Bucky - 30-3-2006 at 01:21 PM
For those of you don't know, this is the dream beach for buggying/boarding/jumping/skudding/kitesurfing you name it.... a twelve mile long
uninterupted stretch of wide flat beach. Plenty of dunes to play on. And... (Californians will be envious) NO PEOPLE, and NO FEES!!!!
We're located on the North Oregon coast, about 5 miles north of Seaside.
During the spring, summer, and fall, we get steady, stable west winds right off the ocean. There's a reason why one of the major buggy events
(S.O.B.B.) happens here. Did I mention no people and no fees??
Well it's starting, the west winds have been coming in , and it's only gonna get better!!
Bucky - 30-3-2006 at 01:53 PM
Here's a website that gives you live access to weather stations near Sunset Beach, As well as additional info such as tides, winds, wind direction.
A very useful site because its up-to-the-second accurate.
www.brevins.com/wx/astoria.html
Sunset Beach is located right between Astoria and Seaside (the two stations listed) Seaside is slightly more accurate for Sunset Beach, because the
Astoria station tends to be affected by the Columbia River, which messes with the wind direction readings.
DaveH - 30-3-2006 at 07:13 PM
Dude,
I'll see ya there on monday. 'can't wait, I'm already packed!
archkiter - 1-4-2006 at 06:11 PM
Hope to see you guys out there sometime! 
Bring on those nice summer winds....:D
DaveH - 1-4-2006 at 07:27 PM
come this week, if you can make it. I fly on those beaches often but this will be my first visit to Sunset. Archkiter, I see we use the same
harness. I think its great. almost like having an easy chair. I really like the lumbar support. My back isn't all that great but the with the
fusion I can kite for hours and still feel good when i'm done. Speaking of that, I leave in the morning for the beach! he he........
Bucky - 1-4-2006 at 09:13 PM
Hope to see both of you there. and in case you're interested
Low tide at 11:16 a.m. mon.
12:16 a.m. tues.
1:25 p.m. wed.
2:37 p.m. thurs.
and 3:39 p.m. fri.
Check that website I gave for the latest weather (they tend to be a bit more pessimistic in their forcasts)
Pray for sun and a good west wind!!!!!
later
Bucky - 6-4-2006 at 11:14 AM
I'm sooooo disappointed. I was out Mon, Tues, and Wed. All three were good/great flying days. But did I see another buggier, boarder, powerkiter
out there?!? Noooooooo!!! It's O.K. though, I got my kiting fix, and I'd been jonesing for several months. Well here's the rundown:
Monday started off in the morning with a nice with a S.W. wind at about 7 to10 knots. As the day progressed however, the wind started picking up more
and more. I finally packed it in when it it reached 25 knots at around noon.
Tuesday was BEAUTIFUL. Blue sky, warm, and nice 10 to 15 knot northeast wind that gradually moved to N.W. Minus tide, so we had tons of beach.
Tried out new modification on one of my buggies (new mount/extension for adding a full extended rear axle onto my flexi sports - worked GREAT!!) and a
new bar control system for my foils. (based on something I saw on Ebay called an "X-bar" - full handle control including power and brake line induced
turns with a BAR!. I'll be damned if the thing didn't work perfectly!! Why haven't I seen these things more often?!? I actually flew my Razor on a
BAR!!) Great day!
Wednesday was also very good. Cloudier and cooler, but better wind 10 - 15 knots out of the N.W. and gradually moving to West. Big long runs up and
down the beach for miles...
Today... Well today sucks. Its raining, no real wind. Oh well, It's only April.
sunset-Jim - 6-4-2006 at 02:39 PM
"I'm sooooo disappointed. I was out Mon, Tues, and Wed. All three were good/great flying days. But did I see another buggier, boarder, powerkiter out
there?!? Noooooooo!!!"
Well thanks a LOT Bucky!!!, I guess I don't count as a buggier or what?.... lol See if I let ya share your stuff with me again.. :frog:
Take care man
Bucky - 7-4-2006 at 08:59 AM
You were out there?!?!? Oh yeah.... Now I remember!! Your just so much a part of the landscape there, I didn't even notice :wink2:
Hey wad'ya think about the new "UBER AXLE" for the flexi?? I found some extensions that will push it back about another 10 inches. And I'm also
building my new beefed up side-supports (roll-cage). I should be taking both out in the next couple of days.
Always appreciate your input. Hope to see you out there "again".
sunset-Jim - 7-4-2006 at 09:23 AM
I thought that axle was awesome to say the least. Looking forward to see how that extension on it works out.
archkiter - 8-4-2006 at 06:48 PM
Alright I heard that a few other folks as well as myself are planning on being out at Sunset next Sunday (the 16th). Who else want's to meet up? It
would be cool to get a good size group together to kick off spring! Whoo hooo!!!
Stace:tumble:
Bucky - 9-4-2006 at 12:54 PM
Sounds good:
We have a minus tide at 10:17 a.m. on that day.
Pray for for good wind. Maybe we can compare note on our bar sewtups
dman - 10-4-2006 at 04:45 AM
Hey Bucky, I would like to see some pics of your mods on the flexi axle. I'm getting ready to start tweaking mine and would love some ideas.
Flexi Buggy inexpensive mods. (pics)
Bucky - 10-4-2006 at 03:29 PM
O.K. I just read your post, grabbed a camera and here we go.
The mods are as follows:
Side and Back support "rollcage": About $28 worth of 1 inch pipe and "T" connecters from ebay and the local hardware store, a $5 package of pipe
insulation, all covered in shiny black and blue duct tape!! Cheap, but super effective!!
Axle mod: 4ft 1 inch pipe, a couple of reducers drilled out so that a 12mm bolt slides through. (a flange,washer and nut inside the axle hold the
wheel on.) , some parts from a chain-link gate and some short 12mm bolts (total cost about $25) The axle is incredibly strong (The weakest point is
actually the stock 12mm bolts on the tires. I've ordered 15mm bearings and can quite easily drill out the reducer to accomodate the larger bolts).
Big Fat Tires: $37 each at the local tire store (though it was difficult to get them on, I used the stock plastic flexi wheels) I run them at about
5psi so its no big deal.
O.K. now before everyone goes nuts saying I'm a "cheapskate" and I'm going to kill myself using crap parts; Let me say that I'm not an idiot. nor a
cheapskate. I simply saw a way to improve a design. Everything added meets three criteria:
1: It doesn't decrease my safety in any way (most actually improve it)
2: Overbuilt so that it won't break, even in the event of a flip over (of course the 5 foot wheelbase virtually eliminates that possibility.)
3: Designed so that it doesn't add any additional stress to the buggy frame (The rear axle mod actually significantly reduces lateral stress to the
frame by transfering that stress to the new axle)
These inexpensive mods will make your buggy safer, more comfortable, faster, WAY more stable, and last longer!! You will be able to fly far more
powered up than normal.
But don't just take my word for it, Several friends of mine who own Libre's, love the way this buggy rides.
Bucky - 10-4-2006 at 03:34 PM
Here's pic 1
dman - 10-4-2006 at 07:34 PM
Pics no workie! Sounds great though! You can email them to me at jdjudd@earthlink.net if you want.
Pics (hopefully)
Bucky - 11-4-2006 at 07:55 AM
pic 2
Bucky - 11-4-2006 at 07:56 AM
pic3
Bucky - 11-4-2006 at 07:57 AM
pic4
Bucky - 11-4-2006 at 08:00 AM
pic5
Bucky - 11-4-2006 at 08:02 AM
O.K. thats the last one so far.
Let me know what you think.
dman - 11-4-2006 at 04:56 PM
Franken Buggy is cool! Cheap or not, I bet it works great.
sunset-Jim - 11-4-2006 at 09:49 PM
I'll attest to that. It rides really sweet. Although I haven't had a chance to try it under some "powered up" conditions, when sliding thru a turn
it was very well balanced and sticking to the ground (just the way I like to be) and not even a hint of getting yanked out the side.
Great job Bucky. 
archkiter - 14-4-2006 at 07:41 AM
Still on for Sunday!
Planning on leaving Portland around 8AM to make it out a bit before low tide. If anyone has suggestions of where to meet up please post otherwise look
for big kites! 
sunset-Jim - 14-4-2006 at 08:29 AM
It's going to be a bit busy on the beach that morning due to the clamming. Under those conditions I typically head north from the sunset beach access
at least 1/2 mi and start looking for a gap in the crowd. They should start thinning out shortly after 10:30 or so and if we have the good westerlies
(which typically follows a good storm) we'll be able to buggy right up to and possibly even thru the high tide that day.
Ya' all might want to make note too of a kiting event at Sunset on the the following sunday, the 23rd that's not limited to just powerkites. Should
be a lot of fun....
archkiter - 14-4-2006 at 08:32 AM
Thanks for the tip Jim! Hope to see you out there 
Bucky - 14-4-2006 at 09:35 AM
Sounds good you guys. I think Jim's right about the clamming, but they all start to leave right at the end of the ebb. So that shouldn't be to much
of a problem.
But hey, who needs hardpack! Day before yesterday we had a great N.W. wind, but it was high tide. No matter, dropped the pressure in the fattys and
did some "offroadin" on the dunes "Yeahaaaa!!!" (insert image of me spittin out a big wad of tobacco at this point) 
But seriously, if you got fatty's or bigfoots, bring them. There's still plenty of
playground, even when the tides in.
About a 1/2 mile north of the Sunset access sounds great.
archkiter - 17-4-2006 at 07:15 AM
Here are a couple of pics from yesterday. Sunset-Jim is in the buggy.
Nice to meet you yesterday Jim. Planning on making it out again next weekend
Bucky - 19-5-2006 at 07:24 PM
Man, is it good to be alive!!!!
These last few weeks have been sooooo good!! More good wind, sunny days, and open beach than I even had time for!!!
I've had the new "uber axle" buggy out quite a bit, and have actually made 3 seperate axle configs. that can be interchanged easily.
1. My original LOW pressure 22-12-8 knobbies on the 6ft axle in the rear and 16-6.5-8 knobby up front for big-grip, all-terrain,
goes-over-anything-including-logs fun.
2. A set of stock 16-4-8 slicks on 5ft axle for speed., speed!!, and SPEED!
3. And my newest (and possibly most favorite) a set of 16-6.5-8 flat wide radial slicks on a 6ft axle. This is purposely setup to give the absolute
WORST side traction possible! This thing will slide everywhere and is next to impossible to turn over! That's what makes it so fun! It's like a
overgrown, kite-powered BIG-WHEEL!! 360 spins on the hardpack without even trying! So little side grip, I can launch my kite sideways in my buggy,
and slide and spin before finally getting moving. (The siderail rollcage I built keeps you right in the buggy) Absolutely horrible upwind
performance, but WHO CARES!!
Hey Sunset Jim, where you been??? I keep on bringing these out for you (or anyone) to try, but I no see you!! Come out, come out wherever you are.
Hope to see all you guys out this summer.
sunset-Jim - 19-5-2006 at 08:10 PM
I don't know how we keep missing each other. It sure has been awesome out there though. Last week was even able to have one of those river to the
rocks run with a sweetdown winder coming back due to a shift in wind direction. Sure is a blast passing up cars:tumble:
I'll be keeping an eye out for ya.
Pablo - 19-5-2006 at 11:28 PM
Thinking of making the trip down from Vancouver Canada this summer, do you guys have fairly consistant winds in june/july?
I'm also assuming that standard barrows will do the job down there. How's the camping situation?
Bucky - 22-5-2006 at 09:25 AM
Hey Sunset Jim:
Big kite? Funny 3 wheeled kart? Passing cars like a bat-outa-hell? You'd think I would've noticed that?!? You are still at Sunset Beach "OREGON"
right? That's just weird. It must be that whole "blending into the scenery" thing again. Oh well, I'll find ya this week. 
Hey Pablo:
The Late spring\summer (May through October) is great around here. Winds are usually out of the west (Southwest to Northwest) during a major part of
the day. It's not 100%, but then again where is? Lets just say, out of the last 2 weeks, at least 9 to 10 days have been good buggying weather, and
at least 4 to 5 have been GREAT!!! buggying weather. (I define GREAT as "smooth, mostly west wind, between 15 and 20 mph, that allows for long runs
down the entire length of the beach "river to the rocks" = about 11 miles. Good = the same wind, but more N.W. or S.W. so there's more diagonal runs,
tacking, and downwind runs)
Barrows are fine for almost all low tide conditions, however if you have Bigfoots, Bigfoot LT's, or any wide flat low-pressure radial or offroad
tires, bring them too (or buy some). There's LOTS of usable soft-sand beach beyond the hardpack, as well as dunes to play on if you have enough
"float" on your tires. This is particularly useful when the wind is less then perpendicular with the beach. Not required, but it does open up a lot
more playground.
As far as camping sites, Ft. Stevens State Park and the Warrenton KOA (more info on the web) are both really nice, and located on the north part of
the beach. You can drive right onto the beach at the access at Ft. Stevens, and head south until you come to the Sunset Beach access (where most of
us hangout)
Look forward to seeing you sometime this year. Post when you're coming down, and we'll all meet up. (if can ever find Sunset Jim)
Pablo - 22-5-2006 at 12:54 PM
Sounds like a plan, just need to figure out what week Grandma's taking our kiddlets, then heading down. I plan on making it down at least twice this
year, once in the summer, then again for the SOBB.
Hoping to have some new kites to bring down as well as some BF wheels.