Take for example the Trail Bikes 88cc bore kits, which are available from Honda Trail Bikes. While these kits are much lower priced than the competition, the performance that these kits deliver rivals or exceeds the performance of more expensive name brand kits. So how can Trail Bikes produce a kit that costs so much less than the competition you ask? To begin with, TB sells their kits “direct” which means that you can buy them directly from TB rather than having to purchase them through a middleman. This alone helps to cut the cost down tremendously which in turn means great savings for the purchaser.

Seeing that $399.00 for an 88cc kit with a Race Head and 20mm carb sounded too good to be true, I decided to order a complete Trail Bikes 88 kit to see what kind of performance it would deliver. Shortly after my order was placed, the package arrived in the mail unharmed. Each of the parts were packaged in simple white boxes with a sticker on the side to indicating which part was which. As for the parts themselves, the quality and finish of the parts looked extremely similar to the Japanese bore kits, which was not surprising seeing that a lot of Trail Bikes parts are made in the same factories. After all the parts were accounted for, I began the assembly process with the Race Head. Unlike the stock head, the Race Head contained much bigger ports as well as larger valves. The overall construction of the Race Head was very clean, as there were no rough machining marks visible. The Race Head came with everything needed such as a new high compression domed piston, cam, valves, valve springs, cam sprocket, etc. With the help of a valve spring compressor, the Race Head went together quickly with no problems at all. After the Race Head was assembled, I began to rebuild the top end with all of the parts that came with the 88cc kit. Once the piston was in place, I installed the new aluminum cylinder, which was also very well made and did not contain any burs or stray machine marks. After the cylinder was in place, the rest of the top end came together very easily.

As soon as the top end of the engine was complete, I installed the intake kit which was perfectly matched (ported) to the Race Head. The intake also included a plastic heat shield to help the carb run consistent even on the hottest of days. After the intake was bolted in place, I installed the 20mm Sheng Wey carb which came with a pod style filter. Installing the carb was very easy, and the included throttle cable attached to the carb with little effort. After the air filter was installed, I noticed that the intake angled the carb close to the bike to prevent the air filter from rubbing your leg. As soon as the install was complete, I fired up the bike and let it settle into a smooth idle; it produced a much stronger “thump” then the stock engine. After the top end was broken in and the jetting was sorted out, I did my best Bubba impersonation and proceeded to wring out the engine. Right off of idle all the way to the top end, the Trail Bikes top end pulled very hard to the point that lifting the front end was almost too easy. While coming out of slow corners, ripping the throttle open would cause the rear tire to throw a nice rainbow of roost until it was time to shift. Speaking of shifting, the amount of power that the Trail Bike bore kit produced made 1st gear absolutely worthless, so keep in mind that you will most likely need to re-gear your bike. Furthermore, the power that this kit produced was NO match for the stock tires, so plan on picking up a set of aggressive tires, unless you prefer to slide all over the place while accelerating. Also, keep in mind that you will need to keep an eye on the rear tire pressure as the Trail Bikes kit had a way of ripping valve stems right off the tube on under inflated tires.

After abusing this engine for many months with NO problems whatsoever, I have no problems recommending this bore kit to anyone. About the only downfall that I could find with this kit is that the Trail Bikes kit does not include any directions, so you will need to either pick up a shop manual or you can use the directions that are found on this site. Other than that, the amount of power that this bore kit produces is truly awesome, especially when you consider the cost involved. Yet another reason why I would have no hesitations recommending this kit is due to the fact that the owner of Trail Bikes (Mike) is one of the nicest people you will meet in the industry, and his customer satisfaction is second to none. Simply put, you can’t go wrong by upgrading your engine with Trail Bikes parts.

Dano Says: The Trail Bikes kit is as good as many of the ‘big name’ bore kits that cost much more. When it comes to the Trail Bikes bore kit, less is more, and you will NOT be disappointed. For more information, visit Honda Trail Bikes