Who races a buggy with a motorcycle engine. . .

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atomicjoe23

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Guys I'm looking to get feedback from any and all of you that have experience with motorcycle engine powered buggies. . .

. . .what class do/did you race in,

. . .did the lack of torque kill you,

. . .did you have clutch issues? if so, how did you fix them

. . .any positive or negative feedback would be greatly appreciate as I am thinking of building a buggy with sportbike power. . .

Thanks!!!
 
elmariachi

elmariachi

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WickedGravityVideo

WickedGravityVideo

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Weatherboy Scott Steinberger used to race a snowmobile powered Chenowth buggy in the early 90s. SCORE created a class around it for a few years and Scott won three Baja 1000s in it after getting over a couple of years of powertrain issues. You might want to check with him.
 
gmmvp42

gmmvp42

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In the late 80's there were a couple class 1s running Suzuki/Kawasaki engines. This may be pointless info and I don't remember their names, but I saw them at Riverside. Each chassis was smaller than the Funcos/Chenowths of that era.
 
JEFFRPM

JEFFRPM

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If score or bitd allowed turbochargers in class 1 we build a system for 2 cyl arctic cat 1000 cc sleds that put out 370 hp on pump gas the only problem is you have to wind the chit out of them [8000 rpm] to do it but the savings of the weight of the motor and chassis just might make it a winner.
 
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atomicjoe23

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8000 RPM isn't that bad for a I-4 snowmobile engine is it???

. . .my '02 R1 has a redline of 12,000 RPM and you don't hit the power until 8000 RPM. . .my '00 R6 has an even higher redline and the power doesn't really hit until 10,000 RPM. . .and the new 600's. . .don't even get me started on what they rev up to!!!
 
Matt Stevens

Matt Stevens

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I race a class 10 with a 1300 hayabusa engine in it the trick is to get a reverse gear and a way to drive an alternator and power steering off of a bike engine. I have all 3 that are done very clean and professionally. I am moving out of class 10 into 7200 so if you want I have a Jeffco revese diff with 2.5 to 1 reduction set up for 930 CV's, a strong running hayabusa engine a 2cd engine for parts, 2 wireing harnesses trimed down for the motor only. extra set of coils extra ECU extra clutches (race clutch) Extra other stuff, all sprockets are set up for a 630 O-ring chain I also have the specialy macined pully assembly that install's on the engine that makes power steering and an alternator possible it comes with 5 multipule sized pullys an extra pully drive shaft. I would sell the entire package for $4,500 this whole package cost me close to 10,300 and about a million hours of design and machining. if you want it call me at
(801) 615-1145

Here are some links to view my car.
 

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Matt Stevens

Matt Stevens

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And I forgot to mention There is no clutch issue we Completely resolved that the one issue with the trans is it likes to dump second gear unless you have the gears back cut then they work fine to have a trans completely built bullet proof cost about $650 and torque is no problem when your running an engine that is made to run 215 MPH and you gear it down to run 100 MPH it has loads of torque. you can see that in how it launches on the mint start video above. ok Im done now!
 
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atomicjoe23

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Matt I would LOVE to take you up on that offer, but I can't afford it. . .not all at once anyway. . .if I could go to the bank and get a loan for it I would, but as a newly unemployed individual I have next to no income at the moment. . .I should have a job again in about 6 months. . .if you havent' gotten rid of it by then I would love to take it off your hands!!!
 
Matt Stevens

Matt Stevens

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atomicjoe23 said:
Matt I would LOVE to take you up on that offer, but I can't afford it. . .not all at once anyway. . .if I could go to the bank and get a loan for it I would, but as a newly unemployed individual I have next to no income at the moment. . .I should have a job again in about 6 months. . .if you havent' gotten rid of it by then I would love to take it off your hands!!!
Click to expand...

Just give me a call when your ready I'm not marketing this stuff or in a hurry to sell it.
 
450grl

450grl

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I have raced my R1 powered Rhino in several desert races.....I put a second seat in it and it hauls **
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¡Ay, caramba!****
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¡Ay, caramba!****
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¡Ay, caramba!****
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¡Ay, caramba!****
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¡Ay, caramba!**. I have also raced the Parker 250 with my very first streetbike powered Rhino - I think when I ran Parker I just had a CBR600 in it. My first Rhino was pretty heavy, and the 600 worked, but it wasn't ideal. I like the SV1000 better for torque.....you had to pick your lines well in advance when doing hillclimbs with the CBR600 and commit 100% to that line, or you would bog out. With the SV1000 and the R1, not really a problem....

The R1 is a great motor for desert, too - plenty of power all around.....my R1 Rhino probably weighs around 1500lbs with me in it. I have run Barstow twice with it now, and it did awesome everywhere - no problems on the hills or anything.

If I was just building a desert runner, I'd probably go SV1000 or RC51. (maybe Hayabusa - never driven one of those, though) But I really like the punchy R1 powerband for what I do.....(shortcourse, desert and dunes).
 
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