PW80 VS Chinese forks for DB30?

Baja_brandon96

Baja_brandon96

New Member
#1
#1
I just got these forks for my Db30, they are supposed to slide over the stock fork arms easily.

NEW FRONT FORKS SHOCK SUPER DIRT MINI BIKE 47cc 49cc 2 STROKE QG-50 I FK08 | eBay

The only thing is they are pretty stiff, I wanted something super soft.

For the same price, will yamaha PW80 fork arms work the same in terms of mounting easily to the old fork arms?
The forks on my PW80 seem alot softer, but im not about to take it apart to compare.
 
W

WLB

Active Member
#3
#3
Angelo, do you think either of those fork options would be suitable for a big heavy trail bike?

Looks like some serious equipment behind your bike. are you making a minibike track?
 
Charles S

Charles S

#4
#4
WLB said:
Angelo, do you think either of those fork options would be suitable for a big heavy trail bike?

Looks like some serious equipment behind your bike. are you making a minibike track?
Click to expand...
I can tell you that the QG-50 units would not be suitable; they are extremely light duty. I bought a pair a few months ago ($27 on eBay at the time) to use on my Coleman CT100U. I haven't done anything with them because I don't trust them. The "tubing" is rolled & welded sheet metal, around .05" thick. I didn't check the specs of the QG-50 until after seeing the forks (Duh!); the bike weighs 40 lbs!

Coolster 50cc Dirt Bike
 
Raskin

Raskin

#5
#5
Well all i know is the shocks worked for me..i been doing wheelies and hops over little rises and stuff and they move on street rides so they do dampen the ride some..they show no signs of any issues :shrug: i also prefer the bike seat clamp mount coz if you ever need to change them..are they perfect..no..i wouldn't do extreme offroad with them.. the travel is not built for it
 
Charles S

Charles S

#6
#6
Raskin said:
Well all i know is the shocks worked for me..i been doing wheelies and hops over little rises and stuff and they move on street rides so they do dampen the ride some..they show no signs of any issues :shrug: i also prefer the bike seat clamp mount coz if you ever need to change them..are they perfect..no..i wouldn't do extreme offroad with them.. the travel is not built for it
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've been waiting while you test them, Raskin! :wink:
 
FOMOGO

FOMOGO

#7
#7
[MENTION=54903]Raskin[/MENTION] If I remember your post didn't you leave the stock fork legs long so that they fully supported the new pieces? It seems like that would make a solid fork arrangement by doing that.

Doug
 
Raskin

Raskin

#8
#8
FOMOGO said:
[MENTION=54903]Raskin[/MENTION] If I remember your post didn't you leave the stock fork legs long so that they fully supported the new pieces? It seems like that would make a solid fork arrangement by doing that.

Doug
Click to expand...
Yep..i left like 6-8" of fork for strength
 
Charles S

Charles S

#9
#9
FOMOGO said:
[MENTION=54903]Raskin[/MENTION] If I remember your post didn't you leave the stock fork legs long so that they fully supported the new pieces? It seems like that would make a solid fork arrangement by doing that.

Doug
Click to expand...
Good point, Doug. He did slide the QG-50 tubes over the stock fork tubing. I think I'll do some measuring to determine where to cut the stock forks on my Coleman to get maximum insertion into the QG-50 tubes and give it a shot. Looks like the 7/8" tubing can extend around 3.75" into the slider (fork lower); spring is inside of QG-50 tube, plastic bushing(s) between tube and slider. First, I need to determine where to cut the QG-50 tubes; I want to extend the forks by a few inches since I'm replacing the stock wheel/tire with an X7 pocket bike wheel/tire which has a smaller OD, and to allow for suspension sag and travel. Probably would be okay for my tiny Coleman, but I still say they would not be suitable for a "big heavy trail bike" which WLB asked about.
 
FOMOGO

FOMOGO

#10
#10
Charles S said:
Good point, Doug. He did slide the QG-50 tubes over the stock fork tubing. I think I'll do some measuring to determine where to cut the stock forks on my Coleman to get maximum insertion into the QG-50 tubes and give it a shot. Looks like the 7/8" tubing can extend around 3.75" into the slider (fork lower); spring is inside of QG-50 tube, plastic bushing(s) between tube and slider. First, I need to determine where to cut the QG-50 tubes; I want to extend the forks by a few inches since I'm replacing the stock wheel/tire with an X7 pocket bike wheel/tire which has a smaller OD, and to allow for suspension sag and travel. Probably would be okay for my tiny Coleman, but I still say they would not be suitable for a "big heavy trail bike" which WLB asked about.
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Charles, you can take a cut off wheel and grind a slight relief down the back side of the fork tube so that the welded seam will follow it and not deform the tube. I think I would at least do it where the tube has movement from the suspension travel. Just to keep it round...

Doug
 
FOMOGO

FOMOGO

#11
#11
chipper said:
PW-80 forks are softer , I have them on a few mini's but you'll need to get trees made or fabricate your own !
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I have a set of the PW-80 forks sitting on the shelf but have not even looked at them yet really... Do you think that they could be shortend at the top to make them more proportional to what we use them on?

I have never taken a Motorcycle fork apart so I have no clue as to what one would encounter. It seems simple enough to just shorten them but it probably is a real problem if they are threaded...

I wanted to shorten the shaft on a trolling motor for my John Boat and discovered that it had 100 threads per inch on an 1 1/4'' diameter shaft. Just wasn't worth the effort.

Doug
 
Baja_brandon96

Baja_brandon96

New Member
#12
#12
Raskin said:
Well all i know is the shocks worked for me..i been doing wheelies and hops over little rises and stuff and they move on street rides so they do dampen the ride some..they show no signs of any issues :shrug: i also prefer the bike seat clamp mount coz if you ever need to change them..are they perfect..no..i wouldn't do extreme offroad with them.. the travel is not built for it
Click to expand...
Can you elaborate and show some pics of the "seat post clamp" arrangement?
 
Raskin

Raskin

#13
#13
Baja_brandon96 said:
Can you elaborate and show some pics of the "seat post clamp" arrangement?
Click to expand...
IMG_20170930_212431.jpg ..cut the fork ,slide the 1" seat clamp on,push and twist the tube of the shock over it ..you may have to use a rubber malet at the end ..that's basically it..i left mine long for tests and this winter when i get time I'm going to make them shorter..about only one inch longer from axel to top will give enough for compression..i went with almost three and it's too much..the clamps come in black too
 
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Baja_brandon96

Baja_brandon96

New Member
#14
#14
Raskin said:
View attachment 100258 ..cut the fork ,slide the 1" seat clamp on,push and twist the tube of the shock over it ..you may have to use a rubber malet at the end ..that's basically it..i left mine long for tests and this winter when i get time I'm going to make them shorter..about only one inch longer from axel to top will give enough for compression..i went with almost three and it's too much..the clamps come in black too
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How is the clamp able to compress the steel tube? Or is the whole shock just held on by friction?
 
Raskin

Raskin

#15
#15
The shock tubes will skin the paint off the fork tubes when you put them on they are so tight.Those clamps will compress the tube enough to hold them on...you will have to wrestle them off to remove them..
 
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Charles S

Charles S

#16
#16
Baja_brandon96 said:
How is the clamp able to compress the steel tube? Or is the whole shock just held on by friction?
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If you felt the need, you could slit the end of the outer tube, but it shouldn't take much to compress that .05" thick Chinese steel. If you want something stronger than bicycle seat clamps, you could use 25mm clamping collars. If your QG-50 tubes are identical to mine, the 7/8" tubing of the stock fork can be inserted rather far (use a flashlight to see inside; use a tape measure to check depth) so they're not going to come off easily. Yours may not be identical to mine, but the 7/8" tube could be inserted approximately to the red line in image below with the ones I have. I plan to remove the paint and wipe the 7/8" tubes down with synthetic oil to make it easier inserting it that far. I recommend using Eezox, or other rust preventative, on that Chinese chrome and the bare cut end; at the least, wipe it down with oil, occasionally. Pull up the dust seal to treat that area.

670676001_o.jpg
 
Baja_brandon96

Baja_brandon96

New Member
#17
#17
Charles S said:
If you felt the need, you could slit the end of the outer tube, but it shouldn't take much to compress that .05" thick Chinese steel. If you want something stronger than bicycle seat clamps, you could use 25mm clamping collars. If your QG-50 tubes are identical to mine, the 7/8" tubing of the stock fork can be inserted rather far (use a flashlight to see inside; use a tape measure to check depth) so they're not going to come off easily. Yours may not be identical to mine, but the 7/8" tube could be inserted approximately to the red line in image below with the ones I have. I plan to remove the paint and wipe the 7/8" tubes down with synthetic oil to make it easier inserting it that far. I recommend using Eezox, or other rust preventative, on that Chinese chrome and the bare cut end; at the least, wipe it down with oil, occasionally. Pull up the dust seal to treat that area.

View attachment 100267
Click to expand...

Good tips! I'll try that before i commit to welding them on.
 
chipper

chipper

#18
#18
[MENTION=53722]FOMOGO[/MENTION] , the Yamaha forks are threaded at the top , I copied jdogg's design and made a 3 section tree to handle the length , no problem , I've also put them on a Murray and there were perfect length for those , I used a set lscustom trees for those .
 
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