fl250 into desert racer.

[fl250driver]

i am in the processes of turning my fl250 into a desert racer.
i no some of you are thinking "are you serious?"
well i am.
i have talked to trophy truck racers and they say it really is just how much you can take, even in our trucks you still are bouncing around, if you can take a beating and your ride holds up you are fine.
plus i am only raceing a small course less then 10 miles long.
it has always been a dream of mine to race in the desert.
i am going to race in December since football will be over by then .
my ody already has some mods.
-cr250 top head
-uni air filter
-new front tires
-fire extinguisher and more

i need to add
-a full roll cage
-a new seat(i need ideas for seats)
-a rack above the engine
-mirrors
and some more stuff i cant think of


any help and advice is appreciated

ill try to get picks up soon

[badbob66]

You might want to add some sort of suspension, The FL250 was not designed for that type of abuse, they are great for soft smooth sand.
10 miles of hard driving on ruff terrain and you will have something break and you will feel like something is broke on you to..
I would say find a brokedown FL350 for cheap and make that into your race machine, atleast they can handle SOME abuse and it allready has a rollcage.

Bob

[imrlumley]

I batter myself routinely on my fl250 on ATV trails.
I have no problems with breaking parts, axles, or otherwise.


I don't run flat out full throttle however.

I replaced the stock fl250 seat with a fiberglass racing bucket with padded leather seat cover and the battering is minimized. The upper and lower FL250 seat assemblies were removed and the fiber glass bucket drilled and bolted to the lower cross support and to two added seat back cross supports welded to the vertical roll cage pipes.

I am told that automotive valve springs between the seat mounts would also greatly reduce shocks to the driver but I don't feel the need and I would have to modify the seat back cross supports to allow the seat the slide up and down. (P.S. I'm 39 years old and my back is well worn from ice hockey and my back doesn't bother me much after riding this rig all day. I still play ice hockey weekly and that strains my back more than the ody.)

'84 FL250,
'73-4 Rupp Tohatsu tr440-2, fan cooled,
Comet 102c,
stock axle, gearbox, secondary and belt,
RAZR tires on Suzuki LT230 hubs at rear(not in picture).

[fl250driver]

by any chance do you no what brand and model that seat is?
or where you got it?

thanks for the help

[imrlumley]

These appear to be very similar to the seat I am using:

High back seat shell:
Fiberglass High Back Seat Shell - VW Parts (cover not included)

Covers:
Fiberglass High Back Seat Cover- Square - VW Parts (mine)
Fiberglass High Back Seat Cover- Square Breathable - VW Parts (breathable, not sure if this would get hot with the engine behind the seat.)
or
Fiberglass High Back Seat Cover- Diamond - VW Parts (diamnond stitch pattern)

Here's a good shot of the actual shell that fits inside the ladder frame low enough to give your legs clearance:

High Back Fiberglass Seat Shell Chirco Performance & Restoration
and cover:
High Back Fiberglass Seat Cover, Black Vinyl Chirco Performance & Restoration

-Bryan

[imrlumley]

OK. One more link:
Here's some excellent photos of a shell almost identical to the one I am using (second photo down #7521):

Appletree Automotive VW & Dune Buggy Parts Service - Product Catalog

[imrlumley]

sigh... Now you've got my brain running...

I occurs to me that driving over dunes, hills and ruts and some jumps at much higher speeds, you ARE going to roll an FL250 quite easily. The FL250 NEEDS additional diagonal cage bracing at the top of the cage by your head, horizontal pipe welded several inches up from the ladder frame running front to rear on the left and right side of the driver AND wrist straps to keep you from snapping your arms like a ragdoll if you REALLY roll it. Nerf bars may be desirable as well as well as left and right netting.

If you look at the cage on an FL350 you can see the additional pipe added to improve the cage structure missing on the FL250. The ladder frame obviously replaced by more pipe and integrated into the rest of the cage.

I have several links to others ideas on adding a rear suspension, but they require A LOT of work and time and pipe bending and welding skill. There was a Challenger kit available a very long time ago. I consisted of a short u-joint extension off of the existing rear wheel hub splines and a trailing arm and shocks. The whole thing was bolt on.

[LEE1969GB]

I remember a guy who did the paris dakar on a 125cc 2 stroke bike, he had a spare engine mounted on the rear mudguard, against all the odds he got to the finish (less than half get to the finish line) Good Luck!

[fl250driver]

thanks for the help guys
im working on the seat.
does anyone have any idea how to mount a fire extinguisher to a roll cage?

[masterfabr]

Weld it in.