Project Funmobile: Beaters & Mini buggies & Dirt bikes

Last night I was thinking to myself, "Self, it would sure be nice to have some FUN on those awesome logging roads I have access to, while I climb Bullshit Mountain to get my XR up here, built, running, inspected, and insured"

I even went so far as to do some Craigslist searches for project cars here in Vancouver BC (always a dangerous thing). XR4Ti's are getting pretty rare around here (only seen 1 for sale this year), there are 4 Volvo 240's for sale, there are quite a few Cossie MB 190Es, even looked at some Datsuns, but it would make a lot more sense to stick with one model (the XR) so as to have a pool of common spares and knowledge. Of course that means I'll also have to set up the truck for towing and get a trailer first. Maybe, I thought, a turnkey rally beater will turn up around here (already insured in BC) that I can have some fun with. Not very likely.

But then, why do I need a CAR if I want to have some tail-out sideways fun outside my door?

"I wonder if there is such a thing as an offroad go-kart", I wondered, so I wondered over to Google.





That's an Aussie kit, the "Barracuda". Seems like it would be a blast although the top speed is definitely high enough to kill you without much trouble, but that's also the case with any rally car.

It looks like there's all kinds of these projects being built in NA as well eg http://www.minibuggy.net/

My requirements are pretty simple:

1. RWD, full suspension, shifter, caged
2. Smallish, maybe fits in the bed of a truck?
3. Low to moderate amount of fabrication required
4. Low center of gravity (no ATV crap) but can handle rough logging roads with the odd washout
5. Around 5 grand or less
6. Maybe a 2 seater so I can take people for rides and get them jazzed to participate in real rally

See, I want these driving skills to be directly transferrable to the rally car when I finally get the fucking thing on the road. You know how it's supposed to take 10,000 hours to get passably good at something? How are we supposed to get those hours eh? Spend a hundred grand taking a "rally driving course" 1000 times? Spend a hundred times the seat time towing your car around to events and embarrassing yourself in public? Spend 20 years doing only local events a couple times a year and never getting better? These buggies should be easier and cheaper to build, store, fix, and recover from ditches too. I know dirt bike skills can be helpful but why not go with something that at least has the same number of wheels.

I'm just starting to look into this but thought I'd ask around here in case anyone else has one of these and has some insights from a "stage rally" point of view. I have literally 100s of miles of logging roads out my door at the workshop, and I want to spray some gravel this year. I'm going to have a short ring road on my own 25 acres too, after I install a culvert and lay down some gravel.

Legality shouldn't be much of a problem, I don't know if these are treated the same as ATV/UTV but then again the chances of running into another human being on these roads are low, let alone an officer of the law.

Here's some more links. A lot of them seem to be basically the same as dune/sand buggies.

http://www.protodie.com/

http://www.rickskraschsite.com/

http://sinistersandsports.com/

I'll post more videos and findings as research continues over the next few weeks and months. Still got a while before the snow melts at the workshop.

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www.rallyrace.net



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2014 02:19PM by Skye.

All kinds of options

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/search/?sort=rel&areaID=16&subAreaID=&query=dune+buggy&catAbb=sss

I guess "sand rail" is also a term I should be looking for, whatever that is

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Looks like a lot of them are based on the VW Beetle 1600 engine, and wheelbase/track? That seems maybe on the big side, but I suppose it would handle more like a real car.

There's also these things which are a lot smaller and more UTV/toy like





Turn down the volume:

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2014 04:19PM by Skye.

You're saying you have access to logging roads that you can practice on? Not that I condone practicing at speed on any open road (regardless of how rare you think it would be to find anyone else on them) but...

Why not just buy a beater car?
Only missing requirement is a cage, but looking at the cages on these UTVs, seems you could put a pretty comparable one into a car fairly cheaply. Plus you'll have a car around it instead of nothing.

You said "stick with one model", but a completely different type of vehicle doesn't do that, so why impose that limit if you bought another car?

Tim.

Honda Pilots are fun.

or you could have the coolest thing ever..
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/mcd/4345543062.html

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/mcd/4345768198.html



http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/264/212/b03.gif

This is brilliant in my opinion, that being said my opinion is not worth much. Top tier drivers (example: f1) start off in go karts. So why would the same idea not work for rally?

Quote
Eric Ewert
This is brilliant in my opinion, that being said my opinion is not worth much. Top tier drivers (example: f1) start off in go karts. So why would the same idea not work for rally?

The best have OFTEN started with dirt bikes...some were even national level... Gronholm and Biasion spring to mind.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

I've thought about selling my street bike and getting a dirt bike. It certainly takes up a lot less room than a buggy. So the Honda CRF is a good one? My cousin used to do motocross he can probably dig something up, he's more into downhill biking (cycling) these days.

But I'm still curious if anyone runs buggies or rails on dirt roads and how it compares as far as a "scaled down" rally experience. The point being that it's already designed to do what you want, doesn't require any fabrication, and won't break after a couple runs like a beater would.

The Honda Pilot/Odyssey looks pretty fun, only single speed, but balanced pretty well. They only made them for a couple years, don't know how many





Then again you've also got stuff like this for $2500

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/pml/rvs/4347178474.html

VW Sand Rail with rebuilt 1600cc dual port
rare(ish) 5 rib bus transmission with reduction boxes (way stronger than the typical 3 ribs)
6 fog lights
All the wiring is redone complete front to back and ran inside/through the tubing so it will never snag.
New stainless steel switch panel with master kill switch, push button starter, interior light, 8 auxilery switches for all the fog lights (with a couple spares for future additions, pre ran through the framing for easy upgrades)
tow lights ready to plug into the back of your truck
has bolt on/off tow bar for flat towing behind your truck (insured as a ubuilt trailer, $50/year)
31x10.5 mud terrain tires
also have paddle tires on rims for the sand included in sale
steering brakes
5 point harnesses
aluminum gas tank
custom made snorkel out of PVC piping brings the air filter into the cab to avoid any mud or water
has bazooka style exhaust also have the stinger exhaust for it
autometer 5" tach with shift light

looking for $2500 obo but will take offers

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Ran a fairly modified pilot for a couple of years as a fun toy.... They are a hoot. Went through a couple of motors. 250cc liquid cooled head big pipe was a load of fun, but not enough power. 400 cc polaris or someother snowmobile motor was more fun, but ultimately finicky old electrical. The fzr 600 motor was the real ticket, 6 speed and loads of sauce.

Blew that motor and sold it motorless to a dune tour company in oregon.... Never should have sold it. 8' drops at 45mph were fairly common. Rear end and axle was built with semi truck steering linkage parts. Twin shocks in the rear with about 12-13" of travel.

Fire/forest service roads are definitely where it was the most fun, however I would jump right into a 600 or bigger motor if I were to do it again. (or maybe a narrower rear tire but more power is betterrrerr)

Most of the rail buggy videos seem to be "mudding" or "hill climbs" but you get the idea

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NICE, thanks AJ, that's what I'm talking about.... and great info

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Hell yeah... this guy isn't carrying a lot of speed through the corners but I like the camera angle

Honda Pilot FL400R

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Yeah, the stock honda pilots certainly aren't the quickest things. I could imagine that they would be quite fun with some spotbike 600cc engine in there! They are a little weird, though, because they have a thumb throttle and hand lever brakes on the steering wheel. No foot pedals. They also quit making them like 25 years ago and clean examples will cost 3-4k. The closest thing nowadays is the new polaris sportsman ace. But the seating position is all wrong and overall layout is way too upight and I could imagine they're quite tippy. They also don't look nearly as robust, like they'd fold in half if you land on the nose too hard.