Intro
I wanted to write my review of my new 2007 Hammerhead 250SS after I had a few months for the complete experience – buying, driving it for the first time w/out mod’s, modding it out, mistakes I made & the first off-road ride. I’ve taken some pictures to go along with my review and will have videos the next time I take it out.

Background
I grew up riding a mini-bike my grandfather rebuilt for my older brother and when I turned 9, I would be allowed to ride. Once we outgrew that we got a Honda Odessy, which we loved but kind of sucked with no suspension. My brother talked me into taking it over a jump and when I landed, the big balloon tires bounced me end of front for my first flip. We then got dirt bikes – he got a Susuki DR250S and I got a Yamaha YZ80 and boy did that little thing scream. Once I outgrew that, I moved up to a Susuki DR250 (mine wasn’t street legal). I loved dirt bikes but weren’t as much fun in the snow and mud and some of my buddies all had quads, so I bought a Yamaha Warrior that I absolutely loved.

I started out in Dec. 19, 2006 when I joined BuggyNews.com as Nautiqeman to find out about buggies, I missed my Oddesy and thought this would be a great chance to get something similar along with being part of a growing community. Being in the web development/management industry as an owner, I looked around for different online communities and liked BN the best, so I joined. I found the members VERY helpful and friendly. I ended up getting married and having a kid, so selling my Warrior to get a buggy was put on hold – fast forward to late fall of 2008 when I came back to BN.

Buying experience
I started out again buy asking questions to the members & dealers to figure out what the best fit would be for me. Living in the Cincinnati, OH area there weren’t many dealers – the ones that were around here weren’t true buggy/atv/off-road dealers – they were mechanics or auto part stores that happened to sell buggies too. So I was going to rely on the information I got from BN’s members. After about a month or two of asking BIGE about a half a million questions, I was pretty much sold on a Carter – the Carter and Hammerhead ended up being my 2 favorite buggies. I liked the way they looked, the reviews they had gotten, and the videos I watched. Then I came across an ebay listing for a 2007 Hammerhead 250SS from a dealer that sold scooters up in Manteno, IL for $2800. Ebay motors gives you the ability to submit an offer, my first was for like $2200 and it was rejected right away, so it wasn’t high enough for the seller to be notified. So I then submitted an offer of $2400, I didn’t get a rejection notice right away so it was high enough to go through. After about an hour or two I got a confirmation from ebay saying the seller accepted. I was a little apprehensive about buying a buggy without being able to physically see and touch it. I traded emails with the dealership with questions and a few phone calls, Art from Kirkpatricks Autoworld was great. It took me a few weeks to go pick it up, I had to sell my 4x8 trailer to buy a 5x8 trailer for the buggy to fit. Art was great about holding on to the buggy until I was able to get up there. So finally after three weeks, I was able to leave after work on a Friday – drive 4.5 hours to a hotel in Manteno, IL. The next morning I got up and went to the dealership to pick my buggy. I looked it over and was pretty happy with the condition, nothing that I could see was wrong – took it for a test drive up and down the street and everything seemed to work. I signed the paperwork, loaded it up and headed home.

First test drive (at dealership & at home)
When I got it home I took it for a few more spins up and down the streets. It was fun to drive but didn’t quite have the power I was hoping. Keep in mind I was use to being on a 350 Warrior that would absolutely scream. So I started talking to BIGE about what I needed to buy from him.

Mod’s to Buggy
White main spring – 11 gram rollers – UNI air filter – Hammerhead Exhaust – jets in carb. From a performance stand point, that made a huge difference. I love the loudness and sound from the exhaust, not to mention the power.

TrailTech Vapor digital gauge
http://trailtech.net/utv_vapor_kits.html

ATC3K Action Camera
http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/p ... 14&pid=923

I love the Vapor because it tells me speed, RPM’s, distance, outside temp, ride times and even a stop watch. devilville it even tells you when to shift and a warning for the highest RPM you want to hit. I haven’t had the chance to use the ATC3K camera yet, I just mounted it last night. The Vapor I ordered was for an ATV, so the wiring was way too short. I bought security camera wiring to extend the wires – which was a good idea because it has a protective sheathing that should help the wires last forever.

I removed the speakers since one of them didn't work that well and I use in-ear's to listen to an MP3 player - I might add speakers in the future. I also removed the padding on the uprights of the cage. I've been thinking about putting pipe foam and wrap them with electric tape for the upgrights and the sides (where the pads are still there).

Mistakes made / Problems
I stripped a few bolts that I had to replace. I have learned a lot about the CVT – along with the rest of the buggy. I stripped 3 screws, the 2 rear ones that hold the rack. I went and bought longer bolts to put nuts on the end. The welded nut is what stripped so instated of trying to remove those, a longer bolt with new nut would be easier to fix, and it was. The other nut I stripped was for one of the rear fender mounts. I’ll probably buy a tap kit to fix that.

After this first season, I’ll probably tear the cart down to repaint the entire body. As you can see in the pictures, the entire underside had surface rust. There are also lots of sports around the cart that have little bits of surface rust – I’m going to probably sand all the spots I can find down over the next few months and hit with touch-up spray paint. If I can do that for the entire cart, that would save me a ton of time from having to tear it all apart to paint the frame.

There’s another picture where you can see the CTV cover and a small gash in it from the suspension. I’m guessing it was from a very hard landing. I haven’t noticed any issues with it being out of align that would be from something being bent .

First off-road test
Wow. I didn’t go anywhere impressive, just somewhere down the road from me that had some hills and open field. The ride was more smooth than I expected, but my Odessy had no suspension so everything was rough. There were times I braced myself at 35+ mph when I was going to hit a bump or drop into a rut and it was just smooooth.

Conclusion
I’m hooked – not only on my buggy but this community. This is like a drug and I’m Kurt Cobain – only with a happy ending. My priority is to help grow this hobby, industry, and BN. There is nothing but room to grow and I plan on doing what I can to help make it happen.

I do plan on buying a Carter from BIGE still – I might go with a single seater that I can soup up and then have the best of both worlds.

Here are some pictures to go along with the story. I'll have some video to post when I take the buggy out again, now that I have my camera mounted. I'll also take some pictures in the daylight.

Here's a link to the headphones I use:
http://www.ultimateears.com/_ultimateea ... iption.php


Next to buy is a helmet to replace my moto helmet. I have one picked out from www.HelmetCountry.com
http://www.helmetcountry.com/index.php? ... uct_id=256
I'll be getting the smoked and mirror visors to go with it.

Nice review. The buggy looks nice. I'm surprised you have a bare bottom. I've had my buggy for over 2 years and there are basically no bare spots on the underside. Though there is surface rust on areas that have been rubbed hard.

Really liked the review. I'm thinking about getting a hh2150ss like yours. If you were starting over would you still go w/ the hh 250ss, or would you recomend going another direction?