Kite Buggy Tips

Video Transcript

" Howdy, this is Corey Jensen with Wind Power Sports in Las Vegas and I am sitting on a Peter Lynn Race Buggy. Kit bugging is one of the things that we do with power kites these days turn it into motive power. This buggy has been especially modified for running out here on the desert. It has longer side rails and a wider rear axle than a standard buggy would have. It makes it a little more a problem to carry it around and you got to do some disassembling. But out on the dry lakes where we are going to be going in a further segment, it makes it a little more stable and little more comfy ride. There are a couple features about this buggy that are worth noting. Originally the down tube, and fork were 92 to each other but the guy that built this buggy not Velhuesen, did some experimenting. We got a little bit of a rake here in the front fork and that really helped a log. He also did a modified front fork which I have removed because it made things a little bit too squirrelly and this is the standard front fork. Then as well as extended down tubes, this buggy also has a suspension axle. Unlike desert dune buggies is where you are doing a lot of suspension travel going over jumps, in our game it is all about traction. You got to keep your wheels on the ground if you want the kite to provide you with power. The suspension rather than up down is back and forth because the kite is always going to be down wind, the buggy is going to role a couple of degrees downwind with that power. Suspension allows the upwind wheel to stay firm on the ground with a lot of grip and it gives me a little bit better upwind angle. A little bit of ride comfort but that is mostly done through tire pressure. This buggy also has custom wheels on it that allow the tire to sit fatter on the ground and in the game that we play, has a lot to do with traction so the more surface contact I have the better grip I have on the surface and the better I am able to go. With the proper kite and winds between about 10 and 30 miles an hour generally speaking, properly rigged you can achieve ground speeds about 3 to 4 times wind speed and you go upwind. That is pretty cool. "