Hobie16 - 3-7-2012 at 07:45 PM
Hi, I recently decided to take my first step into power kiting after doing a lot of research. I live in Fort Myers, Florida and tropical storm Debbie
was sitting in the gulf for a couple days, generating tons of wind. I couldn't help but try to make my own power kite.
I used a tarp, foam pipe insulation for a leading edge, PVC to stiffen the leading edge, and some wooden dowels as struts. I simply connected one
line to each corner of the kite and ran it to some PVC handles I made. The kite was 13'x4' so I would estimate area around 4-5 square meters meters
(don't feel like doing any math). With the help of a friend, my kite was very easy to launch. It had no difficulty getting into the air, but I had
almost no control. It would just turn over and dive into the ground. The winds were blowing about a solid 15 with frequent gusts of over 25. For the
short times I could keep my kite in the air, it generated TONS of power. I was frustrated with the kites inability to sustain flight, but I was sold
on the concept of power kiting immediately. I clamped some weight to the trailing edge in an attempt to keep the kite pointed straight up. This
enabled my kite to fly for about 15-30 seconds before it dived. I attempted to use a weight shift trike to buggy, but because it relies on pulling
handles to shift your weight (which I cannot do since I am flying a kite), the buggy would start rolling, but immediately turn straight downwind due
to the thrust of the kite pulling me.
After this failure, I decided I needed to buy a real kite, and acquire a better buggy. I did some shopping, and ended up ordering a Pansh Adam 4.5m,
which is currently on its way here. While I waited, I started looking into buying a buggy or a land board. After seeing the prices, I decided
something simple like a three wheeled buggy should be a cake to build myself. With a budget of $0, I acquired a ruined electric dirt bike, and I had
lots of go kart components from the homemade go kart that I never got around to building. I do own a welder, but I don't trust my self to weld
something that needs to support my weight, so I decided to avoid welding on this project. I removed the dirt bike's rear wheel and bolted my axle to
the swing arm with pillow blocks bearings. Since my weight will be supported mostly by the beefy axle, I cut of the upper supports on the swing arm,
and part of the seat frame to make room for me to sit. Since there will be no weight where the seat was above the mono shock, it doesn't need the
support up there. I have a crumby boat seat that will be mounted or strapped on soon. I haven't really figured out a foot peg system yet, but I moved
the handle bars down and zip tied it, just to see how it looks and feels.
just clamped it together here to see how it would look
now nearly finished, with the axle installed and the handle bar migrated down. At this point I sat on it to get a feel for it. (I can already tell
this thing is going to be a crotch killer) Jumping up and down on it reveals no apparent signs of structural weakness.
picture taken before axle was bolted with seat removed
You'll probably notice that this is a live axle. This is obviously not preferable for a buggy, but it was what I had. This will make turning at low
speed difficult, but I learned from my go kart days that a live axle lends to stability. My buggy has numerous other design flaws, such as the pilots
seat being all the way in the back. As long as I don't climb any hills, I am hoping I won't flip over. I don't want it to do anything special at this
point, I just want to roll around.
Sorry for writing so much, but I am very excited to go buggying for the first time (although I'll need to spend a lot of time learning to fly my kite
in light winds first).
mougl - 3-7-2012 at 07:55 PM
Quite creative I must admit! If you would like to see what a kite and buggy feel like, I live in Naples and I'd be glad to meet up with you. Where in
ft Myers is there room to kite? I've looked all over lee county and came up dry! I've got a few kites I can show you the ropes on, a buggy so you can
get hooked on that once your kite skills are sorted, and an ATB if you decide you'd like to try it too. Shoot me an email or a u2u
macboy - 3-7-2012 at 07:59 PM
Wow. Bravo! And welcome! You remind me of a guy that used to be on here back in the day. I think we lost him to paragliding?
Keep up the enthusiasm! It's infectious!
snowspider - 3-7-2012 at 08:31 PM
You remind me of me! I've still got the front off one of those things in the shed. Look in the gallery, "kite buggy and buggy pics" 2nd page , speed
buggy near the bottom. There is a nice pic of a front end , Razor scooter and bmx bike parts. aluminium angle ,plate and aluminium sailboat tubing. No
welding! A smaller one I built has held up well to some serious abuse.
Welcome to a whole lot of fun.
rocfighter - 4-7-2012 at 04:06 AM
I hope you don't bump into anything going at a good speed OUCH!! This is a good start keep up the mods and as Pat said check out the home brew buggy
page and look at all the ideas that are there. Carl aka Popeye The Welder has a great site for anything buggy. If you have any questions this is the
place to ask. Good folks here.
jimbocz - 4-7-2012 at 05:29 AM
The line between genius and absolute nutter can be a thin one. Good on you!
WELDNGOD - 4-7-2012 at 06:06 AM
Take Mougl up on his offer! You will learn so much faster and safer,and he is a very cool dude too!:cool2:
Bladerunner - 4-7-2012 at 06:42 AM
Welcome,
If you are looking to build your own kites this is a good site
http://2e5.com/
Get together with Mougl and try the real stuff ! It is much, much better! Having somebody show you the ropes is a major advantage as well. :bouncing:
greasehopper - 4-7-2012 at 07:48 AM
I thought I was a bit of a visionary but that, my friend, is genius. As proof of concept, both those iterations are brilliant. I know I don't need
to tell you that you've just opened a can of worms that will have you staring at everything in view as a potential kite buggy accoutrement. DRIVE ON
and please share your adventures with us knowing we in the "builder community" welcome your vision and enthusiasm and want to share your trials,
failures and most importantly, your successes as they inspire us to take that next step.
Hobie16 - 5-7-2012 at 02:55 AM
Snowspider, that buggy looks pretty slick. I doubt I worked nearly that hard on mine.
Yesterday I did some tow testing with a golf cart. With the live axle, and rear CG, turning on the pavement was impossible. The front wheel will
simply skid when turned and the buggy continues tracking straight. The only way to turn was to have the golf cart yank the buggy around. But when it
was taken off-road, it handled much better. I was able to steer reasonably well in the grass. The performance go kart tires stick like glue on the
road, but the knobby dirt bike tire up front has the advantage in the grass. I tried adding 26lbs of ballast up front to get more traction from the
front wheel but it was ineffective. I realized during my test with ballast that this spoked wheel cannot stand up to a lot of side load. Eventually I
will attempt to replace the spoked wheel with a wheelbarrow wheel with a metal rim. I had my driver tow me over some very rough terrain and it was
very stable thanks to the live axle. Since I'm sitting on the rear axle, the suspension of the dirt bike doesn't do much for me although the ride
wasn't bad. I also tested to see how much force is required to move the buggy in grass. A test with a simple spring and hook scale revealed that the
buggy needs 16lbs of force to roll with a 165lb rider (me).
I'm looking forward to sharing the results of further testing. Thanks for the encouragement.
rocfighter - 5-7-2012 at 04:50 AM
Holy crap you sound like a scientist, When I built my first buggy I put the ATV knobby tires on it and grabbed a 5m kite and went to the nearest
hayfield and did my best to break it and me!
! I think maybe your way might
be safer!! And it does sound fun too!
abkayak - 5-7-2012 at 09:36 AM
OMG!!!...this is fantastic. i am so inspired that i might go to the park and start stealing tricycles today. 2 questions, whats the front fork from
and do you own a full face helmet?
snowspider - 5-7-2012 at 07:17 PM
If you are going after tricycles make sure you get the ones with ball bearings in the front fork head, not the ones with the plastic bushings , pretty
hard to find though.
Those little 12" bicycles are hot on the street now too , get the ones with ball bearings.
macboy - 5-7-2012 at 08:02 PM
I've often thought it'd be cool to do a "Big Wheel" buggy. I think I saw some kite vid with some guys jerking around with one but it wasn't officially
"kite-buggy-ized".
Hobie16 - 6-7-2012 at 04:30 AM
abkayak, my front fork was from a razor mx500 (500 watt electric motor) dirt bike. In fact, the entire frame is from the dirt bike. I removed some of
the unnecessary supports, and bolted my go kart axle to the rear swing arm.
Tricycles, barbie jeeps, and other plastic vehicles are great disposable fun. They can be bought at garage sales for under $10, or sometimes I find
them in the trash. They are fun to tow, and are great for high speed downhill suicide runs. Now once a power kite is added into the equation, it would
be an absolute blast.. The ones with real bearings are difficult to come by and in my experience the bushings hold out longer than the frame. The
beauty of a plastic vehicle is that you don't really care if it gets ruined, you just keep pushing it harder until there is nothing left.
snowspider - 6-7-2012 at 04:44 AM
"keep pushing it harder untill there is nothing left." I do believe there are a few here on the forum that subscribe to that theory.
rocfighter - 6-7-2012 at 04:53 AM
Patrick, Pat, Hey You, I'm facing some down time for health reasons. But when I'm back Lets go push it to the limits with the boys. No bottle rockets
for me though!!
snowspider - 6-7-2012 at 06:21 AM
Patching a buggy together for Ian (forum name Thing II) , I hope Floyd-Bennet gathering comes together before summers over.
bobalooie57 - 6-7-2012 at 06:57 AM
Hey you! Pat! I've got the week of 7/23-7/27 off from work. I had been thinking about (this all hinges on my son taking his dog back!) camping at
FBF, the wednesday thru sat or sun of that week. The Thursday night there is a Cruise Concert aboard "the Jewel" out of Manhattan, featuring
BuzzUniverse, the band that I have been using for some of my videos background music, and I was thinking of attending. being a country boy, the
closer the vacation gets, the more apprehension I'm having about camping in "the city". Thought about switching my venue to Clarence Fahnestock State
Park, about 1/2 hour from cheezy, and skipping the city. We talked about maybe hitting up Nahant from there for a day or so, or going to visit Dave,
if he can't get out. Sorry for the hi-jack, but if there were a group camping at FBF, I'd feel a lot more comfortable about staying there. So far
both spots still have open sites. Any interest? Need to book soon!
Hobie16 - 6-7-2012 at 03:28 PM
Since Pansh failed to send me the lines and handles that I payed for with my kite, I was forced to improvise. I used four 75ft lengths of cheap 1/8
inch poly rope. I used some PVC for handles. I was able to get the kite to fly, but the lines were far too heavy, and the resulting sag made sustained
flight difficult. It got even worse once it started to rain. The ropes soaked up water and tripled in weight, making flight nearly impossible. Pansh
has failed to respond to my emails and it looks like a PayPal dispute might be necessary. So the true test of my buggy will have to wait until I
either get my lines from Pansh or find another set of lines.
nocando - 6-7-2012 at 11:58 PM
Hey guys wouldnt this one be a pearler to adapt into kite buggy
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150361538596850&...
rocfighter - 7-7-2012 at 05:18 AM
Nocando Why oh WHY would you post that picture here? You know no we all need to try and make one. Mine will be the one with the skull on the head
stock!! OK I closed the picture before TheKidd saw it!!
Bobby I may be up and going by then. Let us know I would like to check that place out. And I think I am going to be in Cortland the July 18-22. We'll
have to see how things go.
abkayak - 7-7-2012 at 06:47 AM
Hobie .....I want to hang w/ you.. Somebody please get him some lines/handles today. This is just too good, don’t make me drive there from NY tonight.
Hobie16 - 7-7-2012 at 12:48 PM
Pansh finally replied, they are going to ship me the lines and handles. I am hoping that they arrive before I go away Friday. I was really excited
about taking my kite and buggy with me, but it may not be possible. But I did get to do some downhill testing of my buggy. There is a large hill which
was man made in a local park (not many natural hills in Florida), so I couldn't help myself. I had to see how my buggy would perform at speeds above
20 mph. It still seemed very stable and turning was much easier at high speed. It was somewhat scary because I have the disc brake of the dirt bike
still connected and I wedged the lever into one of the mounting brackets on the frame for the old body. I had my hand on it and accidentally pushed it
out (I should have permanently secured it). Now the lever was dangling by the brake line out of reach as I was going down the hill. There wasn't
really any impending danger and I had plenty of room to coast at the bottom, but I didn't like the feeling of uncontrolled speed. Do real kite buggies
have brakes, or are you supposed to turn upwind and use your kite as a drag chute?
kite killer - 8-7-2012 at 11:18 AM
Here is one I spent a winter on. Motorized scooter still works till the batteries run down, Pegs flip down on forks to steer, has a mast holder for a
sail, and can peddle like a big wheel if all else fails. Just buggied while sitting on the front seat/ unicycle in 50 mph winds. I think this is
the most dangerous way to ride. To increase top speed (fold up pedals to slow wobbling) just dont turn sharp or it will hop! Always finding new ways
to ride. Has had 5 people on it at once!
silvereaglekiter - 8-7-2012 at 03:02 PM
(sorry O.T. blame Nocando )
next Kite bike Idea ? :shocked2: 
mougl - 8-7-2012 at 08:32 PM
No brakes on buggies....yet 
we turn upwind and use the kite to slow down or
slide the rear back and forth to scrub off speed. What park in Ft Myers has a hill???? Hmmm, maybe I'll head up that way Tuesday 
kite killer - 8-7-2012 at 08:58 PM
My NABX buggy was fitted with MTB disk brakes in the rear. Individually operated. Great for slowing down a tandem ride, or slowing a start of a race!
Also good for an emergency, but made a little noise with sideload. Next version will be drum brakes so nothing can get in the way.
kite killer - 8-7-2012 at 09:00 PM
Here is one of the other end, by the way the P.L. Speed buggy was fitted originally with my idea as well. Now they have gone to Motorcycle? on the
front.
kite killer - 8-7-2012 at 09:02 PM
One more for those that can't get enough prawn
Hobie16 - 9-7-2012 at 09:56 AM
Veterans park has a hill, not really enough room to fly a kite unless you plan on staying on top of the hill.