New Guy from N/E Fl.

[flaboy63]

Hey everyone I'm John from Macclenny Fl. I have been lurking for a few weeks now. I have been comtiplating which Mini buggy to build. I have some ideas that I will share with ya'll in the future as I start gathering parts for my builds I will be building 3 buggies, All of which will motorcycle powered.Myself as a Mustang enthusiast have been building drag race stuff for years and have the tools needed to do the job,I would however like ya'lls opinion on electric reverse I have some thoughts that might make it more economical for us.I see where these guy's spend a lot on reverse. I don't see it that complicated.Well thanks for your time.TIA I hope I can contribute to this great site in the very short future.If there are any of the guy's around North East Fl that I can help just shoot me a pm and I will get back to ya.Ya''ll have a good day John

[TheFauxFox]

LOL flaboy! I've thought of the same thing (and there are plenty of threads on other forums [diygokarts.com, buggynews.com] and concepts.)

The major issue with it (in my eyes) is getting it all connected to the chain and NOT burning out the motor (which probably could be done with just a simple set of gears, but still a bit of a pain). Not to mention the fact that to carry a 500+ pound kart (including rider, of course) backwards, whether uphill or flat ground, you're gonna need a BIG motor. I'm talking 1500w and up, and even if you gear it SUPER high and give it a ton of torque, even a motor like that will struggle a bit (uphill talking here). Not to mention you would need an electric throttle, controller, and about 36-48v worth of batteries, and a charger. All in all, you would spend about

Motor: $100-$250 (800w-1500w motor)
Controller: $40-$120 (probably will be on the upper end for a good quality one)
Throttle: $10-$45 (again, quality)
Batteries: $120< (you can get crap, no name batteries, or get amazing brand name 48v worth of lithium batteries to power your reverse)

Total (minimum): $270. That's more than the buggy-dep0t kit is on sale for! Plus a electric system sounds like a major PITA... just saying.

I've looked into it as well, and it just doesn't seem to work out. You can always try this system with a cheap, 12v pool pump motor or forklift motor and a switch, but eventually you will kill the motor/switch. It just isn't worth it. Do what I'm doing and look for a used Chinese kart that doesn't run or is rusted out, and see if it has external reverse. I'm gonna swap out a Carter Talon reverse for my spider box once I get my hands on it (the guy STILL hasn't written back )

[Miamieddie]

Interesting info there fox wow!!! I'm going to stay with the reverse that comes with my buggy.. lol no doubt. Welcome aboard flboy63. Sounds like your knowledgable on this field like many here. Always a good thing.

[Masteryota]

I think you guys are looking too hard at the electric reverse. Being that the buggy type he wants to build will be larger than most of ours, and be most likely a 600-1000cc powered unit, electric reverse gets real simple.

Parts needed-
SBC flexplate
SBC gear reduction starter
Battery
Relays, cables, and switches

That should put you no more than $200 in the hole, for new in box parts. The tricky part is finding a hub to mate the flexplate to the jackshaft or axle. Check out companies like Protodie and Sinister Sand Sports, they do these type builds all the time. The rest of it depends on how you want to build it.

On a second note, welcome from another Floridian, I am in St. Augustine, so feel free to hit me up if you need anything.

[TheFauxFox]

Are you saying use a starter motor?

[flaboy63]

Yes exactly however you don't need to use a 14" flywheel with our testing (unless you weight 1300 lbs with the buggy) you can get away with a 11" 2.3L Turbo Ford flexplate with a high torque starter and hub will cost you about 260.00 that's with everything new.Remember starters go bad because of amperage drop most of the time! If you run dual solenoids you won't see the amperage drop therefore you can back up 2 football fields in a short period of time. More later Ya'll be good

[Masteryota]

Originally Posted by TheFauxFox

Are you saying use a starter motor?

This is the most cost effective way to make electric reverse. Most of them already have a reduction built in, and they are cheap, due to the fact they fail regularly. If you make the correct initial purchases, then you can end up with a lifetime warranty on the starter itself, and never have to worry about shelling more $$ out when they fail.

The only draw back, for example on mine, I don't want the large flexplate spinning around the open areas of my swing arm, so i am on the hunt for something smaller. I found some honda B series flywheels that would be small enough and a friend who has a pile of starters laying around, but I would have to use a manual trans flywheel, and I don't want all that extra rotating mass.

[TheFauxFox]

I know it is, but shouldn't you get a secondary throttle and controller? I wanted to use a starter, myself, but heard that they were unreliable as a reverse and finicky, so I started thinking other motors...

[Masteryota]

Originally Posted by TheFauxFox

I know it is, but shouldn't you get a secondary throttle and controller? I wanted to use a starter, myself, but heard that they were unreliable as a reverse and finicky, so I started thinking other motors...

I'm not sure what you mean by secondary throttle, but if you feel the speed is too great, then dragging the brake will help control that. The idea behind doing this effectively, is to gear it correctly. A direct drive to the axle would be too fast, and may kill the starter prematurely, but if you dropped this to a 2:1 drive, then you allow the starter to run full speed and reduce the axle speed.