The PTW Dominator 4
Much has changed since I made my last buggy the PTW Superbug 2 for myself and the PTW Maloo, I was made redundant in December 09, as well as obviously losing my income, I have also lost the place where I made many of the components for buggies, the machinery ie ban saws, notchers, plate benders, radial drill and space etc etc.
While out with the SB2 the last time, I met up with Phil, the owner of the original Dominator, seeing that buggy again made me realize just how awesome that buggy is, and I must have one again.
This will be a two in one buggy, primarily, it will be the full blown Dominator, it will also have two front ends, one for Eurotrax wheel, and another front end so the whole buggy can run on midi’s or barrows.
First thing on my mind was….can that buggy have any improvement, can that buggy get any better. Well, in all honesty not a lot. The thing I love most about that buggy apart from running perfectly was, it didn’t matter which angle you stood around that buggy, it still looks great. Most of the racing scene now have buggies either made by Ruudje in Holland or Trikbits in the UK, and over the last two years the development of the side rails has changed, the rails taper in at the front and are higher around the thigh area, and also wider at that point to allow for leg movement, what both these Buggy makers do though, is have their side rails CNC bent on a robotic machine. My challenge would be to make the perfect side rails for me in the same style…..by hand and a hydraulic bender. I also wanted the bottom rail second bend from the front to be much closer together, there would also be two extra bracings between the three rails at the rear end, apart from that, at first glance you would think it was the same as the others.
Finally on the last meet at Bolton Le Sands, we were discussing how to pimp our rides even more than the normal PTW bling, well spinners were mentioned, and so I have set out on this buggy to add high polished spinners on each wheel.
To start with, as this is such a different cock pit to what I am used to I am using my old Chameleon seat….for two reasons:-
- It will take a lot of working out making a new seat from the buggybag man as I want the seat fixing in totally different positions to a normal race seat
- The Chameleon seat fixes on the bottom rail on the front two strap of each side, this is exactly what I am after, because if the second strap went to the top rail, it would hinder the thigh fitting inside the front top rail curved thigh area.
Jon at WWW.Buggybags.co.uk has in fact made the perfect seat again, as well as the side rail and back rest covers and Neil at WWW.Darkskykites.com has made the side and rear boards and decals.
Ok, I have made the smaller front end up to run on barrows/midi’s….almost finished now, just waiting for the finishing touches.
Huge thanks go out to Buggybags and DSK for putting this finishing touches to my buggy.