it's actually NORMAL, but I would love an explanation if anyone could provide one.

The plastic/nylon/polyethylene/whatever coating on topside wheelsets 5, 7 & 8 on both trains was of a thick white type, but all the other topside wheelsets had a thinner, yellow/translucent type of coating.

The odd thing was that the coating on wheelset 6 was also of the thinner, yellow variety.

This crappy diagram shows what I saw (wheelset number on top, colour of wheel on bottom):

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Y Y Y Y W Y W W

This setup was on BOTH trains - it wasn't simply a case of they ran out of a particular kind of wheel or anything, the park had obviously gone to some trouble to get this setup on both trains.

The ride was running well - it really is the best thing at the park.

As an aside, another weird thing I saw was one of the ride-ops in discussion with a guest, followed by the guest taking a hand-held video camera on the ride in the front row. This after the same ride-op insisted I remove my fanny-pack every time I rode for "safety" reasons.

Any (useful) comments welcome.

Steve

You will find most coasters run with wheel setups much like that. They vary the wheel composition throughout the train for optimum performance.

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If given the choice I'd choose a hamburger over a hotdog anyday of the week.

Magnum Force has it.

That being said, SFWOA should rethink their setup. BKF is the worst B&M I have ridden as far as train performance (not counting standups, some different issues there) I had a ride this year that was shockingly bad. I have witnesses too. If Walter and Claude had ridden it that day, they would have taken the ride away, like the DCFS taking away an abused child or something! :)

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

Peabody - I will never tire of hearing your recollection of your worst ride on B:KF. What I want to do is staple the entire RCCA team into SFFT's Rattler and send them for a few laps.

At least Ron Toomer had the sense to never ride his creations. But I digress!

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Come on fhqwhgads!

Yea, well, due to the laws of supply and demand, square wheels were cheaper, so we opted to install them as opposed to the more traditional "roundies."

/sarcasm
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digi
"There's always room for SFWoA!"

Panman, that is weird about the camera. I went to all kindsa trouble to hide my friend's camera that I shot POV of BKF with. I'd hate to think that I coulda just held it in my hand in the station.

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MORE than 50% of people like me.

I've not been there this year, but last year that thing had square wheels and it was a tragedy. Good to hear that's not the case this year because that's a great ride.

A certain CB member who worked in maintenance last year said that the wheels on that ride were almost never replaced, thus the rough rides.

What I find funny too is that your fanny pack would be much safer on you than tossing it on the freakin' platform where everyone trips on it on the way out.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?

More likely to get stolen on the platform. Someone stole my hat last October. A FITTED hat no less.

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MORE than 50% of people like me.

I had a hat stole from me on Raptor, I put it in the box. I won't do that again.

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If given the choice I'd choose a hamburger over a hotdog anyday of the week.

I rode B:KF for the firts time a month ago and found it as smooth as any Beemer. There was only a small vibration during the corkscrews and helix, but it didn't deter from the ride. I never knew that the wheels on the same coaster train were made from different substances; I guess you do learn something new everyday.

Thanks for the info on the wheel thing. I'm still not sure I understand WHY, though - I would have expected a gradual change of wheel coating from one end of the train to the other, as opposed to the chop'n'change setup I saw.

On the fannypack thing, it really pissed me off to have to leave it on the platform (hey, not even on a shelf, just leave it on the floor please). I had the same experience with S:RoS at SFDL, but not at SFNE - go figure.

It's the hassle-factor more than anything. When I'm riding, I want to be able to get on the coaster, ride, and exit; not muck around trying find my stuff on the platform floor.

I'm sure half the problems they have with capacity on B:KF are due to guests expecting to take (reasonable) stuff on the ride, and then having to have the restraints unlocked so they can get out, put the object down, and get back in. You only need to have 3 guests like this in every train and its going to be a major delay.

Next time I go there I'll just leave everything (except my car-keys and season-pass) in my car - should make for a cheaper trip too: no wallet in the park = no spending!

Steve

One of the biggest things that any park can do to speed loading is to make it clear what can and can't be taken on the ride. PKD even goes along the gates for Volcano looking at things that people have and collecting them on a cart before they even pass through the gates. This really expedites things. Personally, I buy pants with big pockets. Of course at SFA there is almost someone who doesn't speak English and didn't get the message that they can't take their steamer trunk on the ride.

Without exception, every ride I have ever taken on B:KF has banged my head into a 3-Ibuprofen headache. SFWOA, do SOMETHING, for God's sake, to either put on new wheels or else put that thing out of its misery!

Rode Vampire at La Ronde in Montreal and Talon at Dorney Park this Summer and those 2 coasters are *truly* what B&M is all about - smooth as silk, fast, not a single head-bang experience! While Batman:DK at SFNE, another B&M floorless, is smooth, it can produce some significant head-banging, depending on where you're riding it.... Don't seem to remember Medusa-West as being too much of a headbanger...

Weird CoasterFanVT. Both POVs I have of the coaster show zero headbanging, only the slight vibration it's known for on my POV. How tall are you?

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MORE than 50% of people like me.

I think that I might have only banged my head once in all of my laps. All of those laps were with my head sitting directly between the restraints, where it would be most prone to headbanging. I haven't really even felt a vibration. Also I know of a few other beemers located not too far away (and some even farther that those) that beat me up way more than Batman does.

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www.RideWorld.com

Homey G & Mark - I'm not making this up!! I'm 5'9 and I swear every time I've ridden Batman: KF it's given me a major headache. Not the entire ride is like that, mind you, but there is enough head banging for me to produce a great deal of discomfort. Maybe there is a better seat to ride in on the thing that won't produce as much banging -comparing Talon's & Vampire's smoothness to Batman:KF (even though they are not floorless like B:KF), well, .....there is no comparison - the difference in smoothness is like night & day!

I'm 5'10" and have ridden BKF a lot, front and back, everywhere, and I rarely handbang at all on the ride. The only time I do is when I have my head way out in front and not held back.
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Akron, Ohio: Home of America's Most Boring Hall of Fame!...and LeBron James

Medusa West is smooth depending on when you ride it, what train, ect. But even the worst headbanging on Meudsa West doesn't even hurt. So yeah, Medusa doesn't suffer like BKF... although I didn't think it was rough... 3 years ago.

On Medusa West it has 2 white road wheels per train on car five. The rest are the "yellow" ones.

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-Parker
www.SFMWZone.com