Emailed with Kenon today, and they said it sounds like the board is bad, but to make sure it's not the motor they suggested I put the sensored motor into one of my 03EVOs and see if forward and reverse work, and if they do it confirms it's the board, then to contact Kyosho for warranty claim. If it's the motor they will cover it. Hopefully it's the motor, as I don't want to have to pull the board! I have a bad feeling it's the board as everywhere I read said the 04 is slow compared to the 03. But my 04 with a 5500kv I have to run at 36% forward d/r, where my 03 with a 5500kv I run at 65%, so if that's a clue I'm FUBAR!

How is Kyosho's warranty to work with? Do they cover shipping? If not it will be almost the same price as to buy a new board! If that's the case I will run it as is till it burns up , as it's not too bad as it just spins the ball diff when I reverse!

On a side note with gearing. would it be better to run my gearing as is at 11/53 and my forward d/r at 36% or got to a 11/52 or 11/51 and raise mt d/r to match? or is it the same either way?

Thanks Guys and Hope all are safe!!! Drew

Update: I pulled the Anima5500kv out of my 04 and put it into my 03EVO, and it works perfectly! So that confirms it's the board, also in the 03 the Anima5500kv I run the throttle D/R at 65% just like the Rocket 5500kv, but in the 04 the Anima is a handful at 36%. I shot short videos, first of the 04/Anima, next the 03/PN3500kv, last the 03/Anima, and sent the 04/Anima combo to Kyosho America support, so hope to hear back soon.

Also the above comment about shipping was my thinking it would be going to and coming from Japan, DUHH me probably coming from Kyosho America.

Either way, I plan on keeping the Kyosho 04 chassis for a while, as it nice, but it's HARD to find places to add weight! It very light feeling on the track compared to my 03EVO/PN chassis which is 10g+ heavier. If I can't get used to the feel, I'll switch the 04 into a PN2.5W, which I have laying around.