I finally got my first session in on a buggy yesterday, it went pretty well I think, I was lovin it. I have pretty good kite experience, mostly snowkiting. The problem I was having and the question I have is in regards to the transition.

I experimented around quite a bit but never did perfect going the opposite way without struggling a little to keep my kite in the sky. Best I can tell, bein a little new, Im a little sketchy about just rippin a hard 180. Dont want to end up on my face. So somwhere in the middle of the turn I start goin down wind a little much, slackin the lines, thus having the kite fall. Im curious as to the technique of others. If they start the kite into the turn then follow with the buggy, or vise versa, or all at once for that matter. Thanks in advance for the help.

you want to send the kite back the other direction before you turn so the kite will have power in your new direction. Otherwise, you'll get stalled in the middle of the turn. If you've built up some speed that makes you nervous about the turn, then edge it harder upwind to scrub some speed off, then send the kite back and follow it through the turn. That snap turn 180 sliding turn will become as much or more fun as trucking along the beach soon though. Keep linking turns and it won't take long that you'll get more and more aggressive, eventually sliding in a turn and realizing its ok and kinda fun. Then you'll start to try to build speed so you can slide more in your turns, modulating the steering to keep it sliding sideways instead of spinning out.

Bobby has it right of course Another way to express it is to keep the kite about a quarter turn ahead of you. When you are facing downwind, the kite should be ready to power up in the other direction and pull you out.

Its definitely a "feel" thing... I ended up eating it a few times before I got the feel of it. There is definitely a trick to it, esp. in tricky winds.

It also depends on the buggy build. Mine is small, so it can do some pretty tight turns... I always have thie kite headed in the direction I wish to go before I rip into a turn. When I say rip, I mean at about 10 mph, maybe 15. Anything over that, and I shed a little speed before I turn.

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Originally posted by dylanj423 Anything over that, and I shed a little speed before I turn.

The result of not doing this is well illustrated in Dylan's Avatar!:shocked2:

Loop what are you riding? I agree with the "feel" thing. Granted I have had about a nano second of ride time compared to bob and angus, but I think the wider the rear axle the more stable you gonna feel, at least I did. If not I'm sure I'll be corrected. Personal confidence is probably the biggest factor along with experience.

I'm sure Loop, you and I both by the end of summer will have Jim closing the beach to us!!

csa the axle width makes a huge difference. I recently rode in pokitetrash's standard axle flexi bug and it pitched me out the side with what seemed like an insignificant side load to me in some soft sand. I get away with alot of shenanigans with my wide axle. Very much worth the extra money unless you are just going to do tricks and spin around and jump and stuff. If you want to hold down the power, a wider rear axle is like an outrigger on those Hawaiian row boats. It can turn over but you really have to screw up to lift a wheel. Your axle is even wider than mine though. You would be in for a shock in a "standard" buggy.

And don't be too reluctant. If you lean into the turn and have the kite heading the right way the back should just break free and slide out as Bob said. Don't know if you've ever driven a rear wheel drive vehicle on ice or snow but if you have, you just counter steer keeping your front wheel pointed to where you want to head and the back should follow along after its done sliding out. Of course you can over rotate but that's just as fun too ; )

Thanks for the tips! seems like Im headed in the right direction. Im gonna start turnin the kite a little sooner and not bein afraid to slide those wheels. Cant wait for some solid west wind now. Im riding a Peter Lynn, but will have to wait until tomorow to go measure the axle and see if I can find the model. Its actually on a pre-buy demo/loaner from my landlord. Said he would part with it for a couple hundred. Darn good deal if Im not mistaken isnt it? Or is that dependant on the model? Thanks again for the tips.

Most any buggy is a good deal for $200, especially if you have already been trying it out and have found that it isn't broken anywhere on the seat or frame and the wheels roll quietly.

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Originally posted by BeamerBob Most any buggy is a good deal for $200, especially if you have already been trying it out and have found that it isn't broken anywhere on the seat or frame and the wheels roll quietly.

No doubt- wheels and tires alone run that much or more.

Hey Loop:

I'll be out at Sunset this friday (tomorrow) Its supposed to be nice flying. Bring your stuff out and we'll go over some turns.

I noticed that your quiver almost completely L.E.I. type kites on bars, which is cool, coming from a snowkiting background. Buggying however, is actually best done with "foils" on handles. They allow you the control to do those quick slingshot turns and fine-tuned instant flight adjustments that you just can't get on a bar. And foils tend to be quicker, and more agile than LEI's If you come out tomorrow, take one of my foils out for a test run, you'll be surprised at how much more control you have in the turns. This however, is not to say that you can't buggy with LEI's.

Hope to see you tomorrow. Look for the dark green Eagle "Vision" with a roof rack just north of the beach access.

Hey Bucky, thanks a ton for that offer. I have to work until 5 ish or so. If your still around I will take you up on that. I mostly have snowkited also, and thats what the quiver was purchased for. That and some water riding,(didnt know my travels would bring me to the OR coast). So now mostly water kites. Which is fine, but after watchin Jim a few times I realized I wanted to try the buggy and happened to find a good deal on one. Anyway, I did also get to fly one of his JoJo's one day, which was quite the experience. Way different but the same. However for now unfortunately my kite budget is maxed.

This site has some neat animations showing buggy and kite positions - there's plenty of other stuff on this site too - check it out:

http://www.kite-buggiers.co.uk/_basics/downwindturn.php

one thing I had to relearn yesterday was turning the buggy in a depower.. i've been flying handles for a while so i was just out of practice and i killed the kite in my transitions. imho handles are much eaiser to fly as you do have better kite control, but the bar is nicer to my body and lets me keep one hand holding onto the upwind rail i found the easiest way to get into turning well with the bar was to shave speed off with a zig zag then up wind then start sending my kite the other direction 1/2 turn in front of me and just turning a hard 180. by the time the buggy was turned the kite would be full and ready to dip... or would already be powerer and pull me thru the 180. if you turn the buggy to early the lines will slack and die. so i started from the extreme and worked my way back. After a while i started making turns _with_ the kite, rather than turning each seperalty as above and playing catchup. when turing with the kite i keep it 1/4 turn ahead of me and just try to steer the buggy to stay 1/4 turn behind. that keeps the wind in the sails! if your flying slightly underpower, then you might want to try the hard 180 method and work you way back to smoother turns. worked for me and buggies (even pl standard) are pretty resistant to flip unless you try to kite loop

there should be some good 10mph wind to practice in today. wind is E but should swing W around 2p according to the forecast gods...