Team: FUNKY KRU

It was a windy & rainy evening, that Friday 31st of August 2001, that Ive "Toothless" called me on the phone and told me, like every Friday, he'd be coming over to Ostend...but with his new carve-utensil, the BMW Streetcarver.
Me, practically ecstatic from the fact that I would be testing a brand new concept that we were drooling over for weeks, was skipping up and down in my apartement.Excitement gripped me like a virgin on a prom night.

The first time I saw the carver in real life, I must admit that I was biased cause of the sheer beautyness & serenity it expels. It plainly resembled a "Lunar buggy", an "Indy car" or an exotic "crab"...

It has intense concave, which facilitates keeping your feet on the board in tight cornering, and cornering tight it does!!! Cornering, as the name of the vehicle assumes, is impressive. We're bound to wipeout on this board, since it corners at a radius of +/- 1.20 m. (great for indoors to!!!) When carving up the test ground (a very gentle slope), I immediately felt the need to get down in a lower position because the BMW was sure going to wipe me out since it turns so aggressively, yet fully controllable.
High speed carving is going to be tricky since there is no neutral steering position, but that just is the whole philosophy behind the "carver" ;-)
And if power slides are your thing you are going to have to buy a lot of tires for the two-pieced alloy wheels 'cause after some sliding, we already saw erosion of the tires, while it does have major grip on dry surfaces like pavement or asphalt. Erosion indicators are provided so to know when to change a tire. Tires have rounded off riding surfaces in order to maintain the same amount of contact with the ground during cornering and are made of full rubberish/urethane compound.

Still I'm completely behind the concept even though that the BMW does weigh a lot more than anything else of conventional sticks solely because of the drive-train. It has it's weight (around 6 kg) and we gonna have to deal with that on flatland. In coming down from a hill , we'll certainly profit from the higher weight and the very low gravity point (deck to wheel axel) allowing us to carve up both sloppy slopes and neck-hair-raising "falaises".

Due to the exclusiveness and price of the board this is something you gonna have if you're really into boarding and appreciate the beauty of the materials used.
"I gotta have this thing" was something I said after the test. Another thing I said : "I wanna fit those steering devices (they don't look like trucks,they are no trucks) on a longer board..."
Having tested this board, I can only say...no "SUIT" will appreciate this...not even if he/she gets it for free when he/she buys a BMW M3 (shame)

Thank you Ive for letting me test it!!!

HARDCORE 4-EVER

Sincerely, ---PVC--- ];-D

The only difference is that on a standard longboard you have to balance according to your driven board...on that BMW you steer the board according to your balance !!!
Result: after using that Streetcarver and stepping over to my latest homemade skate...I fell off...felt like not being able to skate!!!

It sure does turn!!!...I found out that the "trucks" work progressively...the more you bank the wilder the turn becomes...there's a reasonable zone of "neutral" where you can control the board at higher speeds...corrections to your direction can be overreacted by the fact that you don't need force to turn !!!...and that's different compared to a normal truck...you can "grab the deck" but that's only to hold on to the board(!!!) otherwise you can defenitely be thrown off!!!

Bye now...Ive

I've been driving around for a while on this board now...and I still like it...BUT...You really have to get it going...it's so heavy!!!!

What I want to do is:
-Add other bearings to it...
- Make another deck for it...
- Buy a second one...so I can use the trucks from the one I have...

I want to keep one original...it will become a collectors item...it will...(I'm talking like Nostradamus now)
It's quite expensive...maybe some sponsoring would do nicely...I'll try to arrange that!!!
A new deck would be awesome...a bit longer...another tag on it...my own stuff...like those "M" series BMW's..."TOOTH CARVER" would do nicely ;-)
Just for fun...

I'll do some severe thinking on that one...money-wise also!!!

;) Ive

As I was re-reading these reviews...I found out that I was quite wild about that Street Carver...It is still a board that I like using...really....it is...
But...after some thoughts about buying another one to make my own version...I decided I 'll leave that issue for what it is....EXPENSIVE !!!!
Nothing was visible over here in Belgium about promotion for the product...I presume it will die a silent death...and will become a collectable item for insiders...a pity though because it's a well thought off design.
The bearings loosened up and so did the "trucks"...it can be thrown about more aggressively nowadays...
I tried it on the slopes...with helmet and racing-leathers on...and those were needed !!!
The board tends to wobble at higher speed...you can do some nice 360'ties with it...if you keep the speed low...

Still like it...:-)

Ive