my raider is very heavy, my string is cut around my waistline. i can maybe loop it about two or three times but the darn thing sinks when its coming BACK. its not sleeping too long, its super responsive, it doesnt feel like its looping downward. it goes UP but comes back down as its coming back. it’s extremely awkward. should i be throwing it harder? it feels quite firm. i already feel like im throw it too hard because i like to loop fairly quickly. any help understanding this is appreciated, thank you for not making fun of me )x
You need to mod your raiders with shaved plastic spacers and it is all in the wrist. The more responsive the better for starting out.
its like slowing down and not coming back fast enough. the loop isnt sinking, the yo-yo itself is. it’s weird.
I don’t think that will fix his problem.
It sounds maybe like the string might be too short. I think that’s why it goes high and then drops. Try adding an inch or two.
Do you mean it is sleeping and stalls out for a moment then falls but before it hits the ground it shoots back to you? If so, add thick lube, it is just the bearing isn’t responsive enough, I apologize if this doesn’t help but I am not entirely sure what you mean, could be my being tired too 
its not a response problem, its fantastically responsive, as an amateur, its hard to imagine smaller spacers on it to increase responsiveness. it comes back right away, but gravity takes over. as if the yo yo itself wants to punch.
edit after playing with each and the other. it seems that i have to throw it differently. the raider is so heavy, that using the same hand position with the speed beetle doesnt allow the same outward torgue without ruining the angle. and the raider seems to be more picky about the length of string left between the yo-yo and myself before throwing it back out. any of these things dont allow the raider to keep its speed and it slows down to a point where it will fall before it returns. i guess i’ve cracked the case, because i was able to get it to loop… sort of normal.
I do not know much about the Raider, but I do know little about looping myself.
So here are some tips I would like to share with you.
- Take apart the yoyo and clean the bearing it may be that it is only dirty, this can be affecting your play. ( Don’t forget to re-lube with thick lube)
- Double loop your string you will have a more responsive return of your throw.
- Try to throw your yoyo at the 1 o’clock position if right handed the 11o’clock position if your left hand; remember to loosen your string if left handed and tighten it if you are right handed.
- The most important one of all PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.
Take Care and Happy Throwing.
You know, I just came across an old Fireball that I had when cleaning out the attic the other day. I had removed the caps (Don’t know why, could pass as a Powerspin or RBII) and the transaxle was missing. I had an extra Duncan bearing and thin spacers laying around so I slapped them on that yo-yo. Initially, it was not responsive enough for me to loop decently, was too slippy. A nice set of 2 loops would eventually become Around the Worlds. I took 1 old Duncan sticker that was worn down to the cloth to one of the sides and this thing is very responsive and loops amazing. This thing may be overcranked as the axle posts have small cracks…fixed (hopefully) via superglue.
As far as sinking downward, which I have done, I would have to say that the loops don’t seem to have enough momentum. Normally, a loop does a downward swoop heading upward as it reaches the end. If the throw is weak, then the yo-yo will just kind of swoop downward and come back diagonally upward to your hand thus making it impossible to regenerate a new loop.
thanks, big-O.
@gumball : there were recesses for spacers in the fireball? what the heck? xD
I don’t see where he says that… ???
if there arnt recesses for the spacers, wouldnt the string get caught between the spacer and bearing?
OK - my fault. Too quick of a read. I thought you were referring to a sticker recess.
Yes the fireball has a recess for the spacers. The spacers are integral to the axle sleeve. It’s basically the same body as a raider. I’ll post some pix later tonite.
Red Fireball, blue Raider. The guts are interchangeable between the two.
Pix posted…