The Rebel 010 what a great kite well made good to fly it's just a pitty that the rest of the gear that comes with it was as good quaility. On the second day the bag ripped and now by the 2nd month the pump has now **** itself.

Is it supposed to have a stopper ball in the leading edge inflation port ....... mine doesn't, kind of weird.

Biggest problem with Rebels both past and present is the 5th line length, You'd expect it to be right straight out of the bag but year after year it still comes too short.

Is it the length that matters?....I thought it was the motion.

I don't know what you guys are talking about with issues of the 2010 Rebels. We've not had a single issue with them and they flew perfect straight out of the bag.

The pumps on the other hand, have a ****ty end cap o-ring which fails after about 5 inflates unless you dry lube it or use silicon spray. North are not the only pumps to suffer this as most of those pumps come from the same factory.

Oh well! Almost perfect.

KH

Have been flying 9m 2010 rebel for 3 months 13-25 knots wind- no problems,great kite.
Pump is ok so far.

In my observation, inverting kites is usually a pilot error issue. (releasing the bar while the kite flies through the power zone, or being impatient while attempting to relaunch.)

I have seen many brands invert in the hands of novices that usually don't have problems.

gasman said...

My only problem is that my 6m works just fine in 15 knotts

What, are you 30 kilos or something?

Thecopterdr said...

Biggest problem with Rebels both past and present is the 5th line length, You'd expect it to be right straight out of the bag but year after year it still comes too short.

The biggest problem is that most blokes are too lazy to pump them up enough. Simple fact.

rhinoman said...

great kite still hurting from the failure to bring out the rhino this season and yes my pump **** itself , has anyone tried adding a couple of inches extra to the fith line know the 07 were good for about six inches and totally changed the hang time would be keen to hear if anyone has tried it

I did try by 2" or so, no major difference, may be a bit less power at the bottom and.

There is maybe a reason why Windsurfing Perth / Kite Addiction don't sell North any more, instead Naish now. The North quality is just really poor.

Kitehard said...

I don't know what you guys are talking about with issues of the 2010 Rebels. We've not had a single issue with them and they flew perfect straight out of the bag.

The pumps on the other hand, have a ****ty end cap o-ring which fails after about 5 inflates unless you dry lube it or use silicon spray. North are not the only pumps to suffer this as most of those pumps come from the same factory.

Oh well! Almost perfect.

KH

i fully agree Darren. We have not had any issues with the Rebels either. They fly good.
whats the fuzz about about?

The only little thing i would like to see is the same valve as the Vegas struts have got.

Geez, what is it with the North bashing?

Their warranty service in my experience has been excellent. I asked for a warranty on 07 Vegas bladders and got them no questions asked for one customer, Some footstraps wore out within 12 months due to incorrect setup on a 2009 board, I got sent replacements over night, no questions asked. We had a couple of harness issues, which were a factory build problem, all harnesses replaced no questions asked.

I don't understand the issues, we have very few warranty claims and when we do get one, it's handled very quickly and professionally. I have no complaints about the North stuff or about the importers product knowledge or backup service.

Show me a kite company that hasn't released a few kites with issues, there aren't any! It's how the company handles the issues is the mark of a decent brand.

Kite Addiction changed from North to Naish coz they wanted Naish SUP.

There really is a lot of crap being written on this forum of late.

KH

I always used to buy North products, until I broke a new board and they wouldn't replace it, and North would not answer my questions about their warranty policy, which I also asked for on many kite forums, and there was nothing on their website about it either. So what is the policy for warranty on North kites and boards? Surely you have to admit they have failed pretty badly with the Rebel issues over the last year or so also? When you pay top dollar for a kite, it should fly straight out of the bag perfectly, if it doesnt they should re-call the kites and replace them all with kites that work?? No-one is blaming the dealers, its just poor form from a huge worlwide company.

Paul1 said...

North products are great, just don't ask them if they have any warranty because you won't get an answer.

well i will only fly north and have had to deal with a couple of warranty issues with my kite and each time they have repaced it with a new kite ,,,never an issue for me, unlike the **** naish i learnt on it was a **** boxer,,,,and all my kites have flown straight out of the bag that is after you pump it up .07,08.09 and 10 no problems .boards never had any trouble with them

so go figure

waxman said...

rhinoman said...

Paul1 said...

North products are great, just don't ask them if they have any warranty because you won't get an answer.

well i will only fly north and have had to deal with a couple of warranty issues with my kite and each time they have repaced it with a new kite ,,,never an issue for me, unlike the **** naish i learnt on it was a **** boxer,,,,and all my kites have flown straight out of the bag that is after you pump it up .07,08.09 and 10 no problems .boards never had any trouble with them

so go figure

I know they are a good kite but if they fix the inverting problem they would be so much better.imo.

They did fix the inverting problem. All dealers were sent FREE nose lines to sort the issue out. I was sent express overnight, a satchel full of nose lines for the kites I had sold. I've fitted them to 5 kites so far and I have heard no further problems. The other issue with the kites is that they aren't tuned by the riders to allow for the front line stretch after the kites have had a few weeks on the water. Most riders are completely clueless when it comes to tuning and fiddling with their kites. Our customers at our beach (Pinnaroo) don't have these issues because we are on the beach and fix this stuff for people everyday as part of our ongoing customer service.

My advice is to lengthen the 5th line at the 3 adjustment knots so the pink 5th line is slack in flight with the kite fully powered up. Secondly, lengthen the back lines by sliding up the floats and changing the leader up a knot on the bar leader, this lengthens the back lines by 2 inches.

When the 5th and back lines are lengthened the 2 inches which the fronts stretch, most of the inverting problems go away without the need for the nose line fix.
If north shipped the bars setup for the front line stretch, everyone would be bitching about lack of power and loose dangling 5th which of course they would adjust to remove slack and shorten back line for more power. Because the stretch isn't noticeable to most, they have no clue as to why their kites started inverting. I've written about this in the past and if you'd followed my advice, most of your problem would be solved. The 5th line nose line fix is warranted only in the most extreme cases of heavy riders looping the kites depowered in strong winds.

If you experience problems with any brand of kites, take it to the dealer and ask for advice or help. So many problems are tuning or line length issues it's not funny, and the way some people ride their kites with the massive stretch of lines from some of the cheaper brands, it just does my head in how they fly at all

Tuning kites is not rocket science and 99% or riders never check their gear.

KH