Bike parts from Amazon?

[pepperami]

This is a genuinely serious question.

So Pepperami’s project ‘Scrappy Hyosung ‘ needs a new left side clip-on handlebar.
After some suggestions from folk on here, I searched the net and websites.
Hyosung want £54. 96 for just the left side.
Thief-Bay had some aftermarket clip-on’s at about £30-to-£40.
I looked at Amazon and found a pair for £25.

Amazon is clearly not a motorcycle related site and I’m thinking will I be buying monkey metal rubbish ?

Has anyone else bought motorcycle parts from Amazon and were they any good?

Just thought I’d ask before I commit money to ‘project Scrappy Hyosung’
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[Bhud]

You might get away with it or you might not. And there is the problem: you will lose a lot of enjoyment from riding any bike which you don't have complete confidence is structurally sound.

Personally, if any part of the component is alloy, and not thick mild steel, I wouldn't. You're right, monkey metal (badly cast dubious alloys which are known to be prone to break) is a thing, when it comes to cheap bike parts from China.

Take, for example, these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/7-8-Motorcycle-Single-Hole-Direction-Handlebar-Risers-Handle-Block-Fixing-Seat-/293433697750

These are single-fixing bar risers. People were fitting them to enduro bikes and streetfighters. What they would do was drill out holes in the top yoke of a bike which was designed for clip-ons, and fit these in with a single, thin steel bolt. Now, doing this has gone out of favour, even in America. If you search those forums you will find plenty of stories of catastrophic component failure as a result of this practice. Either the "pot metal" from which they were cast would snap, or the threads holding the handlebar clamps would fail, or the structurally compromised top yoke would fail due to stress-induced cracks (I don't know the technical term) around where the holes were placed, or because the top yoke wasn't designed to bear torsional forces.

On an ordinary road bike, the handlebars bear the full brunt of your weight and momentum occasionally, for example if you hit a big pothole or if you carry out an emergency stop. Any sort of off-road use, or stunt work, and you will massively increasely the force and stresses in various directions that the handlebar has to bear.

Those are just my reasons for steering clear of stuff like that. There are lots of people who have the opposite opinion, and who probably will never have a problem with the Chinese stuff. Mirrors and stuff, sure. But handlebars and their mounts.. personally, I wouldn't.

An alternative would be to find out which other bikes (which have clip-ons as standard) whether Japanese, Korean or whatever have the same diameter fork stanchions as your bike, and get used clip-ons for that bike.

[wr6133]

I'd probably give them a punt but I'd try to find identical ones on eBay to get an idea of if it's 1 seller undercutting or if it's a product nobody else sells (then I'd avoid).

Chinese metal isn't all equal and sometimes you can buy what looks identical but costs less and turns out to be a shite rip off copy. I found this out with lever guards on the GSXR, I have a shelf full of mismatched lefts and rights.

You looked at random used ones? You might get something that fits for pennies.

[Ste]

[Easy-X]

Had a quick look at Amazon. I notice for the clamp-part the cheap ones don't seem to have a hinge. I'm no structural engineer but I don't think aluminium is bendy like steel.

At least pay a bit more for the hinge ones, sounds safer
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[Polarbear]

I'm the most vociferous anti Chinese person around for their bikes but I've bought other gear from there, some has been good, some shite.

I'd give it a try from Amazon simply because if a pile of crap arrives (or doesn't) they are very good at refunding. I've twice had refunds for non arrivals that were front Amazon marketplace and not sold by Amazon themselves.

I had Chinese ali levers on my Striple and they were fine. I fitted a Chines riser to wifies pushbike handlebars and made sure her life insurance was up to date, but at present she is still alive and the bike in one piece.

If it's cheap enough I'd give it a whirl.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[A100man]

I think I'd prefer a second hand OEM item or find something Japanese that would fit.
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Now: A100, GT250A, XJ598, FZ750

Then: Fizz, RS200, KL250, XJ550, Laverda Alpina, XJ600, FZS600

[ThunderGuts]

I'm a bit wary of any safety components coming from Amazon or eBay; the former in particular is often a case of wading through rubbish to find something that's advertised as what I want, even then a clever advert could disguise a rubbish product and I'm not metallurgist so I don't think I'd be able to distinguish good quality metal from poor other than any obvious surface evidence.

For that reason, for anything safety critical, I'll go with either OEM or a decent quality (recognised) aftermarket alternative from a bona-fide company in the UK. Yes it'll cost more, but for me at least that's the price of peace of mind. Handlebars are kind of important - the idea of them giving up isn't a good one!
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TG.

[pepperami]

Well after reading replies here, I went with buying original equipment from the manufacturer’s website.

Thank you for the input folks
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[jeffyjeff]

To get back to the original question: Yes, I have purchased many parts from Amazon. Chain and sprockets (DID), brake pads (Galfer), hand grips, aftermarket mirrors, speed bleeders, etc. I have no gripes. Will go to Amazon again when the need arises
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History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men - BOC