Rage R200RT, AKA the 'Rage bogey'
Discussion
Word of warning, idly browsing eBay of an evening can lead to significant financial expenditure...
So then, I've admired Rage buggies from afar for a good while now after having a quick go in a corporate chugger spec one in the mud yonks ago. It was always a 'some day in the future' toy idea whenever life and funds permitted. Then one evening I saw one for sale on eBay in a stellar spec exactly as I would consider to upgrade it, and in the perfect colour to boot. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing with the vendor to understand more about it, a visit to Rage in Luton to make sure my 6'4" streaky frame fitted inside OK and a chat with the most understanding other half (away on holiday at the time) a deal was struck and I'd bought it. Oops, how did that happen!
A couple of pics from it's previous life. There's plenty of videos of track action on YouTube too, search for Disklok Rage buggy.
Spec wise it’s got a sensible little 1.4 litre petrol motor complete with six speed sequential in the boot generously donated from a Kawasaki ZZR bike, running via a Power Commander for 200whp allegedly. A Flatshifter system means clutchless upshifts and downshifts too, not that I can bring myself to try it all in anger on the road just yet, too mechanically sympathetic! At 550kg ish it’s plenty brisk enough. Being fully spec’d and lovingly tended to by the original owner it wanted for nothing on collection, good job too as it was bought and fully paid for sight unseen in good faith. Current is set up is supermoto (track) spec at the mo, however there’s also a set of off-road rims fitted with knobbly tyres and some longer, softer springs to convert it into motocross spec.
Plans for it are road driving (drove it to work today on damp roads, ‘rabid and lively’ would be a good description!), a few meets, track days, maybe a spot of drifting around at ludicrous angles like a loon when I get used to it, some off road driving if I can find a tame landowner with a ~50 acre stubble field down south somewhere who wouldn’t mind sharing, who knows. It’s a true MPV…
I can only describe driving it as intense - 11k odd rpm to play with, rapid fire sequential box, fast steering, surprisingly compliant suspension, sharp brakes, plenty of noise and a passenger seat to take a willing victim along for the experience. Keeping it on the black stuff and out of the scenery whilst learning the ropes and having some fun is the mission for now
Wish me luck!
So then, I've admired Rage buggies from afar for a good while now after having a quick go in a corporate chugger spec one in the mud yonks ago. It was always a 'some day in the future' toy idea whenever life and funds permitted. Then one evening I saw one for sale on eBay in a stellar spec exactly as I would consider to upgrade it, and in the perfect colour to boot. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing with the vendor to understand more about it, a visit to Rage in Luton to make sure my 6'4" streaky frame fitted inside OK and a chat with the most understanding other half (away on holiday at the time) a deal was struck and I'd bought it. Oops, how did that happen!
A couple of pics from it's previous life. There's plenty of videos of track action on YouTube too, search for Disklok Rage buggy.
Spec wise it’s got a sensible little 1.4 litre petrol motor complete with six speed sequential in the boot generously donated from a Kawasaki ZZR bike, running via a Power Commander for 200whp allegedly. A Flatshifter system means clutchless upshifts and downshifts too, not that I can bring myself to try it all in anger on the road just yet, too mechanically sympathetic! At 550kg ish it’s plenty brisk enough. Being fully spec’d and lovingly tended to by the original owner it wanted for nothing on collection, good job too as it was bought and fully paid for sight unseen in good faith. Current is set up is supermoto (track) spec at the mo, however there’s also a set of off-road rims fitted with knobbly tyres and some longer, softer springs to convert it into motocross spec.
Plans for it are road driving (drove it to work today on damp roads, ‘rabid and lively’ would be a good description!), a few meets, track days, maybe a spot of drifting around at ludicrous angles like a loon when I get used to it, some off road driving if I can find a tame landowner with a ~50 acre stubble field down south somewhere who wouldn’t mind sharing, who knows. It’s a true MPV…
I can only describe driving it as intense - 11k odd rpm to play with, rapid fire sequential box, fast steering, surprisingly compliant suspension, sharp brakes, plenty of noise and a passenger seat to take a willing victim along for the experience. Keeping it on the black stuff and out of the scenery whilst learning the ropes and having some fun is the mission for now
Wish me luck!Edited by foggy on Friday 27th October 09:43
foggy said:
Jonty I see you're only a few miles up the A4 from me.
Went for a Rage over the Berkshire downs towards Wantage today, making the most of the weather. Man it's lively on the country roads!
Passenger ride!! I’ll swap you a ride in the Westfield at 800bhp per tonne when it’s finished.Went for a Rage over the Berkshire downs towards Wantage today, making the most of the weather. Man it's lively on the country roads!
Spent a few hours giving the bogey some garage love today - wheels off, check brakes, discs and pads, general nosey around the engine bay etc.
Trying to get the rear off the ground was comedy! Used my normal lightweight, high lift ally trolley jack under the frame and started pumping away, the body went up as anticipated but the wheels drooped, drooped some more, kept drooping... Eventually at full jacky-uppy-ness the rear wheels came off the deck by a couple of inches tops. It do have a fair bit of suspension travel!
Afterwards followed a quick Rage around the local country roads at dusk, just to check everything was still alright. You know, that type of jaunt, just popping out for a minute love... Once all was warmed up caution was thrown to the wind, mechanical sympathy was given the afternoon off and full use of the flatshifter was made chasing up through a few cogs as the road permitted. Crikey that brought a new dimension to the whole experience, brutal! I'm loving this thing more and more
Trying to get the rear off the ground was comedy! Used my normal lightweight, high lift ally trolley jack under the frame and started pumping away, the body went up as anticipated but the wheels drooped, drooped some more, kept drooping... Eventually at full jacky-uppy-ness the rear wheels came off the deck by a couple of inches tops. It do have a fair bit of suspension travel!
Afterwards followed a quick Rage around the local country roads at dusk, just to check everything was still alright. You know, that type of jaunt, just popping out for a minute love... Once all was warmed up caution was thrown to the wind, mechanical sympathy was given the afternoon off and full use of the flatshifter was made chasing up through a few cogs as the road permitted. Crikey that brought a new dimension to the whole experience, brutal! I'm loving this thing more and more
Rage update time - I broke it! But now it's fixed. Third gear became decidedly crunchy after a mis-shift during some track action late last year so the winter has involved an engine swap (back to the original one) and a general cleaning and tidying up of everything aft of the firewall whilst reinstalling it. Still, it's been a learning curve and I'm far more familiar with the operation of everything now.
I was gutted to miss out on some snow driving action earlier in the year but at least it was a good long winter with plenty of time to do things right. Still got the other engine/gearbox to fix, all in good time. It's been on the road for a week now and today was the first commute to work of the year where indeed it did sit among a host of plug in hybrid company cars. The route home wasn't exactly the most direct one on the country roads over the rolling hills of west Berkshire
So, plans for the summer with the 'bogey - go on a track day or two (learn to shift gear properly first mind...), attend a meet or two and take it off road somewhere. Speaking of which, does anybody have a nice big field down south somewhere they'd wouldn't mind me having a play in? Or any ideas of some tracks/loose surface roads that would suit? Salisbury Plain is all I can think of...
I was gutted to miss out on some snow driving action earlier in the year but at least it was a good long winter with plenty of time to do things right. Still got the other engine/gearbox to fix, all in good time. It's been on the road for a week now and today was the first commute to work of the year where indeed it did sit among a host of plug in hybrid company cars. The route home wasn't exactly the most direct one on the country roads over the rolling hills of west Berkshire
So, plans for the summer with the 'bogey - go on a track day or two (learn to shift gear properly first mind...), attend a meet or two and take it off road somewhere. Speaking of which, does anybody have a nice big field down south somewhere they'd wouldn't mind me having a play in? Or any ideas of some tracks/loose surface roads that would suit? Salisbury Plain is all I can think of...
The Rage has now been transformed from 'supermoto' spec into full on 'motocross' spec with a change to the long, soft springs, fitting a set of road legal Maxxis off road tyres and backing the dampers off a few clicks. Handling wise it has gone from being hyper responsive and scalpel sharp to kinda like driving a rubber handled meat tenderising mallet on tarmac, but it comes into it's own on the loose! It is still a hell of a lot of fun to drive in a slightly unhinged fashion even at modest speeds with torque easily overwhelming the available grip whatever the surface, and plenty of oppo required to keep it pointing vaguely in the right direction what with all the weight transfer under acceleration and braking.
Removing the front dampers and changing the springs was child's play, the rear right was a tad trickier with access being tighter but the rear left was a pig to do for the first time because of an exhaust bracket on the upper damper mount which means more fiddly removal and refitting. What didn't help was dropping the hub and wishbone further down to get the damper out, which lead to some head scratching as the damper wouldn't seem to go back in without fouling said wishbone. Raising the hub up whilst wiggling the damper in soon sorted it, but it took a while for me to work out was going on... I've adjusted the clutch pedal to change the bite point to a more comfortable position and the brake bias needed winding forward a goodly amount too.
www.bywaymap.com has become my new second favourite website, after PH of course, and as luck would have it there are plenty of local off road routes to go and explore. Been out for a couple of hours this evening knitting a few together and testing out the ground clearance, all good if slightly dusty fun. Next up is a few laps of a local motocross track hopefully.
Removing the front dampers and changing the springs was child's play, the rear right was a tad trickier with access being tighter but the rear left was a pig to do for the first time because of an exhaust bracket on the upper damper mount which means more fiddly removal and refitting. What didn't help was dropping the hub and wishbone further down to get the damper out, which lead to some head scratching as the damper wouldn't seem to go back in without fouling said wishbone. Raising the hub up whilst wiggling the damper in soon sorted it, but it took a while for me to work out was going on... I've adjusted the clutch pedal to change the bite point to a more comfortable position and the brake bias needed winding forward a goodly amount too.
www.bywaymap.com has become my new second favourite website, after PH of course, and as luck would have it there are plenty of local off road routes to go and explore. Been out for a couple of hours this evening knitting a few together and testing out the ground clearance, all good if slightly dusty fun. Next up is a few laps of a local motocross track hopefully.
Edited by foggy on Tuesday 12th June 23:29
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