Power Kite Forum

Just want to show off ... :)

van - 25-3-2012 at 08:24 PM

Stainless steel Stinger buggy for our pkf friend Chad :smilegrin:

I don't have his wheels so have these BF lights I borrowed off another buggy to see how everything fits.









kitemaker4 - 25-3-2012 at 08:33 PM

Looks real nice.

Way to go Van.

Susan (npw goddess)

van - 25-3-2012 at 08:36 PM

:embarrased: thanks susan ... probably the last one out of stainless steel. Such a pain to work with.

soliver - 25-3-2012 at 09:07 PM

Van, that is freekin' sweet. I love the stitch-work design in the seat too, that's aaaawwwwesome!

BTW: In case you didn't know, babies can function as good marketing tools, for instance, imagine the tag line "buy a VTT rail kit for your PL buggy and you not only are in for more comfort while riding, it seconds as a great infant stroller!!!"

DSC00364.jpg - 53kB

van - 25-3-2012 at 09:31 PM

Cool pic with the baby ... haha ... Mine is way to small to put on the buggy right now. She would probably get lost in between the stitches. I assume you are enjoying your VTT seat and rails?? btw .. Can I use your pic on my website??


Here's some pic a Cricket buggy I just finished. It has the same seat and rails as the XR+ kit.






soliver - 25-3-2012 at 10:39 PM

U2U sent re. the pics.

I love the rail kit, though I have nothing to compare it to. I bought the "frankenbuggy" kit from big mike, and this is my 1st bug, so I have no frame of reference to compare it to the standard PL seat.

It is suuuper comfortable, and I like how solid it feels on the bug, and how solid I feel in the seat even w/ the kite yankin' on me.

Kober - 25-3-2012 at 11:12 PM

very nice .... looks like I need to look for more items around the house that can be listed on ebay to get $ for one of those .....

popeyethewelder - 26-3-2012 at 04:17 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by van
:embarrased: thanks susan ... probably the last one out of stainless steel. Such a pain to work with.


Ha ha....Van, you have continued to impress me with your work, from the very first day you came on PKF with your proposed design, to the present day, I dont know how you find the time to make all your buggies.

Stainless is a whole different kettle of fish though for sure, there is very little room for error, otherwise it can become very costly very quickly, I love the way you have designed your forks by the way, really clever.......and...its your style, if you ever see any other forks like that around and I am sure you will, you will know you were the inspiration.

What type of welding did you use on the stainless buggy?
What made it such a pain for you?

I know it can take maybe three times longer to make a stainless buggy, especially if you are TIG welding it.....and the polishing...huh dont get me started on that one.

Glad to see you have a steady roll of pilots for your buggies, and you have these because they see you as someone who does not just settle for something because it works, you continually want to improve all the time.....I like that, and so do your customers. Keep up the good work, and see you on the playa soon

van - 26-3-2012 at 06:03 AM

It's exactly as you described, it's a pain to TIG and clean up. That's why I only welded the buggy and did light cleaning. I will leave the polishing to Chad...haha.. I just did a light brush finish on the major area. The little areas that is hard to get to will need more detail work to clean up. I had a hard time plasma cutting the parts with my machine. I want to keep everything in-house to keep the cost down so did not waterjet the parts. I had to do a lot of grinding to smooth the edge out. The plasma cutter leaves a very rough edge on stainless steel.

I keep changing my design to keep things interesting ... :lol: problem is, people are now confused with all the choices ...:lol:

I still need to finish my Scorpion buggy ( reverse trike configuration) , it will only be for experimentation :evil:


Popeye, I need to thank you . You and your website was the inspiration for me to build in the first place. I still highly respect your work as one of the best in quality. Its great that you still consistently give back to the kiting community.

mougl - 26-3-2012 at 06:50 AM

That's a sweet looking buggy Van! Wish I could be at NABX to give the demo there a go. Keep up the good work!

rocfighter - 26-3-2012 at 07:16 AM

Where else in any industry will you hear such brotherhood in manufacturing? You two guys are on top of this industry and instead of fighting for that top wrong you support each other fully. This is why I stay here. The brotherhood and sisterhood of PKF will never be challanged. Although some are obviously better than others in one way or another. All here are equal. From the newby with his/her first kite, to the master builders or world record holders.
This place and it's people are the best. I'm proud to belong to such a great group.

popeyethewelder - 26-3-2012 at 08:53 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by rocfighter
Where else in any industry will you hear such brotherhood in manufacturing? You two guys are on top of this industry and instead of fighting for that top wrong you support each other fully. This is why I stay here. The brotherhood and sisterhood of PKF will never be challanged. Although some are obviously better than others in one way or another. All here are equal. From the newby with his/her first kite, to the master builders or world record holders.
This place and it's people are the best. I'm proud to belong to such a great group.


Here here...nicely said

popeyethewelder - 26-3-2012 at 09:17 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by van



Popeye, I need to thank you . You and your website was the inspiration for me to build in the first place. I still highly respect your work as one of the best in quality. Its great that you still consistently give back to the kiting community.


Its very nice of you Van but seriously there is no need to thank me, its just called sharing right, I get a warm feeling inside if I know I have helped someone, as I am sure everyone does, but respect where its due bro......from showing us your first sketches in little over a year ago to now....I know of no harder and dedicated buggy builder than you and thats a fact.

My buggy building is slowly coming to an end now the passion and excitement is not quite as enthusiastic as it once was, thats not saying I wont make any more because I will, but my passion for the kite buggying sport as a whole has probably increased, and nowadays, I get a lot of pleasure from updating the website with new information every day, I get a lot of satisfaction from that, also holding all the buggying records, no one nominated me to do this....it just happened some how, but I love it, and now I have this new website instead I the kids freebie one, I am all the more happier, I have spent 1000s of hrs on it though I can tell you. Keep up the great work Van

jantie - 4-4-2012 at 12:53 PM

looks great..!!

BEC - 4-4-2012 at 01:11 PM

Van....Beautiful craftsmanship...
Been working on my own front fender...inspired by you! (pics soon)
Hope Daddy's little girl is doing well too!