I have been consistently upgrading and modifying my original design on my 2 seat project. As of late, I have upgraded my steering a few times, made some engine mods, did some electrical adjustments and bought a set of rear shocks, custom made from Works Performance. I have not been out for many riding experiences lately, however, but my latest excursion worked out great. I now have finally got the engine running perfect and the buggy's handling and performance is near what I was aiming for when I was designing it. Hopefully if any warmer weather comes my way, I will get to put some hours on it soon. Here are a few pics of what it looks like (at least for now).

Looks good Matt. I really like those shocks! Did you spray the buggy or did you have it done? I am trying to decide what to do with my new single seat buggy as far as color is concerned.

Where did you get the axle assembly and rear swingarms?

SP

Matt made the axle assemblies.

The trailing arms were made from 1" round steel tubing and the
carriers are 2 inch black pipe with the center machined out for
the bearings to fit. He also indicated in a post on his Yahoo group that the trailing arms are loosely based on the desert kart suspension.

Thanks for helping me out there Randy. I know it sometimes takes me too long to post replys. As far as paint, I sprayed it. I wire brushed the whole thing, cleaned it, primed it, sanded it and then painted it. It has been fairly durable so far, but I have not had enough ride time to fully understand the lasting durablitiy of Ace Hardwares Rust Stop primer and paint.

I have still been making many upgrades and modifications to my original design. Lately I have added some steering guards, exhaust heat shield, experimenting with rejetting, etc. I still have additional plans: I am going to add another set of shocks to the front end to stiffen the dampening. I have another set of shocks exactly like the current front shocks, that I originally tried on the rear. I figure a few shock tabs and my time will be cheaper than trying to find new shocks. Who knows what I will change next... This project will never be complete. Below is a better view of the overall buggy and a current rear view.

Hello again, everyone! I've been lurking about for the past several years and with my recent discovery of certain YouTube channels, I've gotten the itch to get back in my buggies. Rather B Welding, Moto Mule, Red Beard, Cars and Cameras, etc. have really re-sparked my enthusiasm for the hobby/sport of buggy building and riding.
With that being said, my 2 seat buggy has never completely satisfied me. So, this winter, I decided to completely rework the front end of the buggy and then modify the rear with some small improvements. I really liked the fact that I completely built the original front suspension, but I ended up putting in a lot of effort with little results. So, I finally bit the bullet and bought front suspension components from a Polaris Predator 500 and have been working on mating them up to the buggy. Its been a slow process, but I am very pleased with the results thus far. I'm going to end up with about twice the travel, more ground clearance and stability, narrower overall width and front brakes. You can see the differences in the first couple photos. The red arms are the "new" Predator arms. One of my next biggest hurdles is the steering. I'm researching various rack and pinions, but I'm also considering the Predator's set up with a pitman arm on the steering shaft, to bellcranks on the frame and then to the tie rods. Any thoughts or opinions out there either way?
Once the front is done, I'm going to lower the rear drivetrain in order to raise the rear end up, move the engine back for more driver compartment space and rework the exhaust and electrical. I'll be keeping this updated with progress, just remember it may take some time. I'm hoping to be ready by summer.

I would be looking at an end load rack and pinion set. The sell them as narrow as 8" and wide as 14". The ends should match up to your front arm pivot locations.

https://www.dansperformanceparts.com/of ... -each.html

https://www.dansperformanceparts.com/of ... -each.html

https://www.dansperformanceparts.com/of ... -each.html

Those are certainly some nice racks! I ended up going with a rack that came in a steering set I got off eBay. The price was right. I spent the majority of this past weekend working on the steering, and after I fab a couple supports for the steering rack extensions, and modify the pedals slightly, the steering will be complete! I hit my first major hurdle with the steering shaft location, but a little patience really paid off. Using the same mounting point locations from the Predator ATV, the bump steer is nill. Front end paint will be coming soon.

Welcome back! mod plan looks good. Word of warning for those looking at the 8-inch latest rage racks -- the end mounting hardware is tiny 1/4-diameter.

Thank you!
This rack uses 10mm hardware. The ball joints and tire rods were actually larger than what was stock on the Predator ATV. Its a nice little rack for the money. It has about 4" of throw and one full turn of the wheel is lock to lock. I do have minor concerns about the durability. After mounting it, and messing around with making extensions and supports, etc. it has developed a little bit of slop.

have you fully taken it apart yet? if you welded on the rack, you might have heated/melted guide sleeves that might be in it. not sure if it has anything like that, just a thought. same goes for when they're low on/or not greased, they tend to feel a little sloppy.

Some of the racks have a tension bold with stop nut to control play. I'm not sure if yours does.

I was actually afraid of cooking any grease already in the rack, or damaging any internal bushings, so I didn't weld anything while in contact with the rack. I did pull the huge set screw out of the bottom, which compresses a spring that in turn pushes on V shaped guide that holds the rack in place. I greased everything since it was almost dry, and during reassembly, I tightened the set screw a bit more and that took care of the slop. Thanks for the tips.

I slung some paint on recently and have the front end nearly complete. Are there any cheap, popular LED sets out there that are recommended for buggies? I figure I should get something better than the old bug-eye halogens I used previously.

Also, brake fluid... is there really any difference between the different DOTs when used in buggies??

Snowplow lights make good front lighting if you need DOT. They give you high/low and turn in one housing.

On the rear end, I've gotten the drivetrain repositioned, modified the trailing arms' bearing carriers, changed shock mounting locations, new caliper mount, added a new carb support, added another front engine mount and am getting ready to build my new exhaust with an Amazon $35 muffler, and install a new cooling fan/blower. No new photos just yet, but progress is being made.

Out of curiosity, does anyone here have experience with a 1980 Yamaha SR250 Exciter engine? Specifically regarding how much of a pain it is to install new top end gaskets and how to properly adjust the timing chain? Also, I'm gearing it way down by installing a 10 tooth engine sprocket. The larger sprockets have tapped holes for the sprocket retainer to bolt to, but this 10 tooth sprocket doesn't have those holes, nor any way to keep it from falling off of the shaft. I'm thinking about putting a snap ring on the shaft in the retainer groove, but I'm worried that may allow too much play. Any thoughts?

A couple photos of the rear frame work. Funny how a week's worth of work doesn't look like much. Next item on the agenda is the exhaust, then cooling fan/blower, paint and then a much needed re-wire.

I've been slowly making progress on my re-build. Got the engine re-wired and trimmed out all the unnecessary wiring, new exhaust built, carb cleaned, gearing changed and most everything reassembled. The engine starts and actually runs, and I now finally have a neutral light. Now I'm left working on the brakes. I think the front brakes are all set. Got them bled and they seem to work fine. The rears are giving me fits, however. I'm using MCP's cast go kart hydraulic brake components on the rear, and I swapped out the original 3/16 nylon brake lines a long time ago for 1/4 copper lines. I think that's causing there to be too much fluid to move in order to actuate the caliper pistons. So I'm in the process of swapping the rear over to 1/8 automotive brake line like what I already have on the front. Plus, one of the rear pistons developed a leak while sitting for a couple years, so I need to rebuild that. Hopefully, the rear brakes will be the final hurdle, and this thing will be ready for summer, and be better than ever!

Couple overall photos, in the confined space of my workshop.

Well, I think I'm about ready to call this "finished", again. Frame and suspension work is complete, the new steering rack is fantastic and the 4 wheel disc brakes work great. The engine starts and runs, but not as well as I had hoped. (It never really did run right, but it worked.) I managed to tune it just enough to make a few laps around my yard and the handling is far superior to the previous set up, so its definitely a huge improvement. I think my main problem now is that its running too rich since the plug was blackened. It'll idle ok, but most of the time it will spit, sputter and backfire when the throttle is applied at low rpm. After a few seconds of that, it will usually throttle up and run better at higher rpm. I have a new plug and will be checking the compression next. I also have a few new main jets on the way to try out. I know I'll get it sorted eventually, but I really want to figure it out sooner, rather than later. I have managed to find a great Youtube channel/website dedicated to this engine/bike which has been a great help in really learning about this carb and jet settings. But, if anyone has any tips/suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks, and here are a few photos of the "completed" buggy: