Off-road buggies - any experts?

[dealmaker]

Guys,

Looking to buy an off-road buggy - for my son of course! ...(of course I'm not interested at all in a rapid off-road device - thats potentially road useable!)

I don't really want him tearing up our gardens - so was looking for one that could be driven a short distance (we have some friendly farmers round here) and then used for it's intended purpose! I'm looking for a two seate and have been considering the Joyner 650 and the Quadzilla Bug Racer 500 :

Bug Racer:



Joyner:



Anyone know anything about these or know of alternatives I should consider??

[dealmaker]

^

[dealmaker]

JIM600 said:

I build/work on these as a job.

How old is your son - both of the karts you mentioned are big/fast - fine if he is in his teens, but not suitable for younger kids, even if just for the seat distance from the pedals.

We had one of the joyners 2 years ago - you can instantly see where they are made, rubbish welds, very cheap feel imo. Same goes for most of the Chinese buggies - they are much bigger than UK/American equivalents. But they use very thin tubing for the cage construction so are rattly and don’t feel very safe, they also tend to be sprayed rather than powdercoated, overcomplicated chassis and gearboxes (a torque converter is far more effective off-road than a scooter transmission).

Well worth looking at the UK karts - manufacturers like Gemini are very high quality, Honda GX engines are bullet proof and these are far more suited to younger kids.

If it has to be road legal then you’re limited to Chinese buggies really (unless you can fork out enough for a rage). Quadzilla have built up a pretty good reputation and are the best of the Chinese built karts at the moment - fine for going round a field but hugely underpowered - around 12/14hp from a 250 engine in a buggy that weighs 300-400kg.

As I say, it depends on the age of your son and what you want it for. My recommendations would be:

Young son/just pottering around - Bocart
Teenage Son / Needs to be road legal - Quadzilla 250/300
Teenage Son / Quick / Needs to be road legal - Quadzilla 500
Teenage Son / Not road legal - Gemini Liberator / Amis Kennedy AK40
Teenage Son / Very Quick - Any of the custom made karts out there.

If you want any more info - just ask, Anything using a Honda GX engine is likely to be easy to use, very low maintenance and more fun - but perhaps underpowered if your looking at 650/500 machines. But don’t expect much from these 500/650 engines - we have a buggy here at the moment with a 500cc 2 smoker engine from a snowmobile - 100hp and only weighs 250kg! You will be lucky to get over 20-30 hp from a lot of the Chinese made 650s.

Jim

Jim,

Thanks for that - he's nearly 12 and he's bloody quick in a Kart and on a MX bike! - so I think he can handle most of these buggies - and I want to get one we can have a good few years fun from, not something we will both get bored of in a few days - Ideally I would have bought a couple of Honda Pilots - but decent ones are like Hens teeth - and theyve been out of prodcution for so long I fear they will be a maintenance money pit.

Something with a Honda engine would certainly be my preference (I love Honda engines on anything except cars - even my Jet Wash has one!) The problem with a lot of these competition buggies is that they are single seat e.g the Rage - something that is two seats means we can share the fun (doing it together - quality time!) - and will mean the thing will be more accessible - if we can drive it 5 minutes up the road and then use it - we're more likley to use it than if we have to go to the hassle of trailering it - and all that entails.

Do any of the "decent" manufacturers you mention make a two seat??..or a road legal?