andy666 Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 Dutch buggy manufacturers MG Kites have just released a new buggy, the MG Reverse. What started for MG as a fun project and is arguably one of the weirdest looking production buggiest ever made, it may also be one of the most adjustable. The side rails are adjustable for width for different sized riders. The frame and ride height are adjustable. And the front and rear axles can both be moved to adjust the balance of the buggy. More here: http://www.mg-kites.com/site/products/kitebuggy/mg-reverse/ Quote
BobM Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 What ever happened to these two ideas? Quote
Clive Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 It looks well made, be interesting to see the dynamics of turning and handling, and how different it is to the regular design. Quote
Tiger37 Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 Now that's not the famous MG marque. Would still like to try it out though Quote
mik333 Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 A guy who ran a kite/buggy shop on the Mornington peninsula in the 90s, had one in his shop for sale just like this one. The steering was different. It ran wire cables back to the rear wheel for steering. I never saw it run. The guy claimed it was more steady and balanced than the PLs of the time. Michael Quote
BobM Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 A guy who ran a kite/buggy shop on the Mornington peninsula in the 90s, had one in his shop for sale just like this one. The steering was different. It ran wire cables back to the rear wheel for steering. I never saw it run. The guy claimed it was more steady and balanced than the PLs of the time. Michael I might have seen this running on Seven Mile! I think it's the same guy who ran the kite shop at Coolangatta (Shoalhaven, not Qld) then Kiama. Haven't seen him, or the shop, for that matter for over 10 years. BobM Quote
Goz Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 Novel idea. Looks comfortable and no more sandy crotch. Video of it in action would be nice. Quote
nigel Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 The only issue I see is that we often sit our kites out at 45 degrees from the nose of the buggy. This buggy would mean our lines would sit above the wheel. Just don't stall the kite, or your lines will wrap around the wheel in an instant. But 10/10 for effort. Good to see people trying different things. Quote
SoutherlyBuster Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 Maybe a wheel cover would fix that problem Nigel. Could even be as simple as a wire mesh like what the powered paragliders use. Quote
RobG Posted January 11, 2014 Report Posted January 11, 2014 One thing I do like about that design is you can obviously adjust toe in/out, but also by rotating the front axle in its U-bolt clamps, you can alter the caster angle. This might be the way to go for a speed buggy from a tuning the handling point of view. Recumbent bikes, bombardier CanAm motorbikes and even sports cars like the Australian TriPod are all now going 'tadpole' style - two wheels at the front, one at the rear. One at the front and two behind is so 20th Century now Cheers - Rob Quote
nigel Posted January 12, 2014 Report Posted January 12, 2014 I doubt it has toe-in toe-out adjustment. More likely ackerman steering, hence the angled pivot point on the front wheel. Quote
andy666 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Report Posted January 12, 2014 I doubt it has toe-in toe-out adjustment. More likely ackerman steering, hence the angled pivot point on the front wheel. What's that got to do with adjusting the toe in/out of the front wheels??? Ackerman steering is only about having a steering setup that when the front wheels are turned, the outside wheel doesn't turn as much, because it travels on a wider arc through a turn. Every car on the road uses "Ackerman" steering and you can defiantly adjust the toe in/out. The king pin angle (the front wheel pivot) has nothing to do with the Ackerman steering and will have more to do with the steering self centering. This will help eliminate speed. Wobble in the steering and make it less twitchy. The toe in/out is defiantly adjustable because it can be seen in the pictures. It actually looks a lot like a steering setup on a go kart. Quote
nigel Posted January 12, 2014 Report Posted January 12, 2014 Where??? Feel free to put a nice red circle around where you think this is. Quote
andy666 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Report Posted January 12, 2014 On the ipad, so can't circle, but I can zoooom in. It's the threaded rod end, right in the middle of the pic. Adjust this in or out and it will adjust the toe in/out. Quote
nigel Posted January 12, 2014 Report Posted January 12, 2014 I see where your pointing to, but is this a pic of the final production model, or is it the prototype. No mention on their web page about toe in or out. Quote
andy666 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Report Posted January 12, 2014 It looks production built to me. A lot of polishing work done if it's only a prototype build. Because these buggies are hand built, no 2 pieces of pipe are cut exactly the same length or welded at exactly the same angle, so having the adjustment makes life a lot easier. No one ever says that the seat straps can be adjusted either Quote
MG kites Posted February 6, 2014 Report Posted February 6, 2014 Hello guys, Till now the Reverse buggy is not functioning good as a kitebuggy. There is too much drift on the back. A solution could be to bring the pulling point of the kite more to the front of the buggy. Or making the back heavier but this is not wat we want. Nowadays this reverse is fuctioning as a landyacht. We build a mast on the buggy in front the two front wheels. This month we will build another prototype landyacht. From april we should have two new landyachts in the product range. For a new kitebuggy concept we will start again at the drawingtable for some new things. Hope to build another new thing this summer. Greetings Maarten Quote
gum-nuts Posted February 6, 2014 Report Posted February 6, 2014 For a new kitebuggy concept we will start again at the drawingtable for some new things. Hope to build another new thing this summer. 4 wheels and front steering? Quote
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