Thread: Trail Buddy Disc Brake Front End

Has anybody had any experience with the disc brake front end assembly that Trail Buddy sells? I assumed that they are standard equipment pieces from the Chinese bikes. What kind of quality is this stuff? How are the forks compared to stockers (say from a K1)? Thanks for any input!

Yes, those forks are from chinese bikes. Lifan's more likely. Jeff from Minigunz's just installed a set on a softail Z was real happy with them for the street. Much better than stock Z50R forks.

Welcome Razzo the planetminitrail noob.

I'm anxious to see somebody actually run this front end and disc setup.

I'm kinda torn between this and a Honda Nice front end. I know the Honda is going to probably be better, but by how much?

The chinese front ends suck butt in stock form compared to the aftermarket or nice front ends. They (Chinese front ends) need to be filled with 90wt gear oil (seriously) to get them close to being stiff enough and give average rebound for the average adult.

I had a set of these to test, didn't like them and sold them. I also have a set of similar Z50 forks and it took alot of work to make them liveable at high speeds and for large bumps (potholes).

Replace the rubber lines with stainless braided hose and the brakes themselves will be 100X better then with the rubber line that comes with the forks. This alone will firm up the brake 100X over.

In my opinion, the brakes are fine after you install a better brake line, but the suspension itself isn't adequate for a bike with a motor capable of going faster then 55mph. For up to an 88, if budget is a concern, go for it.

With that said, anything is better then the stock sprung CT70 or Z50 front end from a suspension or brake standpoint.

Buy what you can afford and run what you brung.

I have a chinese set of forks on my CT70 with the disc brake.

Here is what I think of the performance of them.
1. They were very difficult to get setup with the proper amount of spring/cushion with the oil. You have to remove them from the tree to fill/empty them, which sucks bad.
2. They are definitely better than the stock forks, unless you compare them to the 1980-81 and the 1991-94 forks.
3. The brake is better than the drum, no doubt about it.
4. The axle, is actually 10mm in case you didn't know. I drilled my forks out and replaced teh bearings with ntn and used the standard 12mm axle.
5. The legs are bigger than the honda trees, so you have to have the trees bored out

I've been running these forks for over 1000 miles and they are way better than what I previously had. I think replacing the line is something I will eventually do as I run the rubber line. Trailbuddy sells em for too much though, seeing I got mine on ebay for $120 shipped. Don't kid yourself...trailbuddy is selling the same stuff you can get on ebay or from china and thailand.

If your budget is small, K1(`72) - `79 CT70 forks are better than most give them credit for being...with a little help. They should first be disassembled, thoroughly cleaned, then reassembled using new seals and heavier-than-stock springs, then fine-tuned with 15 or 20W fork oil. Done right, you'll get close to Honda Nice fork shocks. Unfortunately, you'll still have the stock drum brakes which are okay up to about 50mph, marginal at 55mph and useless above that speed. With Nice forks, you get better shock action, but it depends on how they're setup. Stock length is 60mm too long for a CT70 and there's more than one way to make them fit. In stock form, they're a lot better than anything else anywhere close to the price. If the shortening is not done right, you lose suspension travel, which reduces their effectiveness back to OEM CT70 levels. The biggest advantage of using the Honda fork legs is that it's the least expensive way to get a 220mm/twin piston caliper disc brake. That's about the limit with a 10-inch wheel. There are other disc brake setups with more cachet/bling/cool factor, but the stopping power is a good as it gets - a lot of bang for the buck. As with OEM Honda stuff in general, it's usually not the prettiest or the cheapest, but neither is it the most expensive and quality is never an issue.

How much would one expect to spend on a Honda Nice front end?

How about kx60 forks,and just have a top plate made so you can slide the fork up a little to adjust length. There easy to get and have a disc brake set up. Alls you would need is a new hub and rotor

I've never looked at a KX60 front end so I don't know how they compare to a CT front end as far as steering stem and width of triples, etc.

Could potentially be an interesting swap.