VTR-SP1 (RC51) Barracuda

**Hambam** · 09-23-2013 01:15 AM

Hi Everyone, Thought I'd share a few photos/videos of the buggy I built. Its an edge designed Barracuda, stretched 100mm in the engine bay. Honda VTR-SP1 Engine (they call it an RC-51 in the states), 132hp V twin. Took about 4 1/2 years to build but definitely worth it.

VTR-SP1 RC51 Edge Barracuda Buggy through some fire trails. - YouTube

VTR-SP1 RC51 Edge Barracuda - YouTube

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**TALON** · 09-23-2013 01:23 AM

Welcome to the site Hambam ,thanks for the pics and vids . Nice rig BTW.
Unmistakeably oz bush in the vids guessing lower NSW OR VIC ?

**Hambam** · 09-23-2013 01:29 AM

Originally Posted by TALON

Welcome to the site Hambam ,thanks for the pics and vids . Nice rig BTW.
Unmistakeably oz bush in the vids guessing lower NSW OR VIC ?

Thanks Mate, and you picked it Talon, its at Nimmitabel, about halfway between Cooma and Bega, southern NSW.

**TALON** · 09-23-2013 02:12 AM

haha, give me a cigar. I have spent a bit of time up that way riding both dirt and road and love that part of the country, spend quite a bit of time at Eden also,have a friend with a property there on the Kiah river .

**deaner** · 09-23-2013 08:25 AM

Nice! Thanks for the video. I'm very intrigued by the front suspension on these. There is huge rake and looks to be lots of camber gain on bump but not droop. Also looks to be caster gain on bump. Anybody else have any experience with this setup? I would think it would work well.

**Hambam** · 09-23-2013 06:01 PM

Originally Posted by TALON

haha, give me a cigar. I have spent a bit of time up that way riding both dirt and road and love that part of the country, spend quite a bit of time at Eden also,have a friend with a property there on the Kiah river .

Nice mate, Are you still down that way. I see from your link to youtube you have some pretty awesome toys.

Originally Posted by deaner

Nice! Thanks for the video. I'm very intrigued by the front suspension on these. There is huge rake and looks to be lots of camber gain on bump but not droop. Also looks to be caster gain on bump. Anybody else have any experience with this setup? I would think it would work well.

The front suspension is pretty awesome, and the beast rides like a dream. I am no suspension expert, but the interesting thing about the front A-arm is that the mounts for each arm arn't parallel. This results in an increase in caster angle (think they call that rake in the state?) as the suspension is compressed. It is also designed so that at high compression, the front wheels travel into progressively more negative camber, which is designed to help keep the buggy from digging in when landing a jump.

I am an engineer by trade, but Tony who designs the plans at the Edge has been working on buggy designs for 25 or 30 years and I trust his expertise in this far more than my own. I know he works with lots of mini buggy racers to help develop the designs, and he won't let a design out until its perfect. He's also a top bloke and whenever I have had problems he is quick to respond via email. Might be worth sifting through their forum edgebuggyforums.com to see if you can get some more info on the design of your suspension.

**K-fab** · 09-23-2013 06:53 PM

The non-parallel arms do indeed add caster (and stability) as the suspension compresses, but not rake.

Rake is the angle between horizontal and the plane that the arms pivot on.

Beautiful looking ride, btw. - and that engine is a work of art. The torque curve must be impressive (and wonderfully flat).

**TALON** · 09-24-2013 04:26 AM

[QUOTE=Hambam;268187]Nice mate, Are you still down that way. I see from your link to youtube you have some awesome toys .

Na i live in cold old VIC but get up there a couple of times a year if i can.

**Hambam** · 09-26-2013 12:56 AM

Thanks K-Fab. I had only ever heard rake used to describe motorbikes before, and thought it was caster. Now i know that rake and caster are different things (always good to learn new stuff).

And oh yeah, the torque curve is insane. after about 3k revs, it just pulls right up to redline around 10k. When i first drove it it was a new experience, the nose would lift when you hit the gas and I would loose sight of the road, had to steer based on the gap in the trees (bit more pressure in the rear air shocks stopped this now). The only problem is that the bike was geared towards top speed rather than acceleration, so first gear is a little long, even with a 14t front and a 60t rear sprocket. It takes a couple of seconds to get going, but once it does, its too much fun. I really want to try for top speed, which as its geared should be about 175-180 km/h (think thats around 110 mile/h), but i think that it will be the suspension or lack of equipment between the legs that would prevent that speed, rather than the engine.