Which piece of gear do you wish you had never brought or own and why?

[Nelly]

Without doubt the worst piece of gear I own is my current helmet.
The Caberg konda.
It was designed to use with Cabergs Bluetooth system which is an added extra. There are two large holes exactly where your ears sit.
I don't want the Bluetooth gizmo and I always use ear plugs. The holes act like a boom boom box for the wind.
I have fixed this to a degree by using some padding from an old lid to reduce the wind noise.
The worst features is the visor, if I ride with it just barely cracked open rain runs down the inside and collects right in front of my line of sight, I have tried everything to fix it to no avail. It is such an issue that I have to pull over and remove the helmet to remove the water.
I really like this helmets modular functions, drop down Sun visor easy to open with one hand, however I will not buy another. Tell me about your worst bit of gear.
Nelly

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[Botch]

I kinda went overboard on trying different pannier and rear bags; there was nothing really wrong with any of them but I couldn't find a set I really liked. I have a beemer for long trips now so its a moot point (guess I should take a few pics and see if anyone here could use any of them).

 

[JKJ-FZ6]

Not exactly motorcycle gear, but tuning up my old bicycle brought back memories. Cycling shoes
To fit in with other riders with their silly shorts and Pompadour helmets I felt I had to have the fancy shoes too. Painful to ride with, impossible to walk... (CLACK CLACK CLACK!). I do well enough with sneakers for the bike now, and boots for the FZ6 thank you very much.:Flip:

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Anything made by Joe Rocket, it has ripped every time from normal wear, in less than six month of use. Specifically gloves and jacket.

 

[paperpirate]

one of them anti-fogging screens, I ride with a snoode on all year except mid summer when its red hot, pretty rare for us! anyway with the snoode and anti steam combo i can never see where I'm going!!

luckily nothing more expensive than that so far, tend to have one set of kit and stick with it

 

[Flat_FZ6]

Joe Rocket textile jacket, it's way too long for a Sportbike riding position.

Fieldsheer gauntlet gloves...I quickly bought Held Phantoms after realizing how little protection they offered.

Basically, I regret buying cheap gear because I always end up replacing it with better gear.

 

[greg]

Spada "waterproof" boots. They appear to be made of some kind of mesh, wore them for about 1 year, now I have some proper gore-tex boots which I wear for commuting.

 

[Recluse420]

GMAX POS! Suckered into one of these because I didn't want to drop $450 on the sweet ICON lid. $110 toy for my son now, but whatever he thinks it's awesome, pulled it out for him last night I think he was more excited when I gave him that then his sweet Power Wheels Dune Racer for xmas. This turd foggs up at the snap of a finger, even a 3 year old in a warm room fogged it up. It also run's to big and pull's wind like a mother.

 

[odachi13]

It seems with most manufacturers the term waterproof doesn't really apply to our weather. I would like to see a "British Weatherproof guarantee" on products.
My Akito "all weather" suit leaks around the zips and arm seams, and my Oxtar/tcx boots only just ever seemed to fill up with water.

Weise gloves and Frank Thomas boots do seem to keep the water out just fine. No luck on a jacket yet short of dropping £600 for some Rukka gear.

 

[Recluse420]

It seems with most manufacturers the term waterproof doesn't really apply to our weather. I would like to see a "British Weatherproof guarantee" on products.
My Akito "all weather" suit leaks around the zips and arm seams, and my Oxtar/tcx boots only just ever seemed to fill up with water.

Weise gloves and Frank Thomas boots do seem to keep the water out just fine. No luck on a jacket yet short of dropping £600 for some Rukka gear.

This x100. I live in Seattle so I can relate to the rain. Only gear I have bought that is truly water proof has been from Frogg Toggs. My cheap Tourmaster $99 leaked if it rained to hard, my $229 all season Tourmaaster does the same, First Gear Gloves x2 pairs, my Tourmaster All season pants took about a year, and the ICON PDX rain jacket only lasted one year before it leaked out. It's so hard to find good solid reviews on gear that has been used in extreme rain, sure it will keep you dry in a drizzle but can I make it 30+ miles in a down pour. It keeps me away from buying expensive gear.

 

[Flat_FZ6]

GMAX POS! Suckered into one of these because I didn't want to drop $450 on the sweet ICON lid. $110 toy for my son now, but whatever he thinks it's awesome, pulled it out for him last night I think he was more excited when I gave him that then his sweet Power Wheels Dune Racer for xmas. This turd foggs up at the snap of a finger, even a 3 year old in a warm room fogged it up. It also run's to big and pull's wind like a mother.

Did you pick up a variant? I kind of like mine, but it pulls like crazy on a naked bike and when looking over my shoulder.

 

[Recluse420]

Did you pick up a variant? I kind of like mine, but it pulls like crazy on a naked bike and when looking over my shoulder.

No but I would really like to, what keeps me away is that it sounds like I could get equal or better performance for half the price. I just love the look of it, wish more companies would get away from the standard shapes.

 

[turbid]

Yes unfortunately i bought some lemons too.

major one was the vemar jiano helmet, it was a modular with built in sunvisor. the modular chin stopped wanting to stay locked in the upright position after a few months use, and the fabric tore open just after a couple of months. it was expensive too. when the shop i bought it from wrote to vemar about this particular dismal helmet, no reply was offered.

i had a set of nitro boots that claimed to be waterproof. at the sight of a puddle they got drenched! and the sole started to part company from the upper after a couple of uses.

i also have a HELD waterproof jacket (given to us by the employer). it barely keeps you dry in a drizzle, let alone a downpour!

 

[xyy81t]

My Weise Boots and Frank Thomas suit has kept me dry in all wet conditions i've exposed them to (I do Clean and wax the boots after every wet use) except for the time I wasnt thinking and tucked my pant legs into the boots, Water found its way in then!

 

[Ohendo]

...Basically, I regret buying cheap gear because I always end up replacing it with better gear.

On that note...
My first jacket was a cheap Xelement jacket from Leatherup.com - liner zippers broke first week, stitching frayed after first ride. Waste of $70. Bought a much higher quality First Gear jacket later, still going strong.

Also: Cheap lids from eBay. Just not worth it - went through two of them. Cheap glue used to hold pads in, falls apart quickly. And the visors always have some sort of distortion in them. Ended up getting a Shoei and haven't looked back.

Cheap gear might meet the basic needs for a short while, but if you can afford it, get quality gear right out of the gates.

 

[yamihoe]

My scorpion helmet, noisy, chips wayyyy to easily and last week the strap broke

interestingly my Joe rocket stuff is for the most part held up very well (KOW)

 

[Cloggy]

I recently picked up a Shoei Neotec helmet. I guess for that kind of money I had expected much more. The chin vent is a rocker type, but it's really easy to accidently close it by knocking it whilst taking off the helmet or opening the visor. Both vents (chin & head) directs (cold) air directly onto your face and forehead (my Nolan N101 would circulate the air more). If it gets any colder (and it is a warm winter at the moment) I will have to buy a balaclava instead of the neckroll I now use.
The absolute worst thing from the chin vent is that last week during one of the (many) winter squalls the rain was being blown through the vent and onto the inside of the visor, , with a damp liner (and no circulation) the visor also steamed up at the next traffic light
Also the noise levels are rediculously high (again in comparison with my Nolan N101), I've had ringing ears on more than one occassion.