anyone ever run an MX front end?

Hillchop · Full Member Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 108 Location: 604

got an older MX front end with a drum braked 21" that i really want to run...just wondering if anyone has any experience or advice on the topic...axle thickness being sufficient for a full size bike, brake being of any use under that weight etc....any info would be greatly appreciated!

Joe

xsjohn

If you are talking about the small Conical Hub on the street ....did it for 65 thousand miles.....barely stopped my skinny ass on a 260 lb RTI Yamaha at highway speeds....lucky I wasn't killed..........looks decent though...

xsjohn

Hillchop · Full Member Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 108 Location: 604

haha thanks for the heads up...thats the kind of advice i was looking for Laughing

no BS...

this is the wheel i'm thinking of running...is it similar to the one you ran on your RTI? i've heard drum in the front is borderline useless, but i thought better it than nothing as going disc up front was something i was trying to avoid...thanks again

Hillchop · Full Member Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 108 Location: 604

drum side

Hillchop · Full Member Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 108 Location: 604

pic of the forks in question...skinny as hell...i love it! Twisted Evil

NateDogg

Im running something very similar on the front of mine, off an old KDX, I haven't hooked up the front brake so I can't say anything in that regard, but everything else seems ok. My friend is runnin legs off an old husky with the husky front wheel, that's also working quite well and you get the effect of an overlength fork

Hillchop · Full Member Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 108 Location: 604

NateDogg wrote:

Im running something very similar on the front of mine, off an old KDX, I haven't hooked up the front brake so I can't say anything in that regard, but everything else seems ok. My friend is runnin legs off an old husky with the husky front wheel, that's also working quite well and you get the effect of an overlength fork

thanks for the reply natedogg....i guess most of my curiosity lied in the axle diameter and it being thick enough to handle a 650....the bastard just looks so freakin skinny...for the brake, i've heard drum up front is more of a "better than nothing" type situation...disc was sort of a last resort for me so this was an awesome option imo...any pics of your or your bro's front ends? thanks again

metalredneck · Full Member Joined: Aug 04, 2008 Posts: 308

I'm sure it will look cool, and the axle will take it, but you won't stop for s***. Those brakes are more of a psychological enhancement than a working device.

jayel

a good drum (expanding shoe) brake can work quite well IF it is matched to the weight of what you are trying stop, the KDX brake was made for a 235lb. (107kg) machine the XS is somewhere around 500lb. (227kg) even if you strip the XS down I doubt you will get it down to the KDX's weight, so will the brake work? yes but don't plan on doing any stoppies,

yamaman

Drum brakes can be quite effective (the one your showing looks fairly useless to me though) Drums like off the early TZ's were as good as some modern discs. They were 4 leading shoe and would cost a packet if you could find one! If I was to run a drum up front I'd at least go for a 2LS set up. They can, with good set up, be a good efficient brake.
Sorry, I just dont get the idea that a good brake can look bad! Front brake is the one to pull you out of the s***, for sure. But to each his own and if you end up running a bicycle brake, I wish you well!
Cheers

metalredneck · Full Member Joined: Aug 04, 2008 Posts: 308

In the dirt, the back brake is your bread & butter, and the front is not used near as much. Opposite case on the blacktop. The companies know this, and built the bikes accordingly. If I was using a dirt front end, I'd go whole hog & get a modern one with a disc.

yamaman

metalredneck wrote:

In the dirt, the back brake is your bread & butter, and the front is not used near as much. Opposite case on the blacktop. The companies know this, and built the bikes accordingly. If I was using a dirt front end, I'd go whole hog & get a modern one with a disc.

Depends how you ride I guess. I've done a fair bit of dirt and I like a fair bit of front brake in it! Thats why they put discs on the front way before they worried about the rear. So I don't quite get what your saying there?
Anyway, it's road bikes we are talking here, so heres a pic of my fave drum set up:

victorylibrary.com/gra...s/tz12.jpg

yamaman

Like this metalredneck:

www.yamaha-motor.hu/de...243049.jpg

metalredneck · Full Member Joined: Aug 04, 2008 Posts: 308

Or even a newer KTM set-up with a wave rotor. (I can suggest this, because I am not buying.) Most of my dirt riding was in mud & sand, so I left the front alone. (Mostly.) When that Alberta clay gets wet, it's just like snot on a doorknob.

metalredneck · Full Member Joined: Aug 04, 2008 Posts: 308

If you want the last word in all show & no stop front brakes, check out the Chopper Stopper:
www.choppersurplus.com.../drum.html
A friend of mine had one of these on a big springered CB 750. Totally unrideable, but cool as the dogs bollocks.

JeffM

From the listing for the chopperstopper;
'Note: Mini brake provides only minimal stopping power.'
- might as well run a spool if looks are the priority.

I haven't spent any time in the dirt, but on the street I use the the front brake almost exclusively for stopping, the back brake is more for balancing braking forces and settling down the chassis. The back is handy in the rain too. The back brake is not effective enough on these bikes to be your only stopper in my opinion.

No doubt that skinny front end looks great but please consider a disc, you'll need it in Vancouver! It doesn't take away from the looks... in my eye it makes it look like the bike gets ridden hard which is always cool.

xsleo

some states require a front brake. lots of choppers got built with a dirt bike front brake setup just for this reason. the dirt bikes use a very small hub and brake. very minimalist.

Hillchop · Full Member Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 108 Location: 604

thanks for the all the input fellas! definitely good to hear everyones feedback...

JeffM - good to see another BC head in here...i'm an ex-tsawwassen local freshly relocated to mission, so i'm a back road kinda guy...hopefully i'll never have to really be in the thick of traffic / downtown gridiron, but i'll probably never completely rule out the possibilty of disc...i have some more front ends and enough parts to throw a single disc setup together, it'll more than likely get run one of these days...

JeffM

Grew up in Vancouver... I go back for family and business fairly often.

Lots of nice backroads and farmroads in the valley to explore.

Is the brown sticker on the fork an old safety inspection decal? It's been a while since we've needed those in BC.

royfisk

go for it, I put a yz-125 forks on a xs chopper. worked good, It was a disc type brake, but for choppers, bobbers, back in the day there was alot of chops built on spool hub wheels. (NO BRAKE). As for strong enough. Yea they are, think about it I doubt you will ever launch it off of a 30 ft drop and create the pounding effect that a motocross bike puts the front end through. You gain fork travel as well.

Hillchop · Full Member Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 108 Location: 604

JeffM wrote:

Grew up in Vancouver... I go back for family and business fairly often.

Lots of nice backroads and farmroads in the valley to explore.

Is the brown sticker on the fork an old safety inspection decal? It's been a while since we've needed those in BC.

good eye! yep its an oldy...expired 1982...the club member i bought the front end off of decided it was too awesome to cover up so he masked it off when he layed the semi-gloss on the stantions..i didn't disagree Cool

chalk it up to patina

Hillchop · Full Member Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 108 Location: 604

royfisk wrote:

go for it, I put a yz-125 forks on a xs chopper. worked good, It was a disc type brake, but for choppers, bobbers, back in the day there was alot of chops built on spool hub wheels. (NO BRAKE). As for strong enough. Yea they are, think about it I doubt you will ever launch it off of a 30 ft drop and create the pounding effect that a motocross bike puts the front end through. You gain fork travel as well.

good points...thats kinda the feeling i had as well...although i'm wondering if the constant over-weight factor might be a bit much on the bearings etc as opposed to the once in a while abuse they were designed for?? f@ck it...only one way to find out Twisted Evil

xsleo

just keep an eye on the spokes and bearings, you should be good to go.

Hillchop · Full Member Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 108 Location: 604

xsleo wrote:

just keep an eye on the spokes and bearings, you should be good to go.

will do xsleo...this bike will mostly be a beer store putter until i work out the kinks, so i should be able to keep an eye on things of that nature before they get out of hand or become potentially dangerous...

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