Trail Buddy

[MATT]

I was on trail buddys' website and there stuff looked pretty good. Has anyone here owned one of their bikes, if so is it worth it? The price seems reasonable so I was just curious.

thanks for any info,
MATT

[MATT]

C'mon... Anyone?

[clubford00]

Matt, I do not own one of these bikes , but i can vouch for the company. They did alot of work on my 71CTH, Engine work new shocks (that i bought from them) and the work was top notch. Ron is a real straight shooter and i am going to buy a bike from him, maybe the new "pro" that they have so i can have something to bomb around town with and not worry about not enough power to pull out into traffic. I have seen the bikes and parts they sell and it all seems to be first rate. plus the support from them is something rare nowadays. Tell them Dean sent you in. (it wont buy you anything but at least they will know lol)

[MATT]

I live in Toronto and I'm still considering the trip. There stuff looks really good. As things are know one of there bikes is the next purchase on my list. The pro looks really cool, the 125cc must make it fly.

thanks for the info,
Matthew

[swanni06]

I just wish they would answer e-mails..man I have sent them 3-4 e-mails over the past couple weeks with no replies.

[steampick]

I'm sure they're decent bikes with tons more power than a stock CT. Who knows how long they last, though, but the trailbuddy guys are usually very good to deal with. And now they seem to be offering some parts for those engines.

I've only ever bought some seats and handlebars from trailbuddy. The seats are a good deal as several people I ride with use them (and they aint light), but the pan is not as thick a metal as the original Honda one, so sit near the front. Mind you, the new trailbuddy pan also has far less rust and cracks the most original Honda ones.

The bars they had offered were quite small (tinier than the ones on the Z50), and had small fitment issues going into the top plate. The throttle cable on them was also cheap as my brother's young son already has burned through one of them in about a month (the end knobby of the cable just broke off). They sell replacement cables for them, though why you'd buy something that may only last a month is beyond me.

[MATT]

From the sounds of it I'm better off buying a nice 1200-1500 dollar original.

[swanni06]

I believe it comes with a warranty.I too was thinking about getting one from them but not sure what shipping to canada would be.

[clubford00]

I will call Ron tomorrow and tell him to check on the emails. I know that they trailride these bikes and have had great luck with them. If you have bought something from them and it has broken, im sure if it was a defect they would have replaced it if you had asked. Like i had said in an earlier post, they are good people to deal with and will help in any way they can.

[racerx]

Originally Posted by MATT

From the sounds of it I'm better off buying a nice 1200-1500 dollar original.

It really depends on your plans. New PRC clones are dirt cheap. They can be tougher to register; going across an international border could be a can of worms. Insuring one can be tricky. A clone bike should probably be viewed as a disposable commodity. It will depreciate to nothing over time and I've yet to see one that wasn't instantly distinguishable from original Honda, especially the frames. The details are just not there. If you're just looking for something to beat to death on trails, well, cheaper might be better for the short term. On the other hand, if you're in this for the long haul, vintage Honda has some disctinct advantages, the tradeoff being higher inital cost. OEM Hondas have residual value and have long-since reached the bottom of the depreciation curve, so you'll always have a resale value at least close to what you paid, likely more in coming years. The older the bike, the more freedom you have from ever more restrictive regulations. Just having a pre `73 VIN frame can make a huge difference, especially when it comes to registration and agreed-value insurance. If plans call for holding onto the bike for years and mainly road use, a Honda-based bike or nice original makes sense. Mind you, for street use an original is grossly underpowered.