The Good and the Bad of 2014

Hey

I'm freshly back into biking, so bought quite a bit of stuff this year and thought I would share my experiences. Here is my list of the best and the worst (compared to my expectations).

For background, I am 47, 5' 10, reasonably fit and a bit of a geek (no, I am not looking for a date).

The Best: -
1. Triumph Explorer, bought in August, does everything I hoped, really well. Fast, fun, fairly good looking, comfortable and practical. I had it lowered by 3cm, which has helped my confidence a little when stationary as its quite top-heavy compared to some bikes.
2. Sidi Gore Adventure boots. Really like these, comfortable and smart looking. I feel safe in them and they are surprisingly good to wear off the bike (for their size). The only problem I have had is fitting the thermal lining from my Hein Gericke trousers over them, but that's not the fault of the boots.
3. Shoei GT Air Helmet. Comfortable, quiet and good looking. It tends to steam up a little when it's cold (despite the pinlock), but a quality, (if a little pricey) lid.
4. Halvarsson Prime Jacket and Prince Trousers. Good looking, no too flash, flexible and well padded. The (optional) back protector is a little uncomfortable when off the bike, but it's a quality bit of kit.
5. Triumph Thunderbird 1600. Bought in October, good looking, really comfy and oozing torque. With short, loud pipes, sounds the biz, and makes you feel pretty good when riding. However, not really my cup of tea in the end, as it's a bit bling. Sold 2 weeks later.

The Worst (in order of how disappointing they are): -
1. Ghost-S HD Action Camera. I won't put the full boring list of problems down, but essentially, it's garbage. It worked for a while, but now only shoots about 5-seconds before crashing, getting hot, and running itself flat. It also doesn't work with the Android phone app that can be downloaded, unless your phone is more than about 2-years old.
2. Triumph Scrambler 2015, bought November 2014. Not all bad. Looks great in black and sounds awesome with the Triumph loud slip ons (look exactly like the originals). However, it doesn't feel like quality and even though I have only done 52 miles from new (47 of which which were collecting it from the dealer, then going back to the dealer for its 1-month service), it is now pitting and tarnished on various fixings, bolts, injectors and the cylinder block fins. The brake cable clamp comes undone every 10-miles or so. It's a nightmare to clean in places too because of the high level pipes, but that's part of the fun of a classic-style bike I guess. Maybe it works better in warmer countries, or maybe its just made of poor materials, either way I am not confident that it will look immaculate, ever, and that's no good for me as I am fastidious. This one will be sold as soon as we get a break in the weather and may well be the last Triumph I buy as the whole purchase and ownership experience (in just 6-weeks) is way below what I expected.
3. Shark Evoline 3 Helmet. I love the look and the functionality. It switches from open to full face easily, and the built-in visor is great. However, it presses on my forehead to the point that after 10-minutes, I get a diamond-shaped red mark and after an hour, I have to remove it because my head aches. It's also really noisy. The rep from Shark told me to rip the padding out from inside and I may give this a try in the Spring. Otherwise it's going to the skip (I don't like to buy or sell used helmets).
4. Cardo Scala Rider Q3 Blutooth Intercom system (I bought 3). I consider myself to be fairly smart and good with technology, but really find these tricky to use. They are painfully slow to pair when you switch them on and won't work comfortably with a phone as well as other gadgets like my Garmin Zumo. Basically, as an intercom they are okay, but if you get a phone call then they stop working. They also stream music, but the quality is awful (from the Zumo). A lot of money, with lots of features such as radio and music share, but in execution, they just aren't much cop when trying to use them with other kit. Very disappointing.

These are my views. What are your experiences?

Any surprises?

Dave

 

Good feedback guys.
My Explorer was lowered by Youles. They changed the rear suspension linkages to slightly shorter ones which takes the back down by about 3cm then lowered the forks in the head to make it level. Its a minor mod which just helps a bit with my confidence. The fiddly bit was that they removed and shortened the side stand so that it is not too vertical in case it falls. They had a section cut out then re-welded and painted like new. Looks neat and keeps it all properly balanced.