fl250 into desert racer.

[badbob66]

Originally Posted by masterfabr

No way in hades would I suggest that a 13 year old buy that buggy knowing that it will need quite a bit of fab work to correct that horrible rear suspension setup.Unless he's got a mentor that has the necessary skills to help him out it will be nothing but a disappointment to him and could extinguish any desire he has to further his interest in offroading.Best advise is for him to buy a pilot and have FUN!

he did NOT tell us in the first post he was 13.
I thought he was OLDER since he said he had always dreamed of racing in the desert. Just sounded like something a old guy would say.
He is lucky his dad will help him, When I was 13 My dad COULD have built me a nice custom buggy, He was More than qualified for the job, pro welder, local steel workers union president, and had a shop full of welders ,cutting torches ,metal lathe,and the list goes on, and his best friend built some nice VW power buggys in the late 70's and he had tubbing benders and a shop full of equpment that he would let my dad use anytime he wanted.
My dad would just tell me that I did not need anything like that.

Bob

[fl250driver]

my parents didnt want me in the dirt either. after i saved up 1g to buy my first dirtbike when i was 11 they let me buy it. i was stoked.
i enjoyed running the the desert, so much i became very good and would hold my bike pinned through whoops in 5th gear.
when i was 12 almost 13 i saved up more money so i sold my bike and bought a bigger bike. the 3rd time i rode my brand new bike my brother took a spill and was airlifted out. i was the only one with him when it happened good thing im very mature, cus i think most kids would freak out seeing there brother laying where he fell not moving and then when u go up to him all he says is aw its my leg my left leg about a 100 times.
but anyway so after that my parents werent going to take me dirtbiking any time soon.
thats when i picked up my fl250 for cheap and worked on it to get it running good.
but back when i rode i wanted to race in the desert so badly.
the guys like "mouse" mc coy who raced the baja 1000 by themselves were my heros.
now since i cant ride i want to race my mini buggy in the desert.

[imrlumley]

Originally Posted by masterfabr

I'd like to suggest that you find a way to buy a pilot

I can appreciate the advances of the fl400 over the fl350, but the kid's on a serious budget. An FL350 is a heck of a lot cheaper than a FL400 and gets him the full front and rear suspension and reverse and full roll cage.

I am but a caveman and am confused and frightened by the complex geometries of trailing arms vs. a-arm suspensions.

I would jump at the chance to grab a FL350 any day. Unfortunately I am on a seriously tight budget myself and my "financial advisor" would never approve. That and I am a card carrying cheap stingy bastard, hence the cobbled together FL250!

[Creativeness]

You can make a rear suspension for the FL250 if your handy with a welder or know someone that is.

Put some braces in the cage.

[fl250driver]

i really want to buy the blue buggy
it has a price drop just for this weekend
but my mom doesnt want me to buy it even if im selling my odyssey.
time to convince her that i will keep my ody and the only reason im selling it is to make room for the blue buggy in the garage.

[fl250driver]

blue buggy sold
time to mod the fl250
i plan on racing for under 1g including the vehicle and race fee.
so far 450 for the odyssey
10 dollars for new and spare spark plugs. 5 dollars for a new spark plug cap. 15 bucks for a fire extinguisher.
some other things i got. free spare tire(its a paddle but it has a rim and every thing)
there is a roll cage im going to buy for 150 bucks.
i plan on adding some foam to the seat to make a poser suspension seat, and adding bicycle grips to the ody.
so far buget wise im expecting to be around 700 or 800
fl250s cheap and fun
im going to name this beast the
Manos Racing DR250
desert racer 250

[imrlumley]

Originally Posted by fl250driver

i plan on adding some foam to the seat to make a poser suspension seat, and adding bicycle grips to the ody.

Any reason you're not going to put the VW racing bucket in place of the stock seat? I wouldn't think the stock seat would keep you in tight over dunes and whatnot. If you're keeping the stock seat let us know if you try the valve springs idea for the seat mounts. I am curious to hear if that idea works.

Bike grips??? Where? On the pipes as padding or on the hand grips?

The quick and dirty method for adding suspension to the Fl250 is to chop the ladder frame behind the vertical pipe and put the whole engine deck on a swing joints and weld shock mounts at the rear. A lot of low end china buggies do this to keep them cheap.

Search on OdyAddicts mods to the FL250 to see how he added independent rear to the FL250. I think he was using a aftermarket Challenger rollcage and not the original Honda cage though. members.shaw.ca/Odyaddict

A third method I have never seen implemented was to use the FL250 rear axle as a jack-shaft, add a spocket to it, weld the swing arm from an old trike under the seat, and chain drive that from the jack shaft. A lot of extra weight and some loss of power on the drive train but a cool looking mod in my opinion.

[rusty-pilot]

Hi I found this today on craigslist 79 Honda Odyssey VERY FAST!!
you might want to purchase it or just model yours after it.Its not mine just thought you would like to save the pictures If you plan on racing I would suggest taking a few weekends up to johnson valley up by victorville and getting some seat time. There are a few mdr tracks mapped out that are fun and challenging. It will give you a taste of desert racing.

[fl250driver]

looking into seats. was going to buy a mini buggy in a town 5 minutes away that was a rolling chassis for 50 bucks and i was going to take the seat and my brother the chassis, well the guy didnt have an email on the craigslist and he didnt email back. looking for a good cheap seat on ebay.
will keep you guys updated as progress continues.
one question.
should i run fenders or not.
they would be a good place to mount the fire extinguisher.

[nutz4sand]

Fenders keep crap off you. You make the call. If you happen to hit a mud puddle and do not have fenders I hope you like mud. Cause its gonna find you! lol.

I always thought a fire extinguisher should be in a place where you can reach it easy while seated and also while out of the machine.
The out of the machine speaks for itself. If you need it quick you need it.

The being able to reach it from the driver seat easy goes like this. If you are by yourself and flip and catch fire and for any reason cannot get out... Do you want to be able to reach it?