The impressive Bigfoot+ can handle any kind of terrain! Its big wheels allow you to ride on both hard and soft sand, riding through the dunes is great fun for this machine. Even aquaplaning on this buggy can be done, it doesn’t stop for anything. The kinked down tube helps to keep the center of gravity low to the ground to prevent the buggy from flipping over during power slides at high speeds.
The Bigfoot’s extra large forward wheel base ensures maximum stability while riding at high speeds while the extra wide 120cm back axle minimizes the chance of the buggy flipping over sideways .The Bigfoot+ is designed for pure fun on all types of terrain and will take you all the way!
Hi
The big foot looks ideal – I wonder if you could help me with some advice on a bit of a mad adventure we want to do and whether the big foot is suitable?
My brother and I are planning on taking a buggy each to Natal in North East Brazil in August, and buggying 1000km up the coast to Jericoacoara, where we’re going to go windsurfing for 10 days. We both do a fair bit of windsurfing but haven’t done any kiting or buggying! Can you give us any advice on the below?
- Do you think it’s possible to buggy that distance, with a wind direction that will mostly be broad reach and sometimes even totally downwind?
- Can you recommend any places to learn to kite buggy in the UK?
- Would you recommend the bigfoot? Does it pack down at all? It would need to be portable enough to pack down and go on the plane, and strong enough to go the distance.
- The buggy would need to have storage space to take our stuff for a 4 week trip with no support – what would you say is the best way to modify it? I was thinking some sort of big rack behind the seat, that we could strap our rucksacks and spare kite too. I like the look of the dry bag on this site, but that’s not big enough for all our stuff.
- What size kites would you use? Wind is generally force 3-5 in that area consistently.
- What type of kite? We both have harnesses for windsurfing – are kites with control bar the most suitable? I like the look of the sabre 2.
Thanks in advance for any answers you can give!
Best
Harry
Hi Harry, that’s quite the adventure you have planned!
-Yes, it is possible to buggy that kind of distances but it takes quite a bit of preparation and planning.
-There are a lots of places where you can learn how to buggy in the UK, you can check out http://www.parakartassociation.co.uk to find out where your nearest school/instructor is.
-The Bigfoot would be able to get the job done, it packs down quite small but the wheels make the package bulky so you might want to source wheels locally.
For added security you may want to reinforce the buggy and add a bellypan to protect your behind from debris.
-Storage, best would be to tow a second buggy to carry supplies. (tandem set-up)
-Kite size, I would take at least 2 or 3 different sizes to be able to cope with most winds, even if there is a pevailing 3 to 5 Bft, you can never be sure enough.
(Bring extra linesets and repair tape)
-Kite type, whatever you are most comfortable with, personally I’d take 4 or 5 sizes bridled foils (on handles) that are stable and easy to fly and don’t require constant attention.
I hope these answers help, your idea is really cool and we would love to hear how it all unfolds and if you can come up with a fullproof plan on how to tackle this undertaking we might be able to help you out.
Keep us informed!
Hi Marijn,
Many thanks for the reply and sorry for the delay – I hadn’t seen it! It was great to meet you today at the Wallop festival, many thanks for your advice on the gear required for our trip. The preparations are coming along well now, I’ll be in touch very soon to discuss further.
Thanks,
Harry
Hi,
I am originally from Australia and have been kite boarding for a number of years but have now taken a job in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert. As you would imagine the options to find a nice expanse of water are zero to none so I am looking at the options of bringing a buggy out here with me because there certainly is no shortage of wind or wide expanses of land. However there is not much in the way of sand where I am and it is mostly gravel of varying sizes. My question is, is the Bigfoot+ the recommended buggy of choice for gravel and the occassional rock. I noticed that you mentioned fitting a bellypan which I will certainly do but do any of the buggies cater for a roll-over situation (I assume you are belted in), is there something on the market to sit behind the driver to provide a bit of head/neck protection should I get it wrong. My only concern is that if I did take a tumble, I will well and truly be on my own so I would like to give myself every chance possible.
I understand that there is a requirement for a large range of movement and this may be a factor.
Cheers
Clint
Hi Clint,
The Bigfoot certainly is the buggy to tackle the rougher types of terrain.
Our buggies do not come with a rollbar or anything similar, there might be self-built buggies with something like that but it’s not standard.
You are NOT strapped in to your buggy, this is not considered safe. You might want to consider a extra wide backaxle to prevent rolling over.
Good body armour (think motorcross gear) will protect you from most crashes, and the standard advice would be to start slowly, get to know the kite & buggy and what they do in certain winds and situations before racing down the Gobi at 50Mph.
Hey,
I am really interested in learning buggy kite sport.
how difficult is it to learn? do I need training or can i begin learning through how-to videos and books?
and which do you think is the most suitable buggy for a desert climate.
cheers
Hi Phil,
We’re always happy to hear about someone wanting to get into buggying.
The best advice would be to learn how to powerkite first, and once you can fly a powerkite and understand how it works, ie. windwindow etc. you ‘re ready to try a buggy.
The best buggy for your area depends on the surface, if it’s hard and flat most buggies will do, if the sand is very loose or the terrain rough you will need bigfoot wheels.
Buggying is not hard to learn, but it is difficult to master.