Anyway things are still moving ahead albeit slower than first anticipated! But we do have a majority of the chassis designed and the general shape finalized so now its on to the more technical parts of the design such as the steering axis inclination (SAI), akerman etc etc.

However I do plan on posting some CAD drawings of the progress so far so that you guys can have a look at the buggy and give some feedback on the design.

Stay tuned!

Nick

How wrong I was!

If the sheer amount of positive emails i received is any indication, It seems as though this is what you guys as buggy builders are after, some assistance to help you through the build process as quickly and easily as possible.

Well good news, it’s going to be time consuming to say the least but we ARE going to be filming some videos for you to help you build your new buggy!

Stay tuned!

Nick

Anyway, i was thinking the other day about how to structure the plans once they’re ready to be released so that the “average Joe” can successfully build his/her own buggy without running into too many difficulties during the process. The old melon started ticking over and i thought “well the best way to learn how to do anything is to get someone who knows what they’re doing to show you in person how to do it” Now obviously i can’t be by your side to show you how to put this thing together, so what if i flmed the build process of this buggy so you can watch me build it… In front of you?

If i filmed the whole process from cutting the first piece of steel to firing it up for its first drive, would that make it easier for you to build your buggy? It will most likely be divided up into parts and to be quite honest a lot of them, but i think it would be far better that trying to put a jig saw puzzle of CAD drawings together. Don’t you?

Let me know your thoughts on this by either commenting on the blog here or sending me an email to info(@)skababuggies.com (remove the brackets) and tell me what you think. If we get enough positive feedback for something like this, we’ll weigh up the options of putting together a set of instructional videos. If not then we’ll just stick to the CAD plans.

Come on! don’t be shy, tell us what you want!

Nick

To provide a safe chassis that you know is going to do the job in the event that you flip your buggy upside down or collide with any fixed objects etc it is best to use something that has been proven in a racing environment. Now you may not be using your buggy for competition use but im sure you will agree that sticking to the specifications that these associations use is a good thing.

Here in Australia all motor sport categories are governed by CAMS (confederation of Australian motor sport) which outlines the details of roll cage and dune buggy frame construction. CAMS also bases its technical specs on the FIA which are used globally.

It is for this reason that we are going to adhere to the CAMS specs for dune buggy frame construction and have chosen to use the following steel tube for the construction of our chassis:

Prospec 350 - 38.1 x 2.6mm CDS

This tubing is a stress relieved 1020 grade, seamless mild steel tube available in various Mpa. The tube we will be using is the 350Mpa CDW which complies to CAMS and ANDRA.

Here’s some more technical specs on this tube

Tensile Strength (ksi)        80
Yield Point (ksi)                 70
Elongation (% in 2″)           15
Rockwell hardness            RB80

This isn’t the cheapest steel tube around but hey can you put a price on your life? Spend the extra dollars and get something that you know will be there to protect you in the event of an accident!

Don’t forget to get on the VIP notification list for the buggy plans so you can keep up to date with how the build is progressing

Nick

Although the 1300cc Hayabusa engine is an engineering masterpiece, when it comes to 4 wheel application there are some bases that need to be covered to ensure a long, happy life for your busa engine. When using the engine in an off road application (or any automotive application for that matter) you want to get the motor mounted as low as possible in the chassis to keep the center of gravity at a minimum. We’ve found that the GSXR has a rather deep oil sump, which is perfectly fine in a road bike but a little too big and bulky for my liking in the buggy.

Coupled with this is the oil deliverability issues that many motorcycle engined cars face (mostly track cars that are capable of high lateral g force). During cornering the lateral force produced by a high powered track car can be enough to make your stomach turn, so have a think about what all the oil in that engine is doing? Exactly! There’s a chance of oil starvation which is usually not encountered in a stock road bike, and when you have no oil at 10,000 rpm…

Kaaabooooom!

But there is some good news. There are a few specialist workshops that are producing aftermarket sumps for the GSXR which will solve this problem we face and while there not the cheapest parts on the planet, when you consider the price of fixing a seized engine, i think you’ll agree that it’s money well spent.

Option 1

The Low Profile Billet Sump

At around $650 this billet sump is a great alternative to the stock unit and is perfect for high HP applications and motorcycle engine powered cars. Due to its unique ’swinging pick up arm’ the engine is all but guaranteed to be supplied with a continual flow of oil even during hard cornering. You turn left, the oil hits the right hand side of the sump and guess what.. Thats where the pick up swings. The same for hard braking and acceleration. And most importantly for us it’s 2″ lower than the stock item so it won’t protrude below the chassis line.

This is most likely the sump we will be using.

Option 2

The Dry Sump Sysetm

When you mention the word dry sump, what comes to mind? Probably high hp race car engines and lots of $$$$$ and you’re right! Take a look at Formula 1, Indy car, Nascar and any other professional race series and you’ll find most if not all are running a dry sump set up in the engines. They help contribute to huge horsepower gains and are a great way to keep your engine lubed at high revs due to the constant pressure supplied by the external pulley driven pump set up. The oil is also kept cooler using this setup as the oil is stored in an external ‘reservoir’. Applications for the GSXR such as the one above are available at around $2000. If you’re running Nitrous or a serious turbo setup for track work then this maybe for you, but to be honest i’ve seen 500Hp Hayabusa’s that just run a billet sump.

Stay tuned as I will post a full DIY sump replacement post for those that are interested in performing the same mods when ours arrive.

I hope that clears up the issues we face with the sump set ups so please let me know your thoughts!

Stay Sideways
Nick

The next step was to choose how many seats this new weapon will have and the results were interesting to say the least! I thought that 2 seater buggies were all the rage at the moment but we had quite a few people asking for a 4 seater buggy. But the most popular choice was the good old single seat dune buggy, so thats what we have chosen to run with. Not only will this buggy be as light as a feather but it will also be smaller and require less material than its big brother counterparts.

Now, for those that wanted a 2 of 4 seater buggy all is not lost! Oh no see the single seater is just the start, we plan to build one of each in the near future to satisfy everyones desires!

Get ready ladies and gentlemen, the single seater dune buggy powered by the infamous GSXR 1300 Hayabusa engine is go! We’ve told our design engineer what we want and he’s begun the initial design phase!

Stay tuned!

Nick

The history of the Hayabusa:

Suzuki obviously wanted to make it clear from the start that they wanted the title of the worlds fastest production bike above their name back in 1999 when thay came up with the name. It obviously has some kind of Japanese meaning to it? I hear you ask. It sure does because the geniuses at suzuki named it after the Peregrine Falcon, the bird capable of achieving speeds over 200 mph (322 km/h) and predator of (perhaps not coincidently) the common blackbird. How ironic considering that the first model to roll off the production line topped the speed traps at a blistering 319 Km/h!

The Hayabusa which is also known as the GSX1300R in some countries was originally introduced by Suzuki back in 1999. Back then it had a 1299 cc (79 cu in) inline-4 engine and was known as the fastest production bike in the world before the 2001 detuning agreement came into force.

In stock form the 99 model was capable of the following:

• 1/4 mile: 10.02 seconds @ 143.7 mph (231 km/h)
• 60–80 mph: 3.13 seconds
• 80–100 mph: 3.31 seconds
• Top speed: 189.6 mph (305 km/h)
• Power: 156.1 hp (116.4 kW) @ 9,500 rpm (rear wheel)

Fast forward almost a decade later and the legend still lives on albeit with more capacity and more power to boot. Determined to hold the title of the fastest production bike on the planet, and with BMW and Kawasaki breathing down their neck with the K1200S, Ninja ZX-12R, and Ninja ZX-14, Suzuki upped the anti for the 2008 model busa by increasing displacement from 1299cc to 1340cc and pushing the power figure up to 171hp.

Ok so what does this mean for us buggy builders?

Well apart from the obviously blistering power figure, the Suzuki engine has a rock solid reputation for reliability and quality. Not only that but it is a great platform for building a big power engine, with just some small tweaks such as exhausts and ECU people have been getting over 200Hp. Start adding turbos and you’re looking at bone jarring power figures as high as 700Hp! No that is not a misprint, check this out if you don’t believe me!

See what im talking about? This engine really is a buggy builders dream especially when you consider that most local bike shops can not only service this engine but provide you with spare parts and performance bits.

The best part - I’ve seen these engines for sale on Ebay for as little as$1000. Why would you not use one of these in your buggy?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below

Nick

Then we want to talk to you!

As we are heavily tied up with the design phase of our latest dune buggy at the moment we don’t have as much time as we would like to dedicate to this blog. Our aim is to build an informative resource for buggy enthusiasts as well as keep everyone up to date with whats happening in the world of buggies, sand rails and ATV’s. We are looking for people that can write articles for the blog such as reviews of new buggies, tech tips and general maintenance, industry news etc. You can let your imagination run wild (well almost ha ha!)

If you’re interested please get in touch with me by sending an email to info at skababuggies dot com (im sure you can figure that one out) and we’ll go from there!

Talk soon
Nick