Is it worth the effort?

[nutz4sand]

Lower gearing does not make first or second obsolete. TOO low of gearing does.

First gear should be a pit crawling gear or a camp putting gear. 2nd should be to where it just starts to move out.

A strong 250 might pull a light quad or three wheeler in its high gears but with a buggy frames drag and weight its gonna struggle likely.

You need the right gearing.

It WILL be deeper than on the quad or three wheeler. Unless you like a dog.

[Mark05]

I would love to sell some of these things to make room but my dad has an obsession with these motors and he refuses to part with them. Anyway i have the frame pretty much completed its lookin good. Its 108" long and its beggin for a gsxr 750! Its going to end up heavier than i wanted so i answered my own question lol. Ill be posting pics soon. What would you suggest for the total width including tires?

[nutz4sand]

Width is often determined by:

1. The trailer its gonna be hauled on (or truck if a flatbed or if it MUST fit in the box of a particular pickup) Do you want a machine that will drive right in/on or are you OK with changing tires from the wide runners to super skinnies for hauling it each time? Many do this.

2. The wheel travel you want that the max angle your CV's or U-joints will allow. (Or whatever the drivetain is). Some peole go wider jsut for more travel.

3. The rules. Some places where they let people ride in the woods can only be so wide so going wider is not an option for those guys. Its actually a law in a few palces that it can only be so wide or you get a ticket. In other places its simply staying narrow so that it fits down skinny trails.

[Mark05]

for some reason i cant post pics! i shrank them down it just tells me upload failed. whats the deal?

[Mark05]

i guess i left the width question a lil vague. The seat area which is the widest point is 34". So i just dont want it to look weird but i do want it to handle nice. I remember my two seater build was around 80 i think up front and almost 90 in the rear. So for a one seater what would look proportional and work well? im running quad tires on this thing.

[nutz4sand]

Have you looked at some that are already built per plans to get a feel for what you want yours to look like?? The Buggy Innovation one is quite light and is built around smaller tires and is very light weight. Your motor would move it and the buggies can take a four cylinder street bike motor if you leave the engine mounts "open" for future motors so to speak. The Desert Karts Panther is a fav of mine and can be done mild to wild and is easy and light too. The others may or may not suit your tastes.

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I said it before and I'll say it again. A clutch motor with a kick start (and no electric start) is gonna bite when it comes to the pain of undoing a seatbelt. Getting out. Starting the motor. Getting back in and buckling back up. I have messed with buggies like that. The fun factor goes away real quick if you aint out in the open flying. Just food for thought. But you should realllly weigh this. If you know of ANYONE with a small buggy or kart with seatbelt go to them and let them let you go thru that three times with a simualted kickstart. The whole deal. Getting unbuckled then out then starting then in then rebuckled. Oops stalled it again. Try it three times.

You OK with that?? Not for me! You might not mind but it takes longer than you think! By this time your riding buddies may be two miles away!

[Mark05]

ya im over the 250r idea already. a gsxr 750 will be perfect. for some reason i cant post pics on this thread but i did post an album under my profile "new project". those pics r the most up to date. ill post the earlier pics after i adjust the sizes. let me know what you think. I left the rear open untill i get my engine and drive assembly.

[nutz4sand]

Sometimes I have had to actually mail myself pictures so I could use them. It reformats them if you do it a certain way.

Imma see if I can pop your pics up. No promises but gimme a couple minutes (dial up out here in da boonies)

[nutz4sand]

If it works/worked these are Mark05's buggy progress to this date posted.

[Mark05]

thanks nutz4sand. the links helped. it looks like im going to make it about 65-70" wide. ill keep you guys posted with more pics. next week ill be ordering the rear drive assembly and possibly the engine. Im thinking of running banshee front spindles and hubs they go for 67 bucks on ebay brand new. good or bad idea?