Cheap chow-min levers...

After a bit of a fight with a very heavy gate that closed on my bike and knocked it to the ground I had to buy some new levers. Yes the bike lost the fight with the gate.

I bought these off eBay after reading many forums postings about Chinese levers. Mine came out of Hong Kong. They are very well made. Feel good against my fingers when using them. They feel nice and sturdy. I think they look good. They operate as they should. This is the good.

Now the bad. This was the seller, aumotomarts. He sent a set that has the clutch side as cable operated. Wrong wrong wrong for a 2002 1200 Bandit. My clutch is hydraulic. In fact he has photos with a clutch lever that is cable operated.



I should have twigged this when I bought them but did not. I contact them as soon I get the levers. Tell them the problem. They reply and want photos of my OEM lever compared to the one they sent. I do this. Then they email me to say they never got the photos. So I upload them to the net and send the links for the photos. They say they will investigate. Then they say they will send me a replacement lever. Time goes by. I email them for a copy of the tracking number. I am told it will be sent the next day. A week later I send a very rude and threatening email. Still no reply. A few days go by. I send another abusive email.

Meanwhile I have logged a claim with PayPal for a refund. After a month I get a reply from Paypal that the seller has denied refund. The seller has sent another. So again I send an email asking for the tracking number. I get a reply. With what is not a standard postal tracking number. Then I get another email saying they sent u the wrong tracking number. Hey dumbo neither are tracking numbers. I used to do this for a living, tracking overseas mail. So I know what they are.

Then 2 days ago, at long last, a parcel from the seller has arrived. Its not a replacement lever. It is a part that will allow me to fit the lever to a hydraulic system. So I had to pull the lever to bits to fit this part. Ok no big deal for me. I am handy with tools. Had I not been, I would have been beyond pissed. I have not left feedback for the seller. If I do it will only be negative. Which would mean he would leave negative for me.

Lessons learnt from this. Look at the photos better Ross before you buy.

So what do they look like fitted?

Mate that all sounds like a hassle you don't need. I have a cheap set of spare levers from Hong Kong ($18) that I got from eBay that I carry as emergency spares in the case of a drop. I've fitted them and they work. But I recently bought some quality levers that are now fitted, see this thread:
https://nswbandits.forumotion.net/t2862p30-gold-and-black-bandit?highlight=gold
They are bloody brilliant and I can't recommend them highly enough.

I've had shorty levers on my bike for 2 1/2 years. Love em. They were somewhere around $50 delivered from China($46 or $56). CNC machined from billet aluminium.



Give the seller neg feedback. Sounds like they thouroughly deserve it. The feedback system on ebay was changed a while ago so that the seller can't give the buyer neg feedback, they can only give you good feedback or none.

Sick em Rex Ross.

rolls wrote:
Give the seller neg feedback. Sounds like they thouroughly deserve it. The feedback system on ebay was changed a while ago so that the seller can't give the buyer neg feedback, they can only give you good feedback or none.

Sick em Rex Ross.

Rolls is right, You are safe, give him negative feedback

I have left negative feedback.

Ross. wrote:I have left negative feedback.

Did you leave negative feedback with the owner of the gate that caused the infamous Bandit knock down ?

truck wrote:

Ross. wrote:I have left negative feedback.

Did you leave negative feedback with the owner of the gate that caused the infamous Bandit knock down ?

That gate and how it hit the bike is more my fault. I did not swipe my card against the reader. This would have made the gate retract back. Instead I tried to use the bike to break the beam. I missed the beam and the gate hit the bike. I jumped off the bike as it was being pushed over and around.

Some more bad news for you, I have a set of these and after a number of months they have faded from black to a bronze colour. Hope my experience is a one off and yours last OK.

car_ham wrote:Some more bad news for you, I have a set of these and after a number of months they have faded from black to a bronze colour. Hope my experience is a one off and yours last OK.

And others who have these and had them for sometime have not reported any fading. Either way I am not too worried by the fading.

There's always spray can black to touch them up!

Gold to silver .

I may have mentioned it previously.

We're Pazzo distributors, and can offer genuine Pazzo's in short or long to club members for $190.00 a pair delivered (RRP$229). Folding levers, $225.00.

We assemble locally, so have all adjuster colours, and most lever colours in stock at any time. That said, we're out of gold longs for the next 2-3 weeks, and down to 2 sets of the 1250 perches - more on order to come with the gold longs.

We can supply all replacement components. Break a lever, we've got a spare, etc. We prefer to do the rebuild for you at no cost, other than parts and postage, as the adjusters, cams, springs and balls in particular are fiddly bits.

Nowhere near as cheap as the Chinese stuff, however they use the right grade alloy on the perches for wear resistance, and the anodizing is deep and doesn't fade, springs are cadmium plated, won't rust, and everything fits tightly and correctly.

I guarantee you won't have adjusters hitting pivot bolts, nor brake levers snapping under heavy braking (per another forum).