Yes, This Is a One-Of-A-Kind KTM 450-Powered Antique Buggy

How many hours of work do you suppose went into this build?

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Dec 2, 2024 at 7:25am ET

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If you've spent any time in the past year hanging out in the motorcycle corner of the internet, you've probably seen a Matt Spears video or two by now. If he's not enduro riding his old Gold Wing, he's taking a Hayabusa to Moab just because he can.

A while back, Spears picked up an antique buggy on Facebook Marketplace (you know, as you do). We've had a small glimpse of it in a previous camping video, but it was always pretty clear that he had bigger plans in mind for the newest member of his fleet. And now, we're finally getting to see what those plans were. And are. And evermore shall be, maybe.

What's the plan? Apparently, it's taking the engine out of his KTM 450 and fabbing a frame, engine cradle, mounts, and much more to get it to power the buggy. And if you've got a whole lot of questions upon reading this written summary, don't worry; you'll probably see most (if not all) of them answered if you watch this video.

He has a buddy helping out in the workshop, as with the previous Hayabusa build. And as you might expect when you're building something that no one else has ever built before, there's a whole lot of trial and error involved with this build. At first, the gearing is all wrong, so it takes a few tries and a gear reduction setup to eventually get the 450's power flowing through the buggy in a somewhat usable, less totally terrifying way.

Oh, and of course, there's the small issue of brakes. Which weren't a part of the test run, and almost resulted in taking out a neighbor's tree. (Don't worry; people, buggy, and trees were all OK.)

That's all part of the process with any great DIY project, though. You have an idea, you try your best to make it work, and then you see what happens. And hopefully, it goes well enough that you're able to see what needs improvement and address it. With any luck, you're able to iterate in a way that works for whatever it is that you're trying to accomplish.

What do you think?

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You'll see a whole lot of that in this video, including (but not limited to): Adding brakes, adding a gas and brake foot pedal setup, experimentation with a steering wheel, lots of usage of a simple rein steering setup, and all the sketchy DIY fun your heart could possibly want.

Would you want to drive this contraption at 30 mph on public roads? Let us know in the comments.