Recent buggies from the Sand-Yeti stable.
The SAND SHOCKER
The Sand-Shocker has my typical frame design, which is a straight M.S. steel down tube clamped to M.S. rectangular tubed side rails. The rear backrest
is clamped to the side rails and is an important structural component to improve rigidity of the buggy.
The rear axle is 1.47 m long and built by Giorgio who is a specialist in light composite contruction. It looks massive but is incredibly light. It is
clamped to the rear siderails via a bracket by just 2 X M14 Bolts, which means it is quickly removed for easy transport.
The front fork is by courtesy of PL. It has a Leading Link design that I'm testing for them. You will notice the classic PL stainless steel fork
design but what may not be apparent is the larger diameter tubing that has been made that way to handle the harsh desert buggying that I put my
buggies through. I added old MTB tyre for the foorgrips and the footstraps consisting of industrial webbing.
The rear offset rims are fitted with Eurotrax BF's on 20 mm axle bolts. The front wheel is a standard rim with a Duro BF on a 15mm dia. stainless
steel axle.
The seat & bag are custom made from BuggyBags. It took many e-mails with Buggybags as they wanted to ensure it fitted well. It is interesting to
note that every Buggybag seat & bag has fitted every buggy it has been designed for. As many people have commented on here many times before, the
the quality of Buggybags products is second to none. This latest purchase from them is no exception.
The neat stainless GPS holder was given to me by Popeyethewelder.
This is a buggy that is custom made to fit my body, which means fairly tight fitting siderails. It is very strong & has a higher C of G than your
standard race or cruising buggy to be able to clear the numerous undulations of the floor that I ride on. i.e. it is a true desert buggy.
I have only been able to try out the Sandshocker in its final form once and then in just poor winds. The PL Leading Link is something that I will have
to get used to as I'm used to the more violent shuddering of the rigid forks. The PL-LL has an adjustment to fit the axle closer to the elastomers. I
still have to try out this position to see how that performs.
However, running the dunes proved to be a very smooth experience. I haven't checked the weight of the buggy yet but the PL-LL is much lighter than my
standard fork design and that coupled with the light composite rear axle makes it very easy as well as comfortable to run the dunes.
The PINK PANTHER
We always felt bit sorry for Wendy (FluffyWOO) running around the Sabkah on her short axled buggy where she could hardly reach the floor with her
feet. She's not a bad little kite buggier but there is only so much one can do with such a buggy in our terrain.
Giorgio & I decided to do something about it.
I measured her up and designed a buggy to fit her somewhat 'shorter than us guys' body. The emphasis was to build a very stable buggy that didn't
weigh a ton, where she could get her feet on the floor and side rails to hold her in when the wind starts pulling hard sideways.
Her principle concern was the colour??? (women!! - can never make them out).
We used the BF's from her PL and even the PL front forks although I have beefed them up a bit.
I made a swan neck as opposed to my usual straight down tube. This was to ensure she could get her feet on the ground. The side rails are my well
proven rectangular tube construction and steel clamps that hold on the Giorgio made composite rear axle. The rear axle is held by 2 X M14 Stainless
Allen bolts for quick assembly & disassembly.
Backrest is adjustable and combined with the swan neck to side rail adjustment, should make Wendy very comfortable. The backrest provides a tie to
improve the frame's integrity
Padding was put on by Giorgio & I fitted the black side covers. The seat is one of my old Libre products that she can have but have suggested she
get a new seat, side covers & bag from Jon at Buggybags UK.
Sand-Yeti
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