MrBonk1599968664

I had the funniest buggy crash on the weekend......and I wasn't even *in* the buggy! My GF was flying the 3m kite about 30m downwind of me, so I decided to run the buggy down to her. I pushed it up to speed from behind, then jumped onto the axle to coast the rest of the way. Unfortunately, I ran into some *very* soft sand and the buggy just stopped dead, spearing me headfirst into the sand . I lightly copped the footpeg to the side of the head on the way past, but copped it full force in the back as I rolled over, leaving me with a lovely welt/bruise almost 30cm long. My GF turned around to see me laying there, covered in sand and laughing my a$$ off and said "What on *earth* are you doing???" I briefly considered something like "Um, yeah, just checking underneath these footpegs......yep, everything appears to be in order here", but I was too busy laughing to actually speak . Of course I'm bloody sore today though.....probably lucky I didn't break my neck now that I think about it .

ATTENTION MOTHER NATURE: If you can hear me.......LOOK AT THIS THREAD! THESE GUYS NEED 20KTS OF WIND, STAT!!!

Greetings, I'm chasing some comparative info from (preferably) those of you who've flown both foils and tubes. I'm wondering about current generation 4-line style foils....PL Guerilla II and the like. - In the high AR models, are they as twitchy at the edge of the window as high AR tubes? - If so, what happens when they accelerate out of the window? Tubes luff and fall (if you don't actively try to stop it).....what do the foils do? - What are they like to fly in light winds? My tubes require a lot of management to keep them airborne at the edge of the window when it's really light (deliberately stalling the kite to keep it back in the window etc). Are the high AR foils the same? - How long (honestly) can you have a foil on the water before relaunch is impossible (assuming flat water or minimal chop....not waves)? - Is flight performance significantly affected if they do get wet? - If so, how long does this generally last post relaunch (I realise this is probably a 'how long is a piece of string' type question)? - Are the sizes comparable to tubes? IE. Would I put up a 16m foil if I would normally put up a 16m tube? - I've read in a few places that turning speed is slow in the larger sized foils. How much slower than a similar sized tube? - Everyone who flies tubes knows about luffing and the dreaded hindenberg......is there a foil equivalent 'nature of the beast' drawback like that? Don't get me wrong....I love my high AR tubes. I'm just very curious about the comparisons to current high AR 4-line foils. What got me thinking was a comment my GF made on the weekend about how crap our high AR kites are at the edge of the window in light (or gusty) winds, compared to our small buggying foils. Thanks guys!

Hey all, Just browsing around on here and noticing a few of the threads re buggy racing. I'm curious to know a couple of things: 1. What sort of average speeds are normally achieved? 2. Are there restrictions on the type of buggy you can use? IE. Does the buggy have to be 'factory standard' or are mods allowed? 3. What size is the course normally? 4. Is the course arranged in such a way that maintains enough separation between riders (drivers??) travelling in opposing directions so they don't have to 'over and under' their kites/lines? Not that it really matters much, given that I'm the only person in my area who buggies (hate that.....) but I'm still curious just the same!

12mm.....the standard bolts that come with the buggy. I'm using a spring washer between the bolt and the bearing on the outside. Sure did.....they're both buggered (compressed/flared at one end). I'm having some stainless ones made up for me instead. Buggered if I know, but it's the same as I'm applying to the front one and it hasn't come undone yet. Nope. Brand spanking new . Yep.....I've decided against the DIY stub axle idea now, after several other posts warning me off both liquid thread lock and threaded stainless rod (which is apparently not hardened and will bend in short order). I'll wait and see what happens when my nice shiny stainless spacer tubes get here....might be as simple as replacing those

Here's my plan: http://www.mrbonk.com/stub_axle.jpg All stainless, including the threaded rod. This way, I can take the wheel off and *then* remove the stub if I need to. When I asked the guy about the strength of the 609 Retaining Compound, he mentioned the words 'blow torch' and 'large hammer', so I'm confident it will hold on .

Thanks for the replies guys. Yes, I've got spacers, but they're a bit worse for wear I notice. One end is starting to 'bell' on all 3. I'll order some new ones today. I think I'll go down the stub-axle route though. I really don't want to use stud-lock on the existing bolts because I'm worried about how much heat it may take to release them later (possibly melting the bearing carriers or seals or whatever). I think I'll: 1. Get some threaded bar. 2. Insert a suitable length of that into the axle, using some sooper-dooper-storm-force-5 stud-lock. 3. Spin a nut onto that and tighten it against the axle face, using the aforementioned stud-lock again. 4. Put the wheel on and use double nuts on the outside to lock them on. OR.....Use a single nut and a split-pin, if I can find a suitable nut. That way, I can take the wheel off and then attack the stub with a blow torch if I have to .

It's both the rears, the left one more so than the right though. The left one was totally undone when I finally gave up this afternoon. The right one was loose, but only required a half-turn (maybe less) with the spanner to tighten back up. Brand new bearings.....in fact, this was the first session on them. Plumbers tape on both axle bolts. I'm riding on some *really* rough stuff.....so much so that I ended up with a headache by the time I stopped. I'm thinking this probably isn't helping! I might get my father to weld me some stubs into the axle so I can use a lock nut on the outside of the wheel. Getting sick of having to stop and get the spanner out all the time!

Evening all, After an hour of rattle-the-teeth-out-of-my-head buggying at Toogoom this afternoon, I ended up with loose axle bolts *again*! After they came loose the first time, I tried Loctite. Lasted about 15mins next session before they came loose again. I tried plumbers tape then. That lasted a lot longer, but after this afternoon's session, *both* rear axle bolts were loose again. The left much more than the right. How do I stop this from happening? The spring washers on the bolts are the right size and only touch the centre ring of the bearing. I'm tempted to use that kick-ass stud-lock stuff, but don't fancy the drama I may have trying to get the bolts out down the track when I *want* them to come out! As an aside to this, I've come to the conclusion that bigger tides result in rougher ripples.....*much* rougher. Am I right on that?

Hey all, Just wondering who's got suspension on their buggy and why? Is it just the comfort factor, or does it actually help with controllability on rough surfaces? What about front suspension.....anyone do that as a 'bolt on' type part for the PL Comp buggy? I've resigned myself to the fact that I don't have any nice flat sand around here (none that's wide enough to be safe anyway). Consequently, I'm going to be doing all my buggying on rough surfaces (large ripples, stingray holes etc). Just trying to work out if the suspension is a worthwhile addition for anything but comfort.

That would be www.gobi-kites.com for those who tried the link above and couldn't get it working . Check out the rear axle on those buggies . That's some hefty rear suspension! Do they run into problems with the entire buggy 'leaning' over due to the suspension being independant? Or are they sprung stiff enough to counter that? I've been toying with the idea of making a DIY rear suspension setup for my PL buggy......more as a project than anything else, just to see if it's 'doable' as a home grown effort. I intend to use the existing axle and bolt/clamp the suspension 'unit' to the end. I'm interested in what sort of shocks are used on buggies though.......are the mountain bike types suitable?

Greetings, How many of you do buggy runs of any significant distance? I've got a section of beach which, at lower low tides, will allow me to travel approx 9kms in one direction before having to turn around and return. Now I realise this isn't very far, but it'll be the furthest I've gone in one direction so far. I've got a Geko201 GPS, which (depending on where I start from) I'll need in order to find my starting point again......the beach isn't 'populated' as such and is *very* wide (probably 800 metres or more on really low tides), so I'll be quite a distance off the beach on the return and there's no reference points to look for on this trip.....just trees! Any particular things I should carry on a 'distance' trip? I figure: * Small pump (the tiny push bike mounted type) * GPS * Ground stake (or something on the buggy that will suffice) * Tow rope (in case I need to walk back ) * Mobile phone (in case I need to phone for help :eek: ) * CamelBack * Shifting spanner

I've only just started, so the only thing I do right now is cruise (and scare myself stoopid every time I hit a new top speed . 50kph+ so far....don't know how fast exactly 'cause the GPS battery went flat ). I like the idea of racing, but being the *only* buggier in my area, that's not going to happen any time soon. I kitesurf, so I'll save the airborne stuff for when I'm on the water.....I like my spine just the way it is .

I use my Geko201. I like to know max speed, avg speed and how far I've gone in how long. I strap it onto the downtube so I can see it while I'm cruising along. I also use it for mountain biking and bushwalking though, so it's not just for the buggy. It's waterproof too....very handy! One day, on a Northerly and at really low tide, I'm going to buggy from Toogoom to Gataker's bay and back I'll need the GPS then so I know where I'm returning to as it's well out of sight distance. Something like 9kms one way . Here's a link to a map of that area.

Greetings, Just wondering how low I can go without the danger of rolling a tyre off the rim? I'm going for a buggy on a grass field this afternoon (hopefully, if the rain stays away)......I'm assuming this will offer more traction than sand (is that right?), so I don't want to have my pressures too low. I'm running ~15psi at the moment in standard PL Comp tyres. Nice comfy ride .