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On The TrackHad a trackday, a good or bad day at the track? Want to get started racing? Just like racing? Cmon insde and post questions, results or comments.
The local Harbor Freight stores are having a sale through 7/7 on some useful bike hauling bits:
This very nice chock is $50 (usually $80 instore). I stopped by and looked at it today. I have a Baxley chock already, and this isn't as nice, but it's not $225, either. It's definitely sturdy and reliable. I think it's better than:
This other chock. I have one of these, too, normally $50 instore and on sale for $38. This is another "rollover" type chock, also very sturdy, but doesn't come with mounting hardware to make it freestanding. It also has a concern for street bikes - if you look at those side bars, they overlap the rotors. If you go in straight and secure the bike so it doesn't lean, you're fine - the V-shape at the front of the chock centers the tire and leaves clearance between the bars and the rotors. But if the bike started to come loose or topple for some reason I could see a potential for a bent rotor.
And finally, a sale on their 4x8' *folding* trailer; regularly $250 instore, on sale for $200. This would work fine with the included 8" tires, but when they wore out I'd probably upgrade to 12". These are not up to the standards of the $1200 trailers, but for occasional use they are absolutely fine, especially if you have the seams welded for cheap after you get it all bolted together.
most of harbor freights stuff is junk.
choose what you buy wisely.
70% of the things I've bought have broken.
the hand tools made by Pittsburgh tools are about the only thing there that are decent quality.
Last edited by serpentracer : 07-04-2008 at 12:18 PM.
most of harbor freights stuff is junk.
choose what you buy wisely.
70% of the things I've bought have broken.
the hand tools made by Pittsburgh tools are about the only thing there that are decent quality.
Maybe, but I"ve had that trailer & have used it EXTENSIVELY for 3 years now, often with two bikes at once & it has held up great.
I've bought quite a few things from HF over the years, typically I try to keep from buying anything that's 'mission-critical' from there, just in the off-chance that it's going to fail on me. I've been running one of their 60-gallon 6hp compressors for nearly 8 years straight now and the only thing that has gone wrong with it is that the motor broke away from the baseplate and I had to replace it. The pump hasn't had the oil changed AT ALL in that period of time, and it gets a LOT of use. I had one of their 1/4" drive air ratchets lock up after a couple years use.. but for less than $30, I think I got my 2 years worth of use out of it. Wheel chocks? I dunno if I'd trust HF to holding up my bike going down the highway. But that's a risk assessment each of us needs to make individually.
Well, that's why I gave a review of those particular products based on my ownership/examination. If you'd rather go with serpents "most of their stuff is garbage" careful scrutiny, feel free by all means.
kevin, I live down the road from one of the stores, I see the stuff in person. the welds on the silver one looks like a blind man did it.
the store is pretty much a junk yard for tools. I'm serious. china owns this MF and not the good china parts either! scrap bottom of the barrel china stuff.
the central Pneumatic and pittsburgh tools are about the only things they have that are not complete junk.
I have a small compressor and roofing nailer that has worked great for a few years. granted I don't use them daily.
but the air compressor is made with the cheapest plastic you can find. it fell over in the truck, and it broke the air filter housing, the motor housing cover, and the handle. just from tiping over in a pickup truck.
I seen less damage to a generac generator when it fell out of a moving truck at 35mph.
the name of the game at harbor freight is CHEAP! and I'm not talking about prices.
Last edited by serpentracer : 07-05-2008 at 08:44 PM.
Sure, but you know that going in. Do the welds on the silver one look like they'll fail from a 500lb motorcycle leaning on them? No, I don't think so either. You have to take this stuff for what it's worth. What did I say in the post? The trailer isn't as good as a $1200 one. But it'll hold together fine for occasional use. (shrug)
If you need commercial grade stuff, buy commercial grade stuff. For a lot of the things we do, we don't *need* commercial grade stuff. That's why Harbor Freight exists.
I too use Harbor Freight for many of my occasional tools. They work fine. Hundreds of bike guys have endorsed the folding trailer, albeit with the advice to get the 12 inch tires and to check the lug nuts regularly.
Most of the people who have lifts or chocks from HF seem to report being happy with them. A couple of people have reported a broken bolt on the lift, but not for a few years.
It is a good idea to look at stuff before you buy it. But there are plenty of good, serviceable deals there.
Use HF for stuff you need once: safety-wire drillbits come to mind. The odds are it won't last beyond one use.
My 4" grinder did last beyond one use. The Sawz-all didn't. The 1/4" drive inch-pound torque wrench still works, but the plastic in the detail spray gun didn't stand up to the heat in my garage well, and became brittle and shattered.
I wouldn't use their stuff for anything mission-critical either, but that's my choice.
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When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.
I have the first chock you link to. We have used for about six round trips to track days and races. We are very happy with it. Bolted it too the trailer and left it there. The only issue is that the front tire gets wedged in pretty tight, we bring a pry bar to pop it loose.
In the 20 years I've now been in manufacturing as a Tool & Die Maker I've learned that just because something LOOKS like something else, doesn't mean it is! Many people don't realize that metal and plastic come in a huge variety of different compounds used to make them. A knock-off part can be made to look basically identical to the genuine article, and for a Hell of alot cheaper, but sadly too often the knock-off item won't last due to the cheaper or even inferior materials used to make them. I personally know people who will buy cheaper stuff "because it's such a great deal" and MAYBE get lucky and get a good one, but so often the item breaks or wears out very quickly.
I personally think it's sad how very few people even care if what they buy supports their own country or not, but even though I personally try as hard as I can to buy only 'Made in America' products that's a whole different issue. The key to getting people to buy the knock-off products is taking advantage of the consumerism already in place, many people see an item that LOOKS like a genuine one they've seen or heard about and purchase the knock-off based on that. In some cases a knock-off item may actually work fine, the issue then becomes consistency in manufacturing practices when someone else goes to buy that product - will it be one of the good ones or one of the bad ones?
As was said above, I would use great caution in what knock-off products you use, is the money you save initially really saving you anything if the item fails? What if that item failing causes something else to be damaged or is a safety hazard? I will admit I have intentionally purchased some knock-off products when I knew I would probably never use the item again. For example, recently I needed a huge socket to tighten a nut on something I would most likely never need again and I bought the $12 China socket instead of the $60 lifetime guarenteed socket - If I would have needed to use that socket on an even occasional basis I would have bought the good one without hesitation. My brother recently bought an electric drill from HF and it died the 1st time he used it, another guy thought he was getting such a great deal on some hammer drills at HF that he bought 3 more of them for use in building his new house - 3 more of them because the 1st one died in a very short time and for the price he could actually buy all 4 of them and just throw them away if they died - short term gain, long term loss, just keep filling the landfills with junk.
Be selective / careful with your purchases guys and gals, make sure what your getting is really the deal you think it is.
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What you just read is my opinion and is based on my experiences and the info I have acquired during my life, it's my interpretation and isn't written in stone. Yes, I post long responses regularly because I like to fully explain my views. Don't like it or agree with what I have to say? Then don't read it or respond to it! Respond like an immature idiot to posts of mine and I will just ignore you. Have a nice day.
My buddy just bought the 4x8 trailer, sort of a get what you pay for type of deal, but it didn't seem too bad.. I personally don't like HF, seems low quality to me.
Harbor Freight sale on some transport stuff.
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