So wondering if anyone else has bought / made any farkles that they have been disappointed with, haven’t worked as expected... just haven’t been up to scratch.

I’ll start it off with 2 products I bought a while years back.

The first is a Touratech handlebar mounting (motorcycle) for a Nüvi 550. It is the MvG and lockable version. Basically my problem with it is it vibrates and makes an annoying rattle when there is no SatNav in it (most days).

The second is another Touratech product. It’s their handlebar bracket for an iPhone (iBracket). Luckily no rattle from this however its quite stiff and the handle that is used to open it is quite weak. I have bent it doing nothing more than opening and closing the thing. I have had to stop using it until I address the issue as it feels like it’s at the limit of snapping.

If anyone has had the same problems or any ideas for solutions I would be glad to hear.

I got a Ram Aqua box for my TomTom and it don't make no noise atall. It's plastic and can be locked for security.
It's really a shame when you pay the premium for a device and it fails to live up to expectations.
I love the Touratech catalog but wince when I see the prices. Way too heady a product line for me.

I don't have any experience with the Tourtech stuff but RAM makes mounts for just about anything and I have had very good experience with them.
Products

Rod

The original Ricor Intiminators were shimmed WAY too stiff even for my 235lbs. I have way too many hours invested in getting these things to work right. Unwittingly having to beta test someone's products and doing their R&D for free really sucks.

I dropped 75 bucks on motorcycle larry's footpeg lowering kit for my wee.
To install them , you remove the clevis pin from the stock footpegs , install the adapters with the original spring , then re-install the pegs onto the adapters .
But the adapters , unlike the footpegs , do not have a flat section that supports the rider's weight , but are rounded so as to rotate UPward , as in the case of a fall , but will also rotate DOWNward , making them totally useless.
Unfortunately , I bought them in the summer , planning to install them , and other farkles , in the winter . When I found that they were useless , "Motorcycle Larry" declined to help me .
Long Live Richland Rick !

I know lots of people use and enjoy Throttlemeisters, but I was disappointed...

My Vee came with a Throttlemeister bar end throttle lock and the matching weight for the clutch side.

I was disappointed to find that the throttle lock could not be adjusted to actually hold the throttle open when engaged without severe drag when disengaged.

I was further disappointed to discover they are rubber-mounted (a fiendishly clever system that involves squishing o-rings to expand them and hold the TM on the bar.)

The problem is that rubber mounting severely reduces the ability of the TM to reduce vibration -- they're not solidly coupled to the handlebar. They have some effect, but not what they should.

Throttlemeisters are beautifully made and very cleverly engineered. They just didn't, you know, um... well, they just didn't work for me in either their primary or secondary functions. Yes, I installed and adjusted them correctly. Repeatedly. Yes, I rebuilt them -- flawless before and after. Maybe yours work. I dunno.

With that said, they'd be perfect with a wider range of action (the inner cylinder just doesn't move far enough to be useful) and solid metal-to-metal mounting. I'm sure many people are happy with theirs.



Manic Salamander's bar end weights are solidly mounted using an expanding aluminum wedge system, and they do a great job of reducing vibration. I have a set of the larger plain stainless steel weights on my Vee, and they're fantastic.

However, I have a set of their throttle lock weights on my GS850, and I'm sorry to report the throttle lock doesn't work for crap. I've also tried the lock on my KLR650 and on my Vee, and it just doesn't work very well on any of my bikes. Basically, the spring just isn't strong enough to develop the pressure to hold a throttle open. There are little "teeth" on the lock collar, but they still can't hang on to the grip and throttle tube. Yes, I've tried several different grips, adjustments, etc. After emailing back and forth with the maker, I've even tried various shims with no joy.

As bar-end weights, the Manic Salamanders are fantastic. Their throttle lock simply doesn't work.

AltRider's side stand foot for the DL1000.

It was (and still is?) the only accessory available to increase the surface area of the factory side stand's admittedly undersized footprint. I don't know anyone with a welder that could provide a pennytech alternative for me here.

Anyway, the AltRider product is ugly, not well engineered and certainly overpriced for what I got. If there's a better solution available, I'm listening.

Manic Salamanders: I bought a set for my GSX 650F and they didn't work. Not the products fault, it just didn't change the harmonics in a way to reduce vibrations on my particular bike. I have no experience with their throttle locking variety.

R-Jays Platinum Soft Panniers: If this is their platinum range, I would hate to see their standard quality. The zips were impossible to open on day one and eventually disintegrated. They rapidly discoloured and now sag rather sadly. They are currently sitting in the garage waiting for the day I can finally forget the price tag and just bin them.

SW Motech Mirror extenders (should have bought Richland Rick's): they wouldn't lock the mirrors in place no matter how hard I tightened everything. After doing a 2 hour ride with one of my mirrors completely rotated towards me I ended up using red loctite on the entire assembly and this appears to have solved the issue.

Givi Topbox: wouldn't lock properly. Sometimes it would lock but wouldn't release the key. Sometimes it would unlock but the lid would refuse to open. Ended up leaving it attached to the bike I traded in and bought a cheapo top box for half the price and twice the quality. Very dissapointed in my first Givi experience, which is largely why I am in the process of building my own hard panniers.

Pat Walsh radar shelf. This thing vibrates so much I'm not sure what you could put on here except maybe a voltmeter. Lots of people have beefed theirs up, but that shouldn't be required, it should just work. I mounted my Garmin Legend GPS which is a small handheld and it vibrated so badly it was unreadable.

I bought it used and will probably be putting it back on the For Sale tread soon.

Keep the replies coming... You guys are saving me a lot of money & heartache.....