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Chinese knock-off CRG levers

Eugene said:
So I've been poking around ebay, and I see a lot of these CRG-knockoff levers from China. Here's an example:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clutch-Brak...Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cc57197b3&vxp=mtr

It looks like they pretty much blatantly ripped off the design - and are selling them for about 1/6th to 1/8th the price.

Anyone have experience with these? I decided to order a set... I guess if they're crap I'm out $40. I figure it's worth the risk if it's close enough to the real thing, right?
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You might be interested in going on the ZX-10.net site..And finding the thread(s), on other riders that used them. and had their front brake lock up..As was mentioned in posts 8 and 12.

Or just roll the dice and see if it doesn't happen to you...
Or it does and you lose whatever the crash costs you.
 
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Yeah levers are one thing but rotors I dont think I am brave enough to use the chinese ones
 
My point is, CRG is a well know company. Panoz is another. You know what you get with both. you don't know what you'd get with a inexpensive knock off. You might get a deal, or you might get taken. regardless, Ill bet on sure thing.
 
Not to mention supporting a local American company, and not paying for a design that was stolen from them. But, I guess most people would rather save a few bucks, at least judging by the number of responses from people that buy the Chinese shit. Justify it all you want, they still stole that design.
 
Yes we will pray for the bloke riding the Chinese bike at the TT this year as well.
 
jpoppa said:
Yes we will pray for the bloke riding the Chinese bike at the TT this year as well.
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Yes, we will.

wk%20race.ashx
 
I got a pair of knock-off levers from Cycle Gear. Put both of them on and the brake lever didn't fit right, was too tight because the plastic insert was maybe 0.1-1mm too thick. I only really needed/wanted the clutch lever anyway, so I returned the brake lever. No way was I going to risk it malfunctioning on me. The clutch lever - meh. It has worked fine for a few months now, and if I have problems with it, it's only the clutch.
 
Bohemian Racing sells the knock offs for a good price..I've never heard any bad stories from his stock.There all made is the same factory the knock off and the expensive ones.
 
The way I look at it, I don't want any cheap ass part on any area of my bike. Most especially the braking system. In order to make their price so low, they're cutting corners somewhere. Machining accuracy, material choice, etc.....who knows? 'Last thing you want is to have the lever break off in your hand at the wrong moment.
 
ST Guy said:
The way I look at it, I don't want any cheap ass part on any area of my bike. Most especially the braking system. In order to make their price so low, they're cutting corners somewhere. Machining accuracy, material choice, etc.....who knows? 'Last thing you want is to have the lever break off in your hand at the wrong moment.
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In marketing class we studied "perceived value". This is where you mark up your product so folks think they are getting something special. An example already given: Sunglasses. My cousin who was in the ski industry went thru a factory in France and reported back:**** factory makes $200 and $20 glasses with the same optics, same factory line, just a different brand on the frame. the ones at $200 a copy they are waaaay better than those cheap $20 ones. Right?
I like buying local and supporting the home team and all but don't believe $$$ always = value/quality
DT
 
dtrides said:
In marketing class we studied "perceived value". This is where you mark up your product so folks think they are getting something special. An example already given: Sunglasses. My cousin who was in the ski industry went thru a factory in France and reported back:**** factory makes $200 and $20 glasses with the same optics, same factory line, just a different brand on the frame. the ones at $200 a copy they are waaaay better than those cheap $20 ones. Right?
I like buying local and supporting the home team and all but don't believe $$$ always = value/quality
DT
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'Understand that.

However, how does anyone here know how well the parts were designed and how properly the CNC machine was programmed, and most importantely, what the quality of the raw material is?

And yes, there are more than a few reports of those knock-off levers causing brake lockups.

My life depends upon my brakes. I will NOT cheap out on brake components. Period.

How much do you value your life?
 
I think the word your talking about is QUALITY. You only want to use/trust known QUALITY brake components. I get that .
DT
 
Got mine in the mail and installed them today. Overall the quality seems pretty good, but not quite as good as the "real thing". My main gripe is that there's a bit more vertical wiggle in the spring-loaded joint part of the levers - but it doesn't really seem to impact the ride quality. I took the bike out for a quick spin around town to test ride the levers and flush out any issues, they felt pretty good. My brake rotors weren't even warm to the touch after the ride, so I don't think that the levers are applying any kind if unwanted pressure on the MC that can cause brake seizures or anything like that.
 
So I received mine today and put them on the bike so I figured I'd circle back and share my impressions.

First of all I was very pleasantly surprised to see how sturdy these things were when I first opened them. They look really high quality with nice machining and a rich "deep" black finish. There were no hitches in installing either the brake or clutch lever and both work just fine.

My one complaint is that there seems to be slightly more play between the clutch lever and the lever housing than there was with the stock lever. I actually put the stock back on briefly to compare.

I'm not sure if the tolerances just aren't bang on, or if this is a biproduct of the fact that these clutch levers are adjustable, hence the extra piece inevitably causes some play.

All in all I'm satisfied with the purchase. If I had paid 150 or however much the authentic item costs I'd probably be more irritated by the slight increase in play. I might try to get a super thin washer to throw in there and act like a shim. If not, I'm still fine with the current state.
 
akdmx said:
So I received mine today and put them on the bike so I figured I'd circle back and share my impressions.

First of all I was very pleasantly surprised to see how sturdy these things were when I first opened them. They look really high quality with nice machining and a rich "deep" black finish. There were no hitches in installing either the brake or clutch lever and both work just fine.

My one complaint is that there seems to be slightly more play between the clutch lever and the lever housing than there was with the stock lever. I actually put the stock back on briefly to compare.

I'm not sure if the tolerances just aren't bang on, or if this is a biproduct of the fact that these clutch levers are adjustable, hence the extra piece inevitably causes some play.

All in all I'm satisfied with the purchase. If I had paid 150 or however much the authentic item costs I'd probably be more irritated by the slight increase in play. I might try to get a super thin washer to throw in there and act like a shim. If not, I'm still fine with the current state.
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I find with any Chinese product I have to usually disassemble and reassemble PROPERLY. They have a tendency to leave things loose, use cheap hardware and rarely use locktight on key components. But overall I have been happy with my China/fleabay buys.



EDIT: I buy a lot of R/C heli's, china has dominated the market in the last few years. Their build quality is damn good! It shows in something like an r/c heli. Parts need to be in perfect balance and have the proper tolerances. They have driven costs of these once expensive machines into something anyone can now afford. IMO, I like having a low budget option.
 
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corndog67 said:
Not to mention supporting a local American company, and not paying for a design that was stolen from them. But, I guess most people would rather save a few bucks, at least judging by the number of responses from people that buy the Chinese shit. Justify it all you want, they still stole that design.
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+1

You know why a whole bunch of motorcycles get stolen? Because a whole bunch of motorcyclists will buy stolen motorcycle parts. Buying knock-offs is no different than buying stolen motorcycle parts. People can rationalize their purchase however they wish but at the end of the day, that's what it is: stolen motorcycle parts. To each his own, some of us choose not to support thieves.
 
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