Hello,
I and my extended family visited the Oregon Coast last summer and saw some fun being had with kites...kitesurfing, kite boards, and kite buggies....
The buggies interest me the most. So I want to get some advice on buying or building several.
First up, I am 65 and have Parkinson's Disease, stage 3. It limits me a bit strength wise, so if it takes beyond average muscles, it might be a stretch for me. I see sails attached to buggies, and kites/parachutes tethered to buggies, and both look like fun. Thinking the sail buggies might be easier, but the tethered ones look doable as well. Is there a buggy that does both?
Other users will be my wife (aka Grandma) adult kids and teen kids. Gonna need about 4 buggies...maybe one should be tandem for grandma and me to use together?
What brands, models are advised? Are there kits, plans, parts available?
thanks,
Bill

Bill,
As a fellow newbie let me say welcome! If you are anyplace near the Seaside OR area, look for the SOBB threads here, there is one more day of the bash left and it is happeneing in seaside/sunset beach OR. You may be able to meet some of the attendees and get hands on information.

Welcome to the family! You're going to find loads of useful - and expensive information here

I think your concerns of strength might tip you to landsailers but with a harness and undersized kites a kite buggy might be just fine. I'm still coming through the back door in terms of my learning and find myself strong arming the kites right off of my harness hook so I've got a bit to learn yet in terms of just letting the harness do the work. I wonder if you learn hooked in right from the start if you'd have better luck? Just a little dangerous to hook into these kites.

Maybe you need a bit of both?

We were on the Northern Oregon coast, so we visited Seaside, and Tillamook, and other towns in the area. We plan on doing the southern part of the Oregon coast next.
We live in Peoria, AZ half the year, and Logan, Utah the other half. Grandkids in both places....

I see kites harnessed to the rider, and freehand held by the rider. I am thinking the harness has a quick release, cuz I don't see no brakes on the buggies....:wee:

Quote:

I see kites harnessed to the rider, and freehand held by the rider. I am thinking the harness has a quick release, cuz I don't see no brakes on the buggies....:wee:

Hi Bill. Yes, there are no brakes on the buggies. Once you start......

Go to Angus' site (Coastal Wind Sports) and check out his tutorials. I printed out a copy of 'better buggy basics' and kept it on my desk and referred to it often. Here: Coastal Wind Sports

I either brake by lifting the kite up (not too fast lest it rip you out of the buggy) and use it as the brake, or throw the buggy sideways a bit - takes a bit of commitment. Bit like a downhill skier coming to a stop.....sorta.

We have a disabled rider that often kites at our meetings and he also has strength issues - particularly in one arm. He cannot walk without assistance and has to crawl to his kite. But he is now the third fastest buggier in Aus! and is one of the most inspirational and determined people you would ever meet. He has a Peter Lynn buggy with a plastic chair as the seat. He hooks into a harness - yes, you do use a quick release pulley.

It takes a few hours of flying and a few hours of buggying until it starts to click - at least it did for me. The tandem thing sounds good. There are a few tandem setups around here that work well. I think there's a thread under 'buggying' from a few months back that has few pics of the attachments.

A PL or Flexifoil buggy sounds like your best options. You can disassemble them without too much effort and they are not too heavy. Standard tires will be fine on the beach providing you keep to the hard sand at low tide. There are bigger, more comfy buggys for cruising but the weight goes up pretty quick not to mention the size.

Visit Popeye's site for any info on building them. Just about everything you ever wanted to know about home made buggies....: Popeye's site

Let us know how you get on

The Land sailor is something you will be able to do much longer. Blokart is worth a look.
Folks tend to move to the land sailors and away from buggy as the physical limitations increase.

Pretty much everybody learning to buggy has to take a spanking or 2 along the way. Land sailors are less injury prone.

We have a 65+ year old learning buggy and he is struggling. Land sailor should come to you much easier?

Yes to confirm that those kites were likely attached to the riders and not to the buggies. One should not "hook in" like this without considerable experience and knowledge, and even then there is some risk.

A few do indeed attach the kite to the buggy, called a "hot wire" rig, but there is an element of risk, even with a quick-release, as it can be hard to react fast enough when you need to the most. That part is true of a kite and harness with QR, too.

I admire your ambitions but riding with handles and no harness, the way most start, does require body strength, esp in the arms and esp. upwind. If you had an experienced instructor though, you could start out with de-power kite and a harness. Then the most strength required would be in the lower body to brace yourself in to the bug.

Not to question your ability to overcome and adapt, but I agree with others a Blokart or other form of land-sailor might be more practical. Most buggy pilots, when they try one are immediately taken by their simplicity, ease of use and infectious kind of fun. Then they feel guilty admitting it, as if they are "cheating" on their buggy.

I looked up the blokart, looks like just the thing for me....

If I make a sail buggy, this is what I start with....
Think of this "device" as vertical, and sitting on a motor driven support/turn table. Idea was to spin a strapped in victim, I mean patient, while subjecting him to strobe lights, then a pic was taken of his eyes. Supposedly this was thought to be a way to automate the diagnosis of concussion. Must have failed, as it ended up in surplus.
I took it off the spinner, laid it flat, moved the seat (which is too plush and too heavy and will go away) and now I have a frame. All the white metal is aluminum, and is still quite heavy, but holes will be made to lighten the structure. The front wheel will have to be extended out a bit. The back will have part of its excess removed and possibly flipped to add a back seat...or a beer cooler.

Do some research online. Many people have made there own land sailors. I am sure there is a lot of advice out there.

In most cases it costs almost as much to build a proper kit of your own as to buy one ?

I will most likely buy one, and use it to teach me what I want to do with the project version.
We spend winters in Arizona, where I expect to find a suitable sail.
And I have a friend with a machine shop here in Utah.
Retirees like me are almost always bored, and if I don't have a project or 3 going, you will soon be reading my obituary.

How bad is my boredom "condition"? The shop was built 3 years before the house......

I have only been in Utah a few years, gonna have to check with the locals about places to "drive" a buggy....
First I will go to Las Vegas and try one out....