I raced motorcycles for 18 seasons. I went through at least 25-30 motorcycles, just lost count after a while. I have never installed questionable quality parts, especially on 'mission critical' items like brakes. I think that's nuts, I've gone 170+ mph and losing my brakes would be pure insanity. Frankly, losing your brakes on the street with all those cars and trucks around is probably at least as scary. Why somebody would take chances with a Chinese knock-off is beyond my comprehension. Even with reverse-engineering they can make a mistake in design, metals used or manufacturing that can have dire consequences.
If you were rock climbing, would you buy your carabiners from Harbor Freight?? I don't rock climb but if I did, I would be spending a bunch more money for the quality stuff at REI, definitely not taking my chances with Harbor Freight stuff even if it looks exactly like the name brand carabiners!
The parts I used were designed and extensively tested for racing, I'm not down with playing guinea pig for every shithead on the planet who thinks they can build a copy of a 'mission critical' product like brake levers. The difference between "counterfeiting" and "cheaper alternatives" only happens when the 'cheaper alternative' doesn't reverse engineer another product. On my last supermoto racebike, we used ASV Unbreakable levers and they were pretty awesome, always allowing us to pick up the racebike after a spill and rejoin the race. If a Chinese company came out with a different design, tested it and proved it on racing circuits like ASV, I would consider them a 'cheaper alternative'. However, a shameless copy of the CRG or ASV product is not "competition", it is THEFT.
Anything that is reverse-engineered is THEFT! And don't think for a minute that it only happens with Chinese companies, there have been cases right here in California where motorcycle parts were shamelessly copied and then sold by other companies.
I will give you an example of two products that appear to be very similar to the naked eye, except they're not. One was designed, tested and built to very high tolerances by a company in Milpitas, the other one was not and should not be considered a 'cheaper alternative':
http://nicholssportbikes.com/products/NFLYFI3P.html
http://www.slingshotracing.net/cata...eight-racing-flywheel-ds1000-ds1100-p-56.html
That $80 difference motivates more than a few Ducati owners to buy the cheaper part and potentially cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to their bike. But at least with an engine problem you will most likely glide to a safe stop, unlike the potential failure of a knock-off brake lever that is a 'mission critical' component on a motorcycle.
Why don't you just man up and admit you're willing to buy counterfeit products in order to save a few bucks. That's really what it boils down to, the VP vs 'family man' bullshit is simply laughable. Sure, I get it, you probably don't like having it slammed in your face but the reality is you're giving your money to THIEVES because they can illegally copy a product, manufacture it in China and sell it to you on eBay for a lot less than the genuine product.
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