I want a buggy!
 

Well, yesterday we bought a house next to hundreds of acres of state land with tons of 2-tracks. Now I need a TOY!

I am mechanically experienced and am not afraid of a project or upgrades to a kart/buggy.

I was hoping for advice.
I have two children that I want to ride along with me.
I would like the buggy to be capable off-road with a limited slip differential. ("posi" for the red-necks ;) )
Something cheap and FUN.
Ones I'm considering now are the
Tomberlin crossfire 150,
manco fox carbide 150,
Kinroad Raptor 150 or 250,
Carter GTR

Almost all buggies are straight/locked rear axles, the one's that aren't are open peg leg style diffs. getting something that will seat 3 will be difficult, you may have to shop for the widest floorpan/cage and make a bench seat.

Seating 3 was never my intention. The oldest is 3.5. I was saying kid(s) just to impress upon everyone that the single seater ones aren't an option.

What about the Hammerhead 250???

are you planning on buying new or used? or does it matter?

I will be buying a used one. Never buy new on anything you're not sure about.

chose a name
 

any of the buggy's you have named are all good brands, now you just need to figure your budget, what immenties you want, and start checking your local area and state craigslists for a good find. Just be patient and do your home work, it took me 9 months to find the buggy's i finally bought and i couldnt be happier with my find for the cost! Be sure to go with a name that will have parts available for some time to come. keepem rollin bear

What manufacture is a KM 2250R?
It looks like a hammerhead 250 but some of the components look a little different.
Can I still get parts for it?

other things to consider are size. The carter GTR was a great buggy but that thing is huge. Gotta have a good sized trailer to move it. Not going to plop it in the back of the pickup to take it somewhere to ride. Also Carter is out of business so getting parts for the GTR can be a challenge.

The 250's are great but they are water cooled which may or may not be an issue for you. The 150's are fantastic but not as much power as the 250. Check out the reviews section of this site. I've owned and reviewed a few of those machines.

I am in WA State and have a Yerf Dog 2 seater, great Go Kart. My son is off to College. Interested?

I would strongly suggest staying away from the odd ball buggies. It may look like a HH but the parts could be hard to come by. Stay away from Carter since they burned down parts are almost impossible to find. A good HH, Kinroad, and some of the Roketa's are good safe buggies. Crossfire is good also but tranny parts can be a challenge to find but are still out their. Joyner 250's are good ones.

The Kinroad didn't get very outstanding reviews due to the underpowered 250cc engine. Is that it's only drawback?

What about a Carter GTR 250 for $1650?

First: The Kinroad is a very good buggy, good supply of parts available, the Carter was a good buggy but since they burned down parts are difficult to obtain for 150cc and 300 models due to differences in engines and the 300 had the shaft drive and they are impossible to get hold of. I believe there were some 250 models that had the shaft drive and if this buggy has the shaft drive I would stay away from it. The Carter shafts were known to brake and there is nothing to cross over to it so you will need to have a custom axle shaft made which I hear runs in the area of upper 400's. If it has the solid rear chain driven axle then the 1650 is a fair price provided it is in excellant condition and runs well if not you will have to low ball him on price.
Now second: weather it is a HH, Carter Kinroad or Roketa the CN-250 engine is the same in all of them and parts are no problem with exception of the later HH's which had the CF-Moto Hi Low engines which are as good and plenty of parts available. All 250's are pigs as compared to a moded 150. A moded 150 will do circles around a stock 250. Still the 250 produced more power just in all the wrong places. This is not a discouragement of a 250, it just needs some mods to make it run. Even stock they run very well on flatter terrains, its when you get to the steep hills it is lacking. So someone saying that the 250 Kinroad is a dog will be condemming them all since the Kinroad weighs as much as the HH, or Carter. I personally like the 250 now since there are mods mainly camshafts available for them and if a properly ported and polished head with cam is installed this really wakes them up. If the Carter has the solid rear axle chain driven it is worth a good look at, but the Kinroad is a bit better since more parts are readily available for it such as front struts, a-arms ect. The engines will be identicle CN-250.