What NOT to buy

In an effort to save people the hassle of buying things twice or stuff that don't work as well as we might have expected. I wanted to compose a list of things to watch out for and not buy just because we can only afford the cheap stuff at the moment.

I know that many times we are told to be wise and saving a few bucks here and there will help you out in the long run. But many here also know that while trying to save a few buck$ you could also be sacrificing quality and durability.

"You get what you pay for"

The outcome will be having to buy a replacement that works to replace the cheap item you purchased in the first place and having wasted $$ on the first item you purchased you are now in the whole even deeper.

It's better to save up so you can get a quality item.


Please feel free to add to the list of stupid, cheap, no good stuff, that you have tried and Er with in the past.

I'll start ( that way no one can feel dumb before me)

1) I once bought a cheap knock off "Brembo" Master Cylinder for $65 shipped. What a great deal I thought. I saved over $200 for a real Brembo MC. NOT SO FAST! That thing could not build pressure and had more air leaks than I could count, finally the unit gave up. Imagine pumping your front brakes as you ride. Not SAFE at all.

Don't buy cheap Master Cylinders to save a few bucks.

2) I purchased a set of CAFE bar end mirrors off ebay, for $30 shipped. Man they made my bike look good with the chrome and all.

The first bump on those mirrors and they would slip inside the handlebars and I could not get the thing tight in there, They were made of cheap metal and even after trying to fix the inside clamping system they would not hold on to the bars. I later saw that the more expensive (higher quality) bar end mirrors have a rubber piece that expands against the inside of the handle bar as you tighten the mounting bolt, preventing slippage. The cheap one was all metal (and cheap at that) and could not get a grip inside the bar. Also, the mirror allen bolt started to rust in less than two months.

Now, Now, I'm not knocking Ebay. Sometimes you do find some good deals there, but if you don't and get frustrated, please add it to this list.

 

I bought a cheap gear puller from Canadian Tire to pull the rotor off my '73 TX500. I hooked the three arms over the rotor, started to tighten down the centre bolt and watched in extreme annoyance as the three arms bent out until they lost contact with the rotor. No more cheap C.T tools for me.

 

Ebay.
Bought a Compression Tester.
12 bucks. Came with a case, 14 and 12mm adapters, extension hose and gauge.
Thing was definatly homemade, and sucked a fat one. Didnt have any recognizeable numbers on it, and wouldnt hold air.
Sucks.
The adapters and extension hoses work great with other gauge heads though.
-SLK

 

Is that the one that keeps coming up for $0.77 plus shipping??

I bought a pack of 5 valve cover gaskets for XJ 650's for $18.00.
Fits NON YICS motors. They are paper, not rubber. (oops).

 

Yep. Same one. Stupid me

 

I bought a master cylinder rebuild kit on ebay from SCI. After installation,the master cylinder leaked like a cow urinating on a flat rock.

 

I bought this...



Wasn't happy with it at all! :x

 

Oh my jesus..