I’ve had my PGO buggy for 10 months now and absolutely LOVE driving it, it is perfect for the tiny island that I live on, it’s easy to work on, easy to park and on the narrow roads here I can squeeze past other traffic without falling off the side!

In those 10 months I have covered 2200km (not bad considering where I live is only 11km long and 5km wide) and really have had only a couple of problems with the buggy.

Those problems? Well most serious was the brakes, which decided to stop working at a crucial moment, the only way for me to stop being to rub a wall! That was solved with a replacement master cylinder, covered by the warranty.

Another problem was the battery, which quickly became unreliable and was finally finished off by the winter months. I have since replaced it (not covered by the warranty) with a higher amperage item and so far all is well.

My only other main complaint would be the paint, which doesn’t seem to be holding up too well. Having said that, I’m always very close to the sea so it is often quite damp here, and of course there is always salt in the air or rain.

Otherwise I only have very minor minus-comments, small things like squeaks (they drive me nuts!), split rubber gaiters and cheap switches that only half work! But they seem common to many brands of buggy and are easily and quickly sorted out.

The performance of my ‘toy’ impressed me from day one – acceleration is great, top speed is fine for me (76kmh or 45mph is the most I have seen - so far!) and it handles very well - once you learn the limits! I’m sure tyres have a lot to do with it but cornering in damp conditions needs care, although with standing water the grip seems to come back somewhat. On dry tarmac it’s great, it doesn’t seem to push wide when you accelerate out of a corner and you can manage some beautiful powerslides! I don’t really off-road that much, but on the rough tracks I do drive the suspension works very well. It does suffer from vibration quite a lot but again, this seems common to most of these buggies.

The engine has always started without a hitch and runs very well, the stock exhaust isn’t too noisy but sounds nice – a few people have been surprised when I tell them it’s only a 150cc!

The seats are comfortable and quite well padded, although some side support would be nice at times. The seatbelts aren’t that good though and I would like to replace them at some point when I have the money, you can never seem to quite get them adjusted. Legroom is just right for me (I’m 6’ tall) and the steering wheel position is fine too. With a passenger there’s not a lot of elbow room, so I only travel with good friends!

Practically it’s also very good, I’ve carried way over the recommended weight on the rack with no problems and it’s surprising how much you can load onto the passenger seat! I’m just on the lookout for some kind of waterproof bag that I can fit somewhere, because sometimes when my wife uses the buggy she needs to carry a clipboard and papers with her – as it is, they blow about all over the place.

Overall I’m really very happy with the Bugxter, it never fails to turn heads (especially during the summer tourist season!) and it’s just great fun to drive. I’m sure one day I will have had enough of getting cold and wet in the winter, but until then I have no plans to buy a ‘real’ car!

Regards
Grahame

Sounds like you have a fine machine, there. Is that the same as the twister/hammerhead, or Carter Talon? Next time (hope there wont be one) the brakes fail grab that park brake...it's mechanical!! LOL

Hiya

As far as I can tell the Bugxter is pretty much the same as the Hammerhead, but it seems the more places I look the more variations I see!

Hmm, yeah - the parking break.. I wish I'd thought of that at the time too!

G

Great review I wish they would let us ride our buggys on the streets here in the U.S it would save me alot of gas money for sure.

Jeff

Great review!

I'm also wishing I could drive my buggy to work to save gas. I can drive all the way on trails and dirt roads only touching pavement to cross the roads. It would take quite a while vs. a ten minute drive in the car but would save a heck of a lot of gas. Only problem is I get done at 2:45am and I'm not too keen on driving the trails at night in case of a break down or an accident. Of course at night I might just risk driving the roads to get home, I never see any cops at night anyway. But I'm sure the first time I try it there they'd be.

Jamie

i'd like to ride the dazons i have now on the road. was wanting to ride down to the river near me. bout 2 miles away. i live in a very rural area, but, the county sheriffs deputies are always around. so the wife says NO!!! oh, it would be safe, but the ticket would probably cost and the dazons arent mine and hate to have them impounded... ouch... so, i stay around here till i load them up in the truck.

I sneak out on the road with mine every once and a while. When mine was stock it was clocked at 42mph on level ground and 54mph down a fairly steep hill. I don't think I would drive it 6.5 miles to work ever but if gas hits 5bucks a gallon....................I might have to rethink it

Yeah Gas prices hit 7.50 a gallon over here this week, been driven my Bugrider to work the last two weeks, even when its 35 degrees outside....Burrrr.

OUCH !!!! 7.50 a gallon. how do you guys do it. we'd be lynching from oil people here. probably should be doing that anyway.

Its a toss up between lynching oil XOs and politicians for letting it go this far. But its created a real boom for ATVs as basic tranportation....