I‘m betting that if you hit the pavement with those your hands won’t fair any better than if you had no gloves. Maybe worse as they would probably melt into your skin. There are times to cheap out to save money, buying proper gear isn’t one of them. There’s an old saying - Dress for the slide, not the ride.

 

you might have a point, but I have a pair of icon gloves, and the palm of the hand feels a little thinner. Most of this stuff, if not all, is made in China anyway.

 

I bought a Temu $38 helmet, and it was even a modular at that price. I thought about it and realized that in all my dozen or more falls to the ground, dirt and pavement, from a motorcycle, my helmet has NEVER touched the ground. So a little risk was more than acceptable to me. The helmet wasn't bad until I started riding with my prescription glasses. Then it was too tight and I found something cheap, but not as cheap, that fit my head better.

 

Thank you for sharing that.
That's absolutely terrifying.

 

Well, it had a DOT sticker.
But the 'T' did slightly resemble an 'H".

 

No judgement here. I remember buying all kinds of inexpensive gear from JC Whitney back in the day. I eventually gravitated to reducing my stockpile of helmets and jackets to just a few pieces of quality gear. Takes up less room and I know it will work when I need it.

 

Way back maybe 2012 I used to ride with these BMW guys and they gave me a certain amount of shit for riding a KLR, anyway one of them asks me where I got something, I cant remember what it was, and I said its a KLR so it cam from JC Whitney or Harbor Freight.....right? 🤣 🤣 🤣

 

Still loving my Chinese center stand. My KLR lives on it most of the time. Was an EBAY purchase but I am positive that the same one comes from Temu.

 

I buy stuff on Temu, but I am pretty selective with what I buy. I usually don't get gear, and definitely would not get a helmet. I did get a cheap helmet once, and after about a week of use I dropped it and broke off the visor. And then couldn't get a replacement.

I am sort of curious about the KLR crash bar they have on there. For 89 bucks, can you really go wrong?

 

I can't stand cheap crappy products and Temu seems to be the worst of the worst. The last thing I'd buy from Temu would be safety gear...

Dave

 

I can't stand cheap crappy products and Temu seems to be the worst of the worst.

Not everything Temu sells is crap.

A lot of it is literally the same stuff you find on Amazon, except cheaper, and you aren't enriching Bezos when you buy it (if that matters to you).

 

Amazon and Temu are simply marketplaces for virtual store fronts. The same chinese outfits on Temu will utilize Amazon as well, albiet with slightly more regulatory oversight.

The difference is that your quality brands aren't being sold on Temu. You might get knock-offs, or unlicensed IP-theft products, but you're not finding Alpinestars products on Temu.

It's a shame that Amazon has been flooded with so much of this chinese-market BS in the past 5-10 years. China puts so much money into sponsoring (aka bribing) Amazon into priority listing their crap products that it's very difficult to find something legitimate in the pile of garbage that Amazon's algorithm spits at you.

 

I think some stuff from those places is just fine.

Inconsequential things like bandannas and rainsuits, certain kinds of tools, some lights. Things that may need to be modified. I am cheap and I cobble. My KLR is a beat up 98 for a reason.

 

The last time I crashed I didnt hit my head either, but I am sure glad I was wearing a Shoei anyway. I was also wearing a nice pair of fully shanked kevlar reinforced Cortech leather motorcycle gloves with knuckle pads, unfortunately the pad got tore off of the left glove in the crash and I still took some damage. Im pretty glad I wasnt wearing Temu gloves when it happened. That pic was the day of, it looked a fair bit more swollen the next day by about 2x. They sell Alpinestars gloves on Amazon, I have 4 pair, you can return them if they dont fit. The link below are what I replaced the Cortech's with

Amazon.com: Alpinestars SP-8 V3 Gloves, Full Gauntlet Leather, CE-Certified, Race-Inspired Fit, Knuckle Protection, Reinforced Palm, Multi-Panel Construction, 2XL, Black/Black : Automotive

Buy Alpinestars SP-8 V3 Gloves, Full Gauntlet Leather, CE-Certified, Race-Inspired Fit, Knuckle Protection, Reinforced Palm, Multi-Panel Construction, 2XL, Black/Black: Gloves - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

a.co

 

For a while I was kinda low on funds and rode in deerhide work gloves. Crashed in them, too

I broke my thumb, but didn't lose any skin.

 

How long ro recover from your thumb and ride again? I severely sprained mine in a crash and took like 3 months before I could ride off-road again

 

I do whatever I can to NOT enrich the CCP. A $38 helmet, though? Dude, I wouldn't even use that for target practice....

 

I have to echo what many have said...as a former MSF instructor and life long motorcyclist....stay away, far away from ANY Temu safety gear..ESP. A helmet.
One of my riding buddies is a TEMU fiend...orders all manner of "stuff"...and I did order a couple of times a year or so back...but don't anymore..I don't for "other reasons" like rmkawboy, the CCP gets enough of my money via Amazon (and I agree, its flooded with Chineseium ..for a reason)..and its not a good reason and leave it at that..like CF Moto or any other China bike..I would stop riding if that was all their was...they are / have flooded the market as well...but whoa and hold on...I will stop myself before going on with that vent..

Need some cheap and I mean cheap coat hooks or other hardware...TEMU will "hook" you up. Electrical stuff - sketchy, very sketchy....Safety gear, like a helmet!!! TEMU will kill you. TEMU is like the utter crap I saw for sale in African markets...CCP is flooding them too...TEMU its the lower scale of China crap..but its another inroad to US markets...for all the wrong reasons.

Trash it, better yet cut the chin strap first so no kid might find it and think WOW cool helmet and take it home. Even better, place it on the driveway and crush it with your car or truck tire.

Seriously, get some verifiable rated safety gear - its more bucks but it can save your head or other body parts.

Hope you take no offense, not meant...just attempting to let you know, as others have...TEMU MC Helmet (or any other safety gear) BAD JU JU.

 

Temu I have found is a gamble overall. Have gotten some stuff I would never regret. Other stuff was a waste of my time. My biggest gripe is the purchasing process. Spin this and the overload of emails, texts was overwelming. I get my barefeet shoes there and only use the computer with good spam software. I only use them about every six months now.

 

I am in Chiang Rai Thailand and today's plan is to ride up to Mae Sai - the Thai/Myanmar border town. Here is the helmet they supplied with the bike;

I have a couple of nice helmets at home - a Shoei and an AGV....but they are not here with me...I think the "all the gear all the time" philosophy is very valid...but there are times to lighten up, smoke some weed and just focus of keeping the bike upright! Yes! - I am a convert to "Temu" stuff - just recently installed a copy rear brake caliper that was cheaper than the cost of a set of tusk brake pads (which are not worth a damn) works perfectly and I will use the same crap if I need a new master cylinder. But I would not buy an engine rebuild kit from "temu"

 

I am in Chiang Rai Thailand and today's plan is to ride up to Mae Sai - the Thai/Myanmar border town. Here is the helmet they supplied with the bike;

I have a couple of nice helmets at home - a Shoei and an AGV....but they are not here with me...I think the "all the gear all the time" philosophy is very valid...but there are times to lighten up, smoke some weed and just focus of keeping the bike upright! Yes! - I am a convert to "Temu" stuff - just recently installed a copy rear brake caliper that was cheaper than the cost of a set of tusk brake pads (which are not worth a damn) works perfectly and I will use the same crap if I need a new master cylinder. But I would not buy an engine rebuild kit from "temu"

..but there are times to lighten up, smoke some weed and just focus of keeping the bike upright!

Oh man, where do I start?
Maybe you were partaking of some Thai stick when you wrote that? Not fully realizing? That was humor.

Seriously though, NO, Never ride a motorcycle under the influence of ANYTHING be it weed, booze and even sometimes meds from a doctor, esp. those that have the disclaimer.."may cause dizziness" or "do not operator vehicles"...

Stuff can happen so freaking fast...you need to be up to speed (not that kind) and at full mental alert to survive...toking, joking and then riding is tempting, NO...practically inviting bad stuff to happen.

No lecture, its your life...but have to disagree about toking up and riding....sorta like having a "few beers" and taking out the pistol or rifle...bad combo..sending this one your way and hope it finds you doing well and staying safe...

Really, MC riding should be its own "high"..no need to jack it up with dope, weed, ganja or whatever else impairs your reaction time and the like..

STAY SAFE OVER THERE...

 

China is following the path of Japan back in the day. Cheap and shoddy copies -> better copies -> good original stuff. Almost all the good Japanese brands we know started with cheap knockoffs. The first Kawasaki motorcycle was a copy of a BSA.

The only thing is, China is a lot bigger, and so the cheap junk coexists with the good stuff for a while because there are so many more manufacturers.

LS2 is an example of good Chinese products. LS stands for Liao System, and I think the three Liao brothers still run the company. They actually do R&D, design their own gear, and I am pretty sure are now accepted in the pro racing world.

 

China is following the path of Japan back in the day. Cheap and shoddy copies -> better copies -> good original stuff. Almost all the good Japanese brands we know started with cheap knockoffs. The first Kawasaki motorcycle was a copy of a BSA.

The only thing is, China is a lot bigger, and so the cheap junk coexists with the good stuff for a while because there are so many more manufacturers.

LS2 is an example of good Chinese products. LS stands for Liao System, and I think the three Liao brothers still run the company. They actually do R&D, design their own gear, and I am pretty sure are now accepted in the pro racing world.

The big difference is that Japanese industry set out specifically to excel in production efficiency. They literally pioneered manufacturing quality and efficiency processes that have since been spread throughout manufacturing and process management industries.

Chinese manufacturing is incredibly resistant to QA and QC. It's a cultural issue common to and stemming from corrupt communist or post-communist totalitarian rule. They tend to focus on production cost and revenue, and devalue customers as anything but a revenue stream. It's a really deep rabbit hole of manufacturing economics.

There are some notable exceptions, like LS2, but more often the rule is to build things as cheap as possible. It takes a lot of effort from the company requesting the product from the manufacturer to get appropriate quality out of a plant.

I've talked to several people in the sourcing industry who have really struggled to get Chinese manufacturers to produce product with proper quality controls. Getting ISO 9001 certified manufacturing is tough. Often the manufacturer reps will try to outright bribe the contracting company reps into declining the ISO demand in the contract.

 

Wonder if there is a agency that takes donated bike gear that is still usable that can be donated to places like Africa, where people can't afford gear. I know in our land of plenty, there are people, myself included, that get rid of helmets, once it has been dropped a few times. (not involved in a crash). I'm also getting ready to trash a jacket which is still good, but one of the outside shoulder pads has cracked. From videos that I've seen, it appears that most riders there are riding small displacement bikes on dirt rural roads.

 

Yes but..
The USA gives out massive aid to other countries..in Nigeria, I used to see rice and flour and the like in HUGE bags. The contents being SOLD in the market. The bags of goods with bright red stenciling on it "NOT FOR SALE, US AID".

Many of the workers had clothing that was donated and provided by some US entity. Each year "Super Bowl Champion" T shirts would appear but have the losing team on it.
First, they don't watch American NFL or even have a TV...second the shirts were made up by vendors pre super bowl one for each team playing.
Ready to sell post game...so the loser (non winner) shirts ended up in Africa amongst other countries I would venture.

I never understood how that worked on the loss, maybe they (shirt maker / printer) claim it somehow or missionary groups get them and distribute. All I can say is, they show up there..not on all but some get them.

I think your idea of donated riding gear is noble one...but most likely not able to be done...first, I am talking 10s of thousands of people (around 4 million people in Abuja, the Nigeria capital when I was there..no doubt more now...riding those small China bikes..2 strokes many of them.actually more on little bikes in Bamako Mali)...but a small percentage might get the donated gear. As to helmets, due to stringent safety (ECE, DOT, Snell, etc.) some lawyer would figure out a way to file some suit saying we provided UNSAFE gear and it killed them. It would be a huge liability. Clothing and food and the like..not so much...except the Aid does not always reach those who need it. Been there, seen it.

 

Back to the original post...and btw, this has been an informative, entertaining and fun thread AND sidebars... I learned some stuff as well. Thanks for posing the question about TEMU.

I prob have not much more in he way of inputs or opinions on this one but did want to say..

And this is probably understated or not well defined...or probably overly generalized...

TEMU would not exist, nor CF Moto or any Chinese product...actually more like we would not be importing them..if no market existed....world markets - interdependence, spill over theory and the like, nope, not even going to try to speak on that...

Perhaps it goes all the way back to the 2nd century and the "silk road" trade routes (land and sea) when trade with China was with Europe, Africa, some Asia and eventually to North America...

My old Navy bud from AL might have called it way back in those days....he called it the Sam'ich therory....whoever got the Sam'ich the other be wanting it if they got no Sam'ich

I don't trust TEMU - above and beyond the quality of product discussion, others MMV

 

I haven't been but I spent some time in Taiwan in the early 1980's and no one wore protective gear and everyone rode like a maniac, sometimes 5 to a scooter! So I can imaging what it's like! Be careful!

 

Apropos of ALMOST absolutely nothing, but still tangentially related:

Whatever happened to Wish.com?

 

Apropos of ALMOST absolutely nothing, but still tangentially related:

Whatever happened to Wish.com?

Well, the conversation does meander in these forums but it is still pertinent to motorcycles here...it is not like we have diverged into a discussion of traditional Chinese calligraphy...

 

Congrats on never hitting your head!

I had finally bought a Klim helmet, but it was second-hand and didn't really fit snugly at all. Wrecked out on some off-road stuff and got a concussion - spent the money I saved not going to the ER (I know, my wife told me I wasn't any smarter before the wreck but it sure didn't help 😁) and bought a GOOD helmet that fit properly

 

a loose helmet isnt a good thing, but one thats not strapped on at all is no thing.

 

Apparently it is illegal to use the helmet strap in the Philippines! I actually had a situation where a girl riding pillion turned around to look at me and her helmet came flying off and my front wheel ate it...crushed it like an icecream container...(they cost about 5 dollars) we all stopped and I extracted the crushed helmet from my front wheel and said, "Yeah - that's why these things have a strap" - I may as well have told her about the second law of thermodynamics - some geniuses even wear the helmet backwards...always good for a laugh.