Worst Piece of Gear You Ever Bought

[gfloyd2002]

Time to confess. We've all made bad purchases at some point in our lives. Either a badly designed or manufactured product, something horrible looking, something WAY too expensive for what you got or something that was crap for safety. Even better, something that was all five. Post your gear mistakes here. Points awarded for the most spectactularly failed gear purchase.

Here is mine: Alpinestars Parlor Boots. I thought, hey, I can wear those to the office on my commute and it will ensure that I am ATGATT, and no one will know I'm wearing a motorcycle boot! Well, I'm an idiot. They have almost no protective value, probably less than a pair of high tops. And after a month of wearing them, they started to fall apart, with the glue holding the upper to the sole disappearing. They are really uncomfortable, a tad too small in the toebox but somehow they once actually fell off when I clumsily tripped. They have little chance of staying on in a crash. Cost $175. The Parlor is just a terribly, terrifically, spectacularly bad piece of motorcycle gear for a bad price. Lesson learned - wear a real boot and change at the office.

[n_aditya]

I bought a pair of locally available knee guards from a company here called Cramster. Fondly referred to as Crapster in my riding group, these knee guards gave in on the first use itself.

The rivets on the side popped out when i knelt to take a picture from my digicam.

Flashback... I have a riding jacket (with armor) from the same company and although the finish is not great, the jacket is just acceptable. I had to get an exchange on the jacket as it started tearing within a weeks use. The replacement jacket has lousy velcro straps but otherwise is just OK.

I wanted to go for the Alpinestars Boinic Knee guards but for a little over US$ 100 i was skeptical (its a small packet of money here ).

These Crapster knee guards cost me around US $ 30 and i knew that if it went kaput i could chuck them and go with A* considering 30 USD was not a big deal.

After they gave way, i went back to the store and got a refund after some argument and picked up the A*'s immediately. I am happy with the A* knee guards but the velcro is showing signs of weakness after almost 8 months of use. The straps come undone but not an issue to fix. I can buy a velcro strip for a dollar and fix the issue

BTW, here is a link to the crapster knee guards - http://www.outdoortravelgear.com/pro...rs/55/142.aspx

[SSR]

For me it'd have to be the Icon Stryker knee pads. Extremely expensive compared to other knee pads and it failed pretty badly when you try to put a normal pair of pants over top (street riding. They'd be great for the track). And it arrived broken, so I was able to send it back after doing a review of it.

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=68385

[Luxodave]

Icon Field Armor shorts. No real protection at all and they are sized way too big.

http://www.amazon.com/Icon-field-Arm.../dp/B002LKIGG2

[Racer x]

I WON a leather motorcycle jacket at a bike show. It had hard elbow pads. The jacket fit well and was OK till I crashed. When I landed on my side. The hard elbow pad broke my ribs. It was a very slow low side . I dug the center stand in going around a corner. How's that for bad safety gear? It caused an injury.

[zilaniz]

probably a pair of shift textile gloves...really not any protection...i know rock some nice rev'it leather gauntlets.

[gfloyd2002]

Originally Posted by Racer x

I WON a leather motorcycle jacket at a bike show. It had hard elbow pads. The jacket fit well and was OK till I crashed. When I landed on my side. The hard elbow pad broke my ribs. It was a very slow low side . I dug the center stand in going around a corner. How's that for bad safety gear? It caused an injury.

Bonus points to Racer x for actually being injured by safety gear.

[ztrack157]

Anything with frank thomas in the title

[gitoy]

mesh cortech pants and mesh joe rocket jacket...bought them for the summer but realized i'd rather be hot than get road rash...the mesh was so loose the armor would shift...i did use the armor for my leather jacket so not a total loss...

[gfloyd2002]

I'm with you on the mesh cortechs, I tried some and hated them. But I love my Joe Rocket Phoenix. It's a tradeoff, but with the cordura on the key bits and the CE armor, it does its job reasonably well. Given the complete sweatbox that is the tropics, it's a must have item down here. Haven't had issues with armor shifting during a getoff - both it and abrasion resistance patches work fine (and sadly, I have conducted some inadvertant testing ). Can't blame you for wanting something more substantial, I'm continually toying with picking up a Roadcrafter for better abrasion resistance.

[SdSy675]

Joe Rocket Gloves... My one and only lowside thus far... palm of my hand hit the ground, almost instantaneously the glove disintegrated. The palm hit the ground for a fraction of a second and I was left with a bloody, road-rashed palm...

[gfloyd2002]

Originally Posted by SdSy675

Joe Rocket Gloves... My one and only lowside thus far... palm of my hand hit the ground, almost instantaneously the glove disintegrated. The palm hit the ground for a fraction of a second and I was left with a bloody, road-rashed palm...

Which model of gloves? I had a lowside in my Joe Rocket Phoenix gloves and they held up like champs. Wondering if it is a different glove, or if quality is just uneven batch by batch, in which case I won't replace these (that I'm loving so far.)

[Moldbuster]

I know a lot of people rave about them, but it would have to be an Aerostitch suit. When i first got it it was winter and the suit was supposed to be weatherproof. NOT. It leaked like a sieve, leaving me damp and miserable at work. Then spring and summer hit. Great googly moogly that thing was miserably, unbearably, unFREAKINGbelievably HOT. Heat stroke inducingly HOT. I sold it and bought a Motoport Kevlar setup...SOOOO much better!

[SdSy675]

Originally Posted by gfloyd2002

Which model of gloves? I had a lowside in my Joe Rocket Phoenix gloves and they held up like champs. Wondering if it is a different glove, or if quality is just uneven batch by batch, in which case I won't replace these (that I'm loving so far.)

The ones I was wearing were the SpeedMasters... Could have been a bad batch but obviously gave me a negative perception of their products? If the gloves couldn't hold up to split second contact with pavement or blame it on poor Quality Management, still no excuse for my road rashed palm... I will never buy JR again...

[rockNroll]

HJC helmet. Most unconfortable pos helmet I've ever worn. I think it's a cl-15.

[onetruevibe]

Originally Posted by rockNroll

HJC helmet. Most unconfortable pos helmet I've ever worn. I think it's a cl-15.

+1 I'm pretty sure mines the cl-15 too and the f*cker whistles like a banshee. Hate.

[PsychoNinja]

Worst gear that I have bought was the Icon Field Armor Knee/Shin guards. They didn't fit me at all.

[Luxodave]

Originally Posted by PsychoNinja

Worst gear that I have bought was the Icon Field Armor Knee/Shin guards. They didn't fit me at all.

I have those. My legs are so skinny I have to wear sweats under them.

[singlecoillover]

Shark S650 Helmet. The thing has terrible aerodynamics. It somehow managed to suck all manner of bugs, dirt, etc... into my eyes. So I fashioned a chin pad out of some cloth and stuffing to alleviate the problem. Unfortunately now the faceshield fogs up really bad. And don't even get me started on how LOUD that thing is. After trying my brothers HJC I realized that the ear numbing jet-blast experience that I had accepted as normal was nothing of the sort. No wonder some people dare to ride without earplugs.

I am currently working really hard to convince my wife to let me get a Shoei.

[dale-j]

Tour Master Elite rain suit. Zipper broke off taking it out of the package.

[Rexbo]

My alpinestars GP-pro gloves. Turns out they were the chinese knockoffs that look nearly identical, except for being really really thin. So I went and bought my current best piece of gear: the Held Phantom gloves, things are SO badass.

[fleemos]

Alpinestars T-Omega Air Flow Jacket. Bought in November and now the glue that holds the velcro on has given way. I tried to glue with some fabric glue and it keeps coming apart. My cheaper Sedici jacket is holding up better.

[ARc]

Mine was an HJC helmet, which got stolen after I downed my bike for the first time. It felt really heavy and was huge. I don't miss it at all, have a RF-1000 that is 1000x better.

[Kristofferzero]

My AFX FX-90 helmet. Other than the front vent breaking from just using it, I read about the founder of AFX admitting the helmets aren't the greatest choice for protection (???). Can't say I feel very safe using it. But I can't really expect more for a $100 helmet I guess, it's my first one.

[Jiggles]

Ok I didn't buy this but c'mon

[Soujyu]

I bought a Fieldsheer vest that you soak in water so you can be a lot cooler on hot days. It was the worst waste of $30; it does not work in 100+ degree weather. (Basically, it evaporated so fast it wasn't even funny.)

[EthioKnight]

Delkevic Knee/shin guards. I chose them to be the worst piece of gear I've ever bought not because of a design flaw or false advertisement on their part but because I nearly lost both my feet due to prolonged blockage of my blood vessels by the straps. I, until very recently, used to wear them together with my alpinestar boots and well, to my chagrin, these guards weren't meant to be worn with race boots and after about a month of wearing them, I started experiencing severe cramps in my legs to the point of making walking a torturous undertaking. All my fault but for all the pain they caused me, they sure as hell deserve the title of THE worst POS gear I've owned so far. (currently awaiting the Icon ones, and hopefully they'll fare much better)

[Whiskey]

Lidl (German cheap goods store) waterproof gloves, they had a bit of armour, were warm & actually waterproof but became sweatboxes, the lining came loose stuck to my hands when taking them off & they began to stink.

I worked in a bio lab & there were a few older bikers there who suggested putting them in a biohazard bag & leaving them in the -70 over the weekend, that worked for a while but they began to stink again within a couple of weeks.

Replaced them with a pair of A* Apex drystars which have done 2 winters daily commuting & are still in very good condition, never let in a drop and are reasonably warm (15 miles at 60-85 mph in 1°C (windchill at that speed is -17°C/ 2F) my fingers started to get cold, but that's to be expected

[gfloyd2002]

There is another thread on most ridiculous gear that some of these would fit well in.

[Mocha Man]

Originally Posted by Kristofferzero

My AFX FX-90 helmet. Other than the front vent breaking from just using it, I read about the founder of AFX admitting the helmets aren't the greatest choice for protection (???). Can't say I feel very safe using it. But I can't really expect more for a $100 helmet I guess, it's my first one.

I have an FX-90 and I think it's a really good helmet for the price. I haven't crashed in it (yet) and it IS a little bit noisy but I have a difficult time finding a helmet that fits me so I had to settle for it. With ear plugs in it isn't too bad, although I'd much rather get a Scorpion if any of their helmets fit my head shape.

[Kristofferzero]

Originally Posted by Mocha Man

I have an FX-90 and I think it's a really good helmet for the price. I haven't crashed in it (yet) and it IS a little bit noisy but I have a difficult time finding a helmet that fits me so I had to settle for it. With ear plugs in it isn't too bad, although I'd much rather get a Scorpion if any of their helmets fit my head shape.

Being it's my only helmet so far I can't really compare it to anything regarding safety and I haven't crashed in it either. I thought the same until I came across this blogger who emailed AFX on DOT safety and the founder admitting his helmets aren't the best for protection. I'm not ignoring the possibility the emails were fake, but it brought a lot doubt into my AFX purchase and DOT safety. This was about a year ago when I just got my bike. I probably should have researched more credible sites because looking into it more now, the FX-90 has the ECE 22.05 rating: "ECE 22.05 criteria will meet the expectations of the motorcycle rider looking for more protection than the standard US DOT certification... ECE 22.05 standards are more in line with the Snell requirements for helmet safety... ECE 22.05 helmets [are] from industry-leading manufacturers such as Arai, Shark, Icon, Nolan and more."

http://www.revzilla.com/ece-2205-motorcycle-helmets

Looks like our cheap purchase was good after all.

I suppose I should research more before making judgments.

A friend of mine bought a Scorpion helmet as his first, they seem really underpriced for the quality.

[alex.s]

for my first track day, my kobe suit hadn't shipped yet, so i bought (and promptly returned) a cheapo bilt suit. what a piece of ****! don't buy bilt.

[Liist]

Fox Racing Titan knee and shin guards. I barely ever use it, and only for the long trips. I lost one of the pieces that holds the straps in, and I'm not too confident it will save my knees if I crash.

Definitely buying motorcycle pants once I save up.

[NDspd]

My first helmet being the Xpeed XF705 was extremely loud, very unstable at highway speeds and had no ventilation...worst POS for me anyways.

I've got a Shoei RF1100 now, there is literally no comparing them, since shoei is just that good.

[Jiggles]

I heard the RF1100 is not that quiet, especially compared to the RF1000 which got replaced by it

Cortech latigo air boots. 150 dollars, supposedly amazing boots but the zippers on both were screwed. Hope my alpinestars dont **** the bed after 10 seconds.

[DevinWolfe]

Xelement perforated leather "racing" gloves

http://www.leatherup.com/p/Motorcycl...ves/47640.html

I bought these based on them being really cool for summer riding and the really high reviews on the site. Plus, they were cheap and only needed to last until I decided what I really wanted in a glove.

Welp, fast forward to a week into wearing them and the left glove's velcro strap just fell "out" of the seem while cynching it snug, NOT tight, just snug. The right side did the same about 2 weeks into wearing them. The left glove continued to deteriorate even though that hand sat in my lap most of the time while riding my cruiser.

I finally got around to getting decent gloves when I got the Ninjette.

Pic: notice how the left glove has a HOLE where the seem used to be (finger seen underneath) and the palm is coming loose. The right glove (underneath) still has the palm intact and you can see where the stitching is *supposed* to be on the left one.

[DevinWolfe]

I guess they figure "that hand doesn't do much, let's save some thread there."

They did feel nice and have good grip, too bad about the poor stitching.

Originally Posted by trixter

in my case its because I do not need or wear a right glove so the left takes all the wear. When possible I try to shop from the lost and found, its cheaper.

Are you missing a hand or something?

[DevinWolfe]

Originally Posted by codestp202

Are you missing a hand or something?

You must not know his story. Yes. I would recommend checking out his thread(s) as he has "created" a way to continue to ride.

Edit: http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?p=437020