Power Kite Forum

Buggy shipping from UK

Glx - 18-11-2017 at 05:17 PM

Guys, has anyone shipped any of the big buggies from the UK. Stumbled upon PTW superbug II while looking at kites, landboards and buggies FB page. After seeing Craigs PTW buggy at WWB I am in awe with that beast of a buggy. The only thing that is ruinning the mood is that while the superbug is listed for GBP 650 the shipping comes up to GBP 740 due to the buggy being at about 130 lbs. So, an expensive but still affordable buggy becomes completly out of reach because of shipping.
Any ideas, or am I just out of luck and should stop thinking about big buggies from overseas.

Glx - 18-11-2017 at 05:28 PM

eric67m - 18-11-2017 at 07:04 PM

Sometimes blank posts are caused by using punctuation like apostrophes or quotes.

I quite often write it out, copy all text, preview post and if doesn't work you can paste and try to modify your text without having to re write everything.

Glx - 18-11-2017 at 07:31 PM

It was the GBP signs that caused the problem. Thanks to Indigo Wolf I am set straight and was able to post. Thanks for the suggestions.

shehatesmyhobbies - 19-11-2017 at 08:10 AM

It would be cheaper without the wheels and tires, but then you have to worry about getting some after it gets here. This is one of the issues with getting great gear here to the states. Even for distributors.

indigo_wolf - 19-11-2017 at 02:07 PM

I am thinking where there's a will,...

Joel and 2 other ExtremeKites.com.au members had 3 (:o) GT-Race Rapide buggies shipped from the Netherlands to Australia. It's discussed here.

You might also want to reach out to Mike Kenley to see what he had to do to bring the PTW Viper over and I am assuming that had additional logistics to get to Idaho after hitting the eastern shores. This was back in 2013, but Mike's been on the forum as recently as last month. I believe the email in his profile is still active.

I expect a lot will depend on what carriers the seller is willing to deal with.

ATB,
Sam

jimbocz - 20-11-2017 at 02:07 AM


I took my buggy from London to Atlanta last year in my luggage. It was a Chameleon Pagona with barrow wheels. Since I flew Turkish Airlines , there wasn't even any oversize bag charge. The ticket was a lot less than 740 GBP as well. Of course that's a lot smaller than a superbug but I don't think it's impossible. Especially if you don't bring the wheels. Reds Sky also took a buggy from the UK to US, it may have even been a Superbug.

Looks like you need to book a trip over here and pick up that buggy. Then come to London and we'll go out and show you some beaches, maybe even get over to France for some Les Hemmes action. I'll help you pack it up and send you on your way.

RedSky - 20-11-2017 at 02:18 AM

Quote: Originally posted by jimbocz  

I took my buggy from London to Atlanta last year in my luggage. It was a Chameleon Pagona with barrow wheels. Since I flew Turkish Airlines , there wasn't even any oversize bag charge. The ticket was a lot less than 740 GBP as well. Of course that's a lot smaller than a superbug but I don't think it's impossible. Especially if you don't bring the wheels. Reds Sky also took a buggy from the UK to US, it may have even been a Superbug.

Looks like you need to book a trip over here and pick up that buggy. Then come to London and we'll go out and show you some beaches, maybe even get over to France for some Les Hemmes action. I'll help you pack it up and send you on your way.



I wish it had been the Superbug Jim. That thing is amazing!

I agree that Glx should come over and collect it in person and ride Camber before you send him on his way.

I've ridden it many times and had it stored in my garage for a few months. Enough time to really admire it and enough time to whack my knee against the forks every time I bloody went in there.

42mm O/D side rails, 33mm O/D bracing at the rear,
8mm side rail plates,
Clamping system for the rear axle.
Foot plates with stirrups
Offset forks which can be varied from 70mm, 100mm and 130mm offset.
Hand cut Yokes, Leading Link.
Dog legged rear axle, for raising and lowering the buggy. 380mm internal dim of the side rails.
1640mm rear axle.
Specially made bigger race seat by BuggyBags.
Mirror finish.
EuroTrax Assyms at the rear Cadkat on the front.
58Kg gross weight.


To whet your appetite, here's a video I made of the Superbug in 2010 when Turks first bought it from PTW.

https://vimeo.com/10685956

Glx - 20-11-2017 at 06:27 PM

Thank you guys. Today it has been a very tough day with wants that i will probably not be able to satisfy.
Rich, thanks for the reply.
Sam, i reached out to Mike, hopefuly he has something encouraging to share.
Jimbo, my wife would probably kill me if after sharing with her the cost of an "unnecessary" item such as a buggy i than tell her that I need to go to UK to collect in person.
Redsky, posting that video was cruel. After seeing it before getting to work this morning, I spent an hour at work checking flights to the UK (which unfortunately will not happen)

RedSky - 20-11-2017 at 11:08 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Glx  
Thank you guys. Today it has been a very tough day with wants that i will probably not be able to satisfy.
Rich, thanks for the reply.
Sam, i reached out to Mike, hopefuly he has something encouraging to share.
Jimbo, my wife would probably kill me if after sharing with her the cost of an "unnecessary" item such as a buggy i than tell her that I need to go to UK to collect in person.
Redsky, posting that video was cruel. After seeing it before getting to work this morning, I spent an hour at work checking flights to the UK (which unfortunately will not happen)


PM sent








Glx - 28-11-2017 at 02:42 PM

Hi guys. Came accross a MG Croozer (located in the netherlands) on kites, landboards and buggies FB page. We have reached an agreement with the seller for the buggy+shipping costs. One thing giving me heartburn is that I dont know the seller and he informed me that he does not have paypal. A little worried to send that kind of money to a bank account. Any ideas for some form of buyer protection you have used while buying from kites, landboards and buggies FB page.

shehatesmyhobbies - 28-11-2017 at 03:20 PM

Is it the one that has H 24 on it. Michael De with?

I tried to look and see how many pictures he had of him kite buggying or any other kite anything, I did not see any other pictures. Im sure a credit card transaction is likely out as well because its overseas banking. They dont do credit cards well there. I remember when we had the shop, it was always money transfers. Wish I could help out. Maybe Sam will chime in, he has knowledge on almost everything, and if he dont, he knows how to find the answers

Blitzhound - 28-11-2017 at 03:36 PM

Do not use Venmo. That is all the insight I have on that.

If you can manage to get a Croozer state side. You will never be disappointed. I have one myself. It is the one buggy I will never give up. But...do you understand how big this thing is? She is a big heavy girl. Best advice I can give is either find or build a rack. I will email you some pics of mine. So you know what I am talking about. Good luck.

Randy - 28-11-2017 at 04:01 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Glx  
Hi guys. Came accross a MG Croozer (located in the netherlands) on kites, landboards and buggies FB page. We have reached an agreement with the seller for the buggy+shipping costs. One thing giving me heartburn is that I dont know the seller and he informed me that he does not have paypal. A little worried to send that kind of money to a bank account. Any ideas for some form of buyer protection you have used while buying from kites, landboards and buggies FB page.


Just tell him to get paypal. It only takes a few minutes to set it up. If he won't do it, then I would be reluctant to do business with him.

Glx - 28-11-2017 at 04:35 PM

Thank you guys.
Rich, it is the H24 from whillem de with. On his facebook page i see a few more pictures/videos with the buggy and also many friends on buggies/kitting, sone of the names even look familiar. So it feels legit, but you know how these things go, it feels legit until it does not anymore.
Blitz, thanks for the pictures. I had seen some of your videos and realize how big it is, thats why I might keep the flexi too :D. I guess WBB infected me a little worse than I thought it would.
Randy, before posting this I was thinking of doing just that, but thought of asking first in case any one in here either bad done this before or had run into the seller at some event given how small our community is.

Blitzhound - 28-11-2017 at 06:12 PM

No worries Glx. Just making sure you are an informed consumer. Haha. You will not regret the Croozer. She is one sweet buggy. Fits like a glove handles like a dream. Once I worked out my fitment issues. She is my number one bug of choice. I only have other buggies because I am a horder. You can never have too many buggies. Or kites. Haha. You all know what I am talking about, So stop shaking your heads! LoL. Besides. With two buggies. You can setup for tandem. Or at least that is the excuse I give my wife. I hope it works out for you. I would love to see someone else out there sporting a Croozer.

shehatesmyhobbies - 28-11-2017 at 06:50 PM

You definitely will note regret getting a little bit bigger buggy one that is designed to handle like a dream and be comfortable for hours on end. Best decision I ever made was snagging my GT Rapide

jimbocz - 29-11-2017 at 02:17 AM

One suggestion is to PM Juan Valdez, the guy that posts all those Les Hemmes videos on here. I'd bet he knows the guy since he seems to know those beaches in the Netherlands.

You've got to put yourself in his shoes, there's a guy who he doesn't know that says he wants to pay to ship this incredibly heavy buggy all the way to the US. It's a bit of a crazy thing to do since it will cost as much or more to ship it than the buggy is worth so you can see how he might be a bit wary. No matter what, if you buy it , it's going to be a lot of extra risk, trouble and grief for him. Perhaps English is not his first language, making the subtleties of negotiations seem a bit off.

In short, I doubt the guys is running an elaborate scam to take your money, he probably just wants the risk to be on you. I'd say it's perfectly understandable. If I were in his position and I didn't know you, I probably would only accept Pay Pal as a gift only.

I know lots of people with those buggies and they are all happy as clams.

Glx - 29-11-2017 at 03:33 AM

Thank you Jimbo. My main concern was to make sure that the guy and the buggy are real rather than whether he will send it or not. But, what you mention above makes perfect sense, he is probably more worried than I am. Reached back out to him this morning, will see how it goes.

jimbocz - 29-11-2017 at 10:00 AM


Here's an option: Do you know anybody in the military posted in Germany or something? I shipped a ton of stuff to my cousin who was posted in Germany when I moved to Prague, taking advantage of the special mail rates for the military.