I used to work in a bike repair shop as a kid and know first hand how many frames are junked on a regular basis. Can a decent bug be built using old
bicycle frame tubes for the chassis? I guess you don't need to stop there either.....the crankcases, bearing hubs, headsets.......
I still think buggying isn't practical for me or my locale but I'm all for tinkering and would LOVE a sound bit of reasoning to allow me to buy a
welder ; )Bladerunner - 7-2-2008 at 05:21 PM
There are a few ideas that incorperate bikes on Popeye the welders site. Worth checking out for all sorts of reasons !!!
NPW fever had a creative approach to incorperating the handle bars into foot pegs on his home job. You may want to check his photos.NPWfever - 7-2-2008 at 08:04 PM
Yes...yes indeed because everything I do is creative. :P JK JK but they are inexpensive. If you had access to 5ish bike frames you might be able to
pull it off. The front fork comes in real handy and an upside down BMX handlebar w/ the crossbrace cut out works as footpegs quite nicely. Square
tubing also works quite nicely and maybe 3/4 inch steel conduit, you cant beat $4 for 10 feet. Worst case scenario you wind up selling the bug to
someone!!! macboy - 8-2-2008 at 10:10 AM
Conduit!? No kidding? Man, you've just unleashed a fury of ideas in my head......NPWfever - 8-2-2008 at 05:14 PM
LOL the only thing is that the axle CAN NOT be conduit as it is too flexible but it can be bent all as one piece for the seat and then either coupled
or welded. The downtube and axle need to be more rigid, but the seat is most of the buggy.
Let us know what you come up with!macboy - 8-2-2008 at 05:55 PM
You bet I will! Now off to glean what I can from Popeye's site.
Richard, If you happen across this post let me know where around Edmonton you found buggy friendly.
Thanks for the inspiration guys!WTrail - 1-3-2008 at 08:36 PM
Let us know how that conduit works out. I've heard that it a lot weaker than pipe and pipe is weaker than tube. For the short pieces you will be using
(with the exception of the axle) it might not be as significant.
Good Luck!barnes - 2-3-2008 at 09:53 AM
Not to mention light..but true, its not meant for structural purposes..might reinforce it a good deal.popeyethewelder - 2-3-2008 at 10:14 AM
IMHO, half inch conduit anywhere on a buggy will be to small....barnes - 2-3-2008 at 10:18 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by popeyethewelder
IMHO, half inch conduit anywhere on a buggy will be to small....
yeah, just a good picture of what the device does. They make 2" benders that are good on 1" rigid conduit.WTrail - 2-3-2008 at 01:37 PM
Popeye, what do you make most of your buggies out of? What diameter, thickness, etc?
Another forum with some cool people on it is www.minibuggy.net - they build motorcycle powered sandrails and trail cars and warn everyone off of using pipe or conduit for anything structural.
Obviously a very different hobby but perhaps some good information can be found.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend!popeyethewelder - 2-3-2008 at 02:44 PM
Side rails I use 33mm 304 grade stainless 3mm wall thickness, but 42mm od and even 48mm od stainless tube is being used now
forks 27 or 33mm 3mm wall
axle 42 or 48/50mm od again with 3mm wall thickness, for any serious speed the buggy needs to be a rigid as possible
