DB30 Turning radius

creia

creia

#1
#1
I performed a search on the forum, however did not find any previous threads. Pardon me if this has been discussed before....
The turning radius on the DB is like a greyhound bus! O.K., I'm exaggerting, however it is pretty bad (very wide). Has anybody performed any modifications to the the frame/forks to improve the turning radius? I noticed that the short metal pegs (stops) at the top of the upper fork bracket are limiting some additional turning of the forks. Has anybody cut these off to improve performance? Would doing so compromise safety in any way?::confused:
Thank you for any help.
 
delray

delray

Well-Known Member
#2
#2
i think the turning radius pretty good. thats with the knobby tires. only the first model had them. bike likes to roll good into a turn them on. better then the newer disign tires they use now.
 
S

supernova

Banned
#6
#6
Have you ridden many vintage minibikes? The DB is perhaps the best handling minibike I've ever owned and is quite easy to ride. I have the older model with no fork stops and one newer one with them and have never turned one that far while riding. The stops keep the forks off the frame is all I've noticed. I weave in and out of some tight spots on the trail through the woods on my lot and the DB goes like hell through there. You are the first person I know of to say anything about it but if it bothers you then lop them stops off and see if it improves.:thumbsup:
 
creia

creia

#8
#8
"Reiko 1078" nailed the essence and reason for my question! It's not so bad when you are riding, however moving the bike around (e.g., garage) results in a lot of "Y" turns or "lift and drags." I was hoping that someone had actually made the (peg/stop) "modification" and could comment on how effective it was.
As always, I appreciate ALL of the replies I received.:drinkup:
 
C

C9H13NO3

Active Member
#9
#9
When I ride on dirt and I am making a tight turn, If I can't lean into the turn enough I rapp the throttle at the peak of the turn to slide the back end. Be careful though, as I have been thrown off while doing it and it hurts.
 
Clyde

Clyde

New Member
#10
#10
Fork stops: anyone know exactly why they are needed on the DB?
On motorcycles they sometimes keep the gas tank from getting a dent by the handlebar accoutrements, or even snapping the forks in a uber-wild tight turn&pinch. But they are often mounted on the lower fork trees than welded top the head tube.

I was wondering if they are "safety" overkill on most manufactured minibikes?. OR are they really needed to be so long in width as to make it PIA to trail creep, or load the bikes in a tight spot.

I would hate to cut mine off the Puma , then find out later they actually served a higher purpose.
 
S

supernova

Banned
#11
#11
Clyde said:
Fork stops: anyone know exactly why they are needed on the DB?
On motorcycles they sometimes keep the gas tank from getting a dent by the handlebar accoutrements, or even snapping the forks in a uber-wild tight turn&pinch. But they are often mounted on the lower fork trees than welded top the head tube.

I was wondering if they are "safety" overkill on most manufactured minibikes?. OR are they really needed to be so long in width as to make it PIA to trail creep, or load the bikes in a tight spot.

I would hate to cut mine off the Puma , then find out later they actually served a higher purpose.
Click to expand...
They keep the forks from coming into contact with the frame tubes, removing them makes zero sense to me. One of my DBs has em and the other two do not. The tiny amount of room you'd gain by hacking em off isn't worth getting the paint jacked up IMO. The two older ones I have that came without em have spots on both sides of the frame from contact. I run split heater hose to protect em now. To move mine around in a tight spot I grab the brake handle and lift the front wheel then I can turn em 360 degrees. Dont hack em off is all can say, it's entirely unnecessary and does more harm than good.:doah:

That said I've seen some DBs messed up bad by do it yourself fixes, as well as some very valuble vintage stuff. Mods are fine if they make sense, this fork stop thing makes none to me but it's not my DB. To me it's one of those don't fix it if it ain't broke. And there is a reason this has never been brought up, it's never been an issue for anyone I know of.:eek:ut:
 
Clyde

Clyde

New Member
#12
#12
Supernova: you make a lot of sense!
I think the increase in front tire width is effecting my dead-stop turning radius. I measured my fork-stops versus the head tube spacing and it looks like I could trim a bit down to get more left/right swing.
But I think I will just follow your grab-brake-lift-wheel as much as possible.

As a side note: when I used to build motorcycles (old H-D Sportsters) I would "hard point" the frame tube by drilling a small hole. I would thread & insert an Aircraft grade bolt into the hole in the frame where the forks would touch it.
The forks hitting exactly on the bolt would not mess the paint OR the bondo molded into the frame.
Swift install on an already painted bike would simply be using JB-Weld around the bolt hole to "mold" it from cracking the surrounding bondo/paint, then a tad of matched touch-up paint.
 
S

supernova

Banned
#13
#13
If it can be trimmed to where the forks just stop short then I'd do it if the turning thing bugged me. Might take some searching for a touch up paint but that's no big deal. My blue one has the forks with the buttons but the frame is old and doesn't have the corresponding stop. They are a hair taller too and I had to space about 3/16", I used Arco spring lowers and cut the cups of the bent Arco forks, welded em onto the new DB forks after cutting 3" off then spun the lowers right on. What a difference some springs make!:thumbsup:

You can see my fork stops in the photo, some heater hose, works fine for a Redneck!
 
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