anyone have anymore 411 on this

http://www.awindofchange.com/buggy.html#kitetrike

or any opinions

i think i may be able to a used one for 280 to my door, good price?

i've searched, looking for more and current opinions.


does it have 15 or 20mm bolts?

you will have better luck scoring his xr+ deal....the kite trike has issues you'll spend money on fixing....

ask kent about the peter lynn xr+

You will be sorry, get the Pl................aj

I have one.. its kind of the "Black Sheep" of the buggy family! Its a good beginner buggy if you beef up the seat and put some lock washers on the front wheels it will do fine. It all depends on what you want to spend.
Mine cost $230 w/shipping a year ago for research purposes.

We have stopped carrying the Kite Trike buggy at this time because the latest shipment of buggies that came in have gone down hill in the quality. Until they improve the quality and beef the buggy up a bit more we are no longer going to carry it in our shop. We discussed it at great length and although it is a very cost effective buggy, it wasn't worth the chance that someone could get hurt using it. The Peter Lynn XR+ buggy is built a zillion times better than the latest version of the Kite Trike and is only a bit more cost - especially when you figure in that you will be using the buggy for many many years.

Some of the safety issues on the latest design are severe enough to warrant caution. The main concern with us is the weaker front fork assembly (they actually did fix the knife design of the front foot pegs). The bearing races and stoppers used in the front end of the new shipment were a lot lower quality than previous models and can fail pretty easily under medium load which could cause some serious injury, especially if it failed at speed. Basically the front fork can fall apart if the lower bearing race gets damaged. The previous models had a pretty robust casting on the lower bearing race, the new model is much weaker and can fail after a couple good solid bumps of the front wheel. The factory basically refused to acknowledge that this was a safety concern on the buggies and insisted that they were "just fine" for the price. We disagree and have stopped sales of this buggy.

I want to make sure and clarify that this is the latest shipment of Kite Trike buggies that came in the last two months (which were all returned to the factory). The Kite Trike buggies we use to carry were much more robust than these and did not have the same concerns. If you are able to obtain one of the older models you should be fine with it and it is a great buggy for a great deal. I would be cautious of purchasing any of these new ones until they beef up the front fork.

As I read Kents post about the front fork assembly possibly failing I had a mental picture of my groin area being inverted into a... well you know! I am SO glad my buggy is not one of the bad ones!

Thank you Kent for being so honest and no doubt losing some business but doing the right thing and letting the forum know the 411. At least you are still giving good customer service and that will gain customers.
Its too bad almost everything most companies build today is a piece of crap!

Hay Kent

did you take any pics of the the lower bearing race and stops
My buggy is 4-6 months old i jest want to check it out thanks

that is why I built my own buggy.

Hey ya'll from South Carolina!! Is there a hardware fix I can use on the new Kite Trike? I just got one delivered today. I saw older forums where they were alright for the $$. UGH. I hope I don't have the fork bearing problem but is there a preventative fix that anyone knows about?

I didn't get any pictures of the front fork as we sent them all back to the factory. I would suggest checking your front fork before heading out for the day or at the end of the day to see if you have any excessive play in it. As long as it is all tight you should be fine. I believe that the only ones that were affected were the last batch that were just barely sent out. All of the Trike's that we had beforehand never had this problem.

For the casual rider who doesn't put a lot of stress on the buggy, this still may be an ok buggy and the price is cheap but like everything, you always seem to get what you pay for. Personally I would suggest putting out a couple bucks more and getting the Peter Lynn XR+ or the Flexi buggy. Those have been proven to be solid buggies for many many years and you won't have any regrets at all with those.

Good for you, Kent. Thanks for the heads up on that.
My issue had always been the seats- ripping seams just from sitting down in them.

Hmmm that sounds scary good on you Kent to stop selling them there are so many retailers who are just out to make the fast $$!!


I would also say spend the extra on a PL or a flexi. I personally think the flexi feels better (and I bought the pl and wished I spent the bit more on the flexi)

Hey again, I saw one of the Kite Trike comments about the front wheel coming loose from the fork slot: the axle nuts coming loose and made an easy fix:

There are small holes on the forks above the axle slot. If yours doesn't have them, you can drill them in. Anyway, go to a bike shop and get a few different size tabbed bicycle front axle retaining washers. They are roughly tear dropped shaped and have a tab that fits into the hole in the fork. They are used to hold the front axle in place as a safety mostly on cheaper kid's bikes. The washer has a hole that may need to be drilled out to fit the axle I had to.
I also used locking nuts and even if they loosen a little, the retainers will hold the axle.

I also replaced the flimsy seat stiffening board with 3/8" hobby grade plywood from a hobby shop or craft store. I weigh 225lbs and laid up against it, moved around, twisted my big belly around and tried to break it. Still solid although I heard a couple "pops" in the seat webbing somewhere...

Still looking for a preventative fix for the front fork bearing issue...

i bought a kitetrike in jan/feb timeframe. i've never had any problem at all with it. the seat is solid, wheels are tight. i use wd40 on it as i only take it to t he beach. i use it with a PL Phantom 12 with a bar. the last time i had it out, i used it with a venom 19. i could drive the buggy straight up wind with that big kite, but a reach was no possible at all.

i've only used the buggy a half dozen times and it's just sitting in my garage in the way. i should sell it and the Phantom as i still have 3 venoms (and a motorcycle, a jetski, a mountain bike, a tandem bike, a whitewater kayak, a surf kayak, 3 kite boards and my GF's car all in my garage)

Hey Kitesurfer, I know a guy looking for a used buggy. If you decide to sell it, let me know what you want for it plus a shipping estimate to North Augusta, SC.

criekefastlane@bellsouth.net

i'd take $175 plus shipping--but i have no idea what shipping would be.

:wow: I think $175 is the cheapest I have ever seen a buggy go for :wow:

Not hard to get $175 worth of fun out of even a Kite Trike ! :cool2:

Quote:

Originally posted by kitesurfer i'd take $175 plus shipping--but i have no idea what shipping would be.

..or maybe ....$175 doctor bill

I think I just heard my buggy which is in my cellar cry!! I am going to have to give it a hug and tell it that someday it will grow up and be as beautiful as a Flexi!:singing:

I just got together with Crieke today (great guy, I don't feel so jealous of you guys around Davis CA anymore) and he let me try out his Kite Trike. I must say, after all the badmouthing it really isn't that bad at all. I was expecting it to be junk with wheels falling off and such. Our wind was too weak for consistent buggying but I made it a couple hundred yards away and most of the way back with not a single issue. Granted, it was a short ride but I weigh 235-240 and this was a grass field. Once, I side loaded it a little and it scooted me sideways before I took off. Crieke let me borrow it for a few weeks, so I'll comment further during that time. I must say though, it is WAY nicer than the reports had me expecting.

Hey - anybody near or travels near Aiken SC who wants to try a nice field for traction and horsing around, we have permission to fly at about 100 acres +/- polo field. Love to have some gusts... I mean guests!!!

my kite trike sold i miss it now i need to sell an underground kiteboard 128 and a canoe.

makin another one for a fellow member And my aluminum frames are built like a tank! None of that 1.5mm wall thickness crap ,what is that? That's like less than 1/16 of an inch! Granted ,it's stainless steel. But that's sheet metal thin! They just couldn't go to a .125 wall thickness. I use only 1.000 schedule 80 5086AL pipe siderails and 1.250 x.250 5086AL mechanical tubing for the axle. Down tube is 2x2x .250 5086AL

That is one sexy beast! The buggy is looking pretty good to Donny

The Ivanpah bug is heavy duty. All tubing used is .120 wall T304 stainless except the rear axle. It is .188 wall seamless T316.

I would love to have a look and ride at your aluminum bug. Sounds like the thickness is about right.

Are you going to polish it? We need pics when your done.

to much saltwater around here to keep it polished. Powdercoat is the way to go for aluminum,or prime and paint every couple years. The Ivanpah looks really sweet, all other makers should follow their lead.

Im thinking a nice bright orange :D

Quote:

Originally posted by _____ Im thinking a nice bright orange :D

+green webbing seat=Express





Sorry for the Hijack biglou13

It is decided! Orange it will be

you might have to go from _____ , to AGENT ORANGE!