Curious as to how many kite buggiers out there have always wanted to build a buggy.

Few have actually built them? How many would like to or have always wanted to and haven't? I guess the reason for not is my curiosity? Being that for me personally; for the longest time; the bending of the siderails was my roadblock. I didn't own a pipe bender. Finally just payed up the $90 and bought one.

What's your roadblock? No welder? Can't weld? Grab one from harbor freight and learn how. You will get good. Plenty of good Youtube videos.

https://www.youtube.com/user/weldingtipsandtricks

Do you find making the front fork or downtube or siderails or axle daunting?

Just trying to create some discussion on the building of buggies. Wondering if it's just one part that holds one back or needs to know a detail or two to get it made.

Plenty to go at here if you need any help give me a shout http://popeyethewelder.com/popeyethewelder/building-kite-bug...

Eventually i plan on making a few things to enhance my buggys comfort, maybe even a whole new bug, not sure yet... Im a fabricator by trade but i pieced a PL buggy together from various sources to get an idea of what i can improve on, parts layout, geometry... basically a starting point.

I would love to know how to do plastic welding, if that could be done w/o spending a lot of money.

Its a lil tricky, we had a couple plastic welders in the shop for a job for a job a few yrs back, i never quite got it right, lol

check with any local kayak shops. they do it on banged-up/gouged/holed boats. i'd guess that they'd be happy to show you how.
tom

I built my own buggy a number of years ago. A daunting task that was very rewarding. It was a project I probably would never do again. You could say it was a mutual effort. I can't weld to save my life, so had a local fab shop weld it together for me. Also, I bought the seat and side rails from "awindofchange". All other pieces were drawn out on graph paper, transferred to steel and cut out by hand the old fashioned way. Side grinder/cutter was my best friend that summer. Chop saw was invaluable for those straight cuts as well. Don't know what the entire project cost, but if I was a betting man, I would say I saved no money doing it myself. If I needed another buggy, I would simply buy one now. A lot of my inspiration came from Popeye's videos and website. The end result isn't as professional as the manufacturer's can build, but it works really well for my purposes.

I have built a few,never even considered buying from the very first time I saw one on a video. 4 buggies and 2 kitebikes later,I am still modifying and making stuff for buggies. If anyone has welding questions, u2u me. Nothing like cruising down the beach on a pimped out ride you made with your own two hands.

Anyone in the process of building anything? I've got a few ideas I'm mulling around..