my kenon experience

[herman]

1.0
it was a very fine day, sun was out and I was with my family consisting of my wife and my three year old daughter... just being with them was great, and who would ever guess that the day would get any better?

my cousin, who lived about 30-45 min away met us at our hotel, and we were off.... we we're headed to kennon hobbies in baldwin park ca (13200 brooks dr., suite e, baldwin park, ca91706 to be exact – www kenonhobby com )...

to the uninitiated, this place is the home of pn racing, and rumored stomping grounds of world champion grant "yasuji" matsushima (try saying that 5 times)...

after some 40 minutes of driving, we arrived… one of the staff met us at the door and led us inside... upon entering the place, one begins to realize the effort that was put into setting up the facility... for one, it included a track



and secondly, it has a shop with a very well stocked inventory… all neatly and conveniently housed under one roof .. in my travels to other tracks (i.e. hong kong and japan) i have never seen anything on this scale.... it was just... for the lack of words... big... i was just in awe of the inventory that was in stock.








it was very hard for me to practice self restraint from purchasing anything.... well not really, because i was with my wife and kid & i told my wife to hang on to my wallet... lol

[herman]

2.0

after being awestruck for several minutes (think standing still, motionless looking at the stuff that was there - well not totally motionless i was able to take a couple more pictures see below)...










i turn to the track and see some pit tables on the side, and i suddenly recognized a familiar face at one of the pit tables (actually he was the only one there at the time - and i knew his face from reading and looking at websites posting PN world championship pictures)... it was no less than world champ grant "yasuji" matsushima (try saying that 5 times - hmm i think i said that somewhere)...

grant's pit


while we exchanged glances, i noticed he had a smile on his face while he was working on his ride, and once i introduced myself he broke out a much wider smile as if we already knew each other... it was just great talking to grant...well generally finally meeting somebody from the forums... seeing him test drive his bullet of a car (using the latest KIY from KO), even though if it was just for a couple of minutes, really blew me away.... grant also mentioned that there are regular races that are held at the track, i asked if philip would be coming, and grant said, he should be coming.

[herman]

3.0

my cousin asked if there was a rental car that he could try out. grant obliged and lent him one of his old 27mhz am cars.




he had some experience with 1/10 & 1/8 th scale electric and gas cars, so driving a small scale r/c couldn't be that hard could it? wrong... this is hard... not as easy as it looks... my cousin claimed, while spinning out on some parts of the track… grant eventually took a second look at the car, made some slight adjustments, and changed the tires to a softer compound much grippier tire, and instantly my cousin found it much easier to drive.



he was instantly hooked, and a few minutes later i find him picking up a 2.4ghz mr02 ex rtr kit with an epson hsv body, extra tires, bearings and a suspension plate.... after changing the tires and installing the bearings, he instantly tried it out on the track.... he even let me try out his new car, and although it was still stock, it was really fun driving it around the track.

[herman]

4.0

after several minutes, grant calls me over to introduce me to the man behind PN racing philip ng - and we talked mini-z too... soon after some racers started trickling in and trying out the track. grant and philip helped out racers at the track...



philip helped one guy with his radio and f1, while grant gave tips to others....

grant with raider dave (or fill in your animated conversation between the two...)
grant: ah padawan, much to learn have you...
raider dave: ah yes miniz master
grant: what set up have you?
raider dave: uh you set it up miniz master.....


he was also kind enough to program the reverse settings on my cousins new car.... before we knew it, it was getting late, and it was time to go, as i promised my 3year old daughter that we would be going to the zoo...

my cousin promised that he would be back, and grant said that he could set up his car to drive like his, if that's what he wanted.

my cousin, grant the champ, the forever newbie zaniac...

[herman]

5.0

in the short time i was there, to have said that i had a blast would have been an understatement... i was just really happy and blown away to be there to experience it all... talking to mini-z gods grant and philip, looking at the stuff in the store, and running a car on the track... it was a real honor to have met philip and grant at kennon.... really totally cool dudes that run a really cool facility... i guess that's what this hobby is about... having great support in terms of parts, and a track to go to... and great advice from no less than philip and grant who are top notch drivers as well... i had nothing but fun on that day... thanks for the warm welcome and hospitality... if any of you zaniacs haven't dropped by kenon hobby, I would highly suggest that you do... i really hope to return someday...

[NoBrainer]

Great review!

Thanks for sharing

[briankstan]

great post Herman, Love the description and pics. I had a chance to visit Kenon before them moved when I was there back in 2008 and I'll second your opinions, It's a great group of guys and dare I say "Mini-Zopolis"

[Faze]

I love RC Kenon. I've spent regrettable amounts of money on their online store. Shipping is always super fast.

[twinkie]

oh yeah... I love that place. I had a blast there when I was down there for RCX. And I blasted a few rounds out of my wallet as well. HAHA

[Tjay]

Good stuff, Herman and aren't suppose to be aging? Damn, man. You look younger now than you did in 2008 when I saw you in the Philippines. Please tell you Mom I said, Hi.

I'm few hours away from Kenon but I was never able to even see the track there. Only Grant's garage before. I'll make sure to bring my z when I go to LA.

Thanks for posting the pics btw.

[Felix2010]

Excellent write-up herman! Very cool pics. Thank you for giving us a peak into the world of Kenon hobby and a view of the store + track.

I've been into the Mini-Z scene since mid-2006. Right away from my very first order with Kenon Hobby, Philip treated me like I was one of his dear old friends, and not just like I was any regular customer. I remember emailing Philip Ng many many times about Mini-Z and he always took the time to reply back. And he still does to this day.

I can't recommend enough supporting Philip Ng, Kenon, Grant and the rest of his PN Racing Team. I'm a customer for life.

[lfisminiz]

Excellent Herman. Glad you got to meet Philip and Grant...great guys!

[color01]

Darn, missed your visit Herman! I was so close to getting back in time for the afterparty, then Delta screwed us over.

Come back anytime. Us Z'ers in the area are lucky to have Kenon as the home base, good track, good people and parts support direct from PN!

[byebye]

I visited back in 2010. Met Phillip and dropped $1k on my first MR-03 and an awd car as well as a full setup of pn parts. It's mini-z heaven. On a similar note I also met MINI-Z on my trip across the country. Good to see so many of us still sticking around the hobby.

Awesome pics and write-up Herman. Thanks for sharing!

Kris

[herman]

oh goodness... where do i start... thanks for all the kind words guys...
nice to see that some of you guys still read my posts...

nobrainer (all the way from norway?!?!! pretty cool), twinkie (all the way from... er anywhere he can fit his card board box)... thanks...

also old timers (in terms of years on the fourm that is...) felix2010, byebye (you still in tel aviv? keep safe bro), faze (love the fantastic paintjobs you do your cars dude), lfisminiz (love your lfisminiz themed car collection too), color01(love your blog and experiments and articles - they provide a wealth of info for everybody thanks for sharing), briankstan (the guy who invented hfay and brought it to the world).... thanks...