Hey gang,
Figured i'd check in here and get some opinions from fellow gear heads...
Back in mid april I ordered a header and mid pipe system for my motorcycle. The guy that builds them is out of New Zealand. He has a good reputation (from what I could tell) on the motorcycle forum I found him on. The system cost nearly 1600 bucks, but I wanted the best and from all my research this was the guy to get the system from.
During the sales process he was emailing me back within minutes. He promised me a system in 6-8 weeks and he told me he would split the payments in 3. First payment to place order, second payment once exhaust was complete and on the way to get ceramic coated and third charge the day it ships. Perfect...
Once I ordered the system things of course changed. I guess you can say he went saleen on me...lol. After about 5 weeks of not hearing anything I checked in on him and asked if my system would be ready in the next few weeks...no response for several days so I resent the email. He replies finally that he is backed up but he will working on my system soon...without getting into every detail, he played this game with me UNTIL LAST WEEK! I had to literally threaten to cancel my order and call my bank for him to respond the last few weeks and then he got agitated and was calling me all sorts of names in the emails. I probably sent 7-10 emails that were never answered during this time frame...
I ordered the system on April 14th. That means I should have had it latest mid june. I received it August 21. So instead of the promised 6-8 weeks I got in in 19 weeks! Keep in mind the riding season where I live is not exactly long, which is why I ordered it in April.
Now on to phase 2...system finally arrived and I went ahead and installed it that night. Very nice looking system BUT it didn't fit exactly as it should have and even with new header gaskets and me checking everything 10 times THE HEADERS WERE LEAKING really badly.
Anyways, needing a custom tune for my new setup I went ahead and told the tuner that I needed the headers sealed before my new tune. He told me not a problem and would ensure they are sealed before he tunes the bike. He called me the same day I dropped the bike off and told me that the headers needed to completely come off the bike again and they needed to use double the gaskets (2 copper gaskets stacked on top of one another on all three pipes) plus silicone to seal the headers! He said the headers were nice but didn't fit as they should. This cost me several hundred dollars in labor.
Now on to phase 3...bike is ready to tune. Tuner calls me up and tells me the bike gained great power BUT the headers are so hot, there is ZERO chance I can ride the bike without a shield or header wrap. He took a heat gun to them and they were 806 degrees at the hottest point, which goes inches from your calf while your riding. He also informed me that he tuned it slightly rich to help with the heat but it didn't do much. Again, this was another disappointment considering the guy advertised these headers as running cooler than stock headers and they are ceramic coated to help with the heat.
I picked the bike up and decided to see how it was for myself...I rode home about 15 miles and barely made it. My calf and lower leg were roasting!!!! Literally roasting. I pulled my jeans up and had a huge 1st degree burn all over my inner calf! Now I had to make a choice...either wrap these headers, or get a custom heat shield done for it. Both options I did not want to use. I bought the header because of how good it looked in pics and was told by the company that these run cooler than stock etc etc.
So instead I went out and bought a 400 dollar pair of BMW riding boots that go up to my knee under my jeans...problem solved. Again, this cost me money that I feel like I should not have had to spend.
At this point I was pretty upset but being a small business owner myself I didn't want to cause any drama. So I went on the forum and guess what I find!!! A brand new thread titled "header heat" from another one of his customers!!!! This guy had gotten his system several weeks before me and his header got so hot it roasted his brake fluid (which runs near the header). This customer has literally spent thousands trying to figure out what the problem is. The company told him his tune was way off, so he had it tuned at several places, then they told him his coolant system was off, so he had his coolant system inspected and replaced a few components...after lots of digging he found out the ceramic coating this company was using, was not up to snuff AND didn't apply a thick enough coating to help with header heat!
So here is my dilemma...what would you do...I am tempted to call my bank and do a chargeback on 2 out of the 3 charges considering what I have been through. I feel like I am owed money in a big way at this point. Please let me know your thoughts. Here are some pics...
Figured i'd check in here and get some opinions from fellow gear heads...
Back in mid april I ordered a header and mid pipe system for my motorcycle. The guy that builds them is out of New Zealand. He has a good reputation (from what I could tell) on the motorcycle forum I found him on. The system cost nearly 1600 bucks, but I wanted the best and from all my research this was the guy to get the system from.
During the sales process he was emailing me back within minutes. He promised me a system in 6-8 weeks and he told me he would split the payments in 3. First payment to place order, second payment once exhaust was complete and on the way to get ceramic coated and third charge the day it ships. Perfect...
Once I ordered the system things of course changed. I guess you can say he went saleen on me...lol. After about 5 weeks of not hearing anything I checked in on him and asked if my system would be ready in the next few weeks...no response for several days so I resent the email. He replies finally that he is backed up but he will working on my system soon...without getting into every detail, he played this game with me UNTIL LAST WEEK! I had to literally threaten to cancel my order and call my bank for him to respond the last few weeks and then he got agitated and was calling me all sorts of names in the emails. I probably sent 7-10 emails that were never answered during this time frame...
I ordered the system on April 14th. That means I should have had it latest mid june. I received it August 21. So instead of the promised 6-8 weeks I got in in 19 weeks! Keep in mind the riding season where I live is not exactly long, which is why I ordered it in April.
Now on to phase 2...system finally arrived and I went ahead and installed it that night. Very nice looking system BUT it didn't fit exactly as it should have and even with new header gaskets and me checking everything 10 times THE HEADERS WERE LEAKING really badly.
Anyways, needing a custom tune for my new setup I went ahead and told the tuner that I needed the headers sealed before my new tune. He told me not a problem and would ensure they are sealed before he tunes the bike. He called me the same day I dropped the bike off and told me that the headers needed to completely come off the bike again and they needed to use double the gaskets (2 copper gaskets stacked on top of one another on all three pipes) plus silicone to seal the headers! He said the headers were nice but didn't fit as they should. This cost me several hundred dollars in labor.
Now on to phase 3...bike is ready to tune. Tuner calls me up and tells me the bike gained great power BUT the headers are so hot, there is ZERO chance I can ride the bike without a shield or header wrap. He took a heat gun to them and they were 806 degrees at the hottest point, which goes inches from your calf while your riding. He also informed me that he tuned it slightly rich to help with the heat but it didn't do much. Again, this was another disappointment considering the guy advertised these headers as running cooler than stock headers and they are ceramic coated to help with the heat.
I picked the bike up and decided to see how it was for myself...I rode home about 15 miles and barely made it. My calf and lower leg were roasting!!!! Literally roasting. I pulled my jeans up and had a huge 1st degree burn all over my inner calf! Now I had to make a choice...either wrap these headers, or get a custom heat shield done for it. Both options I did not want to use. I bought the header because of how good it looked in pics and was told by the company that these run cooler than stock etc etc.
So instead I went out and bought a 400 dollar pair of BMW riding boots that go up to my knee under my jeans...problem solved. Again, this cost me money that I feel like I should not have had to spend.
At this point I was pretty upset but being a small business owner myself I didn't want to cause any drama. So I went on the forum and guess what I find!!! A brand new thread titled "header heat" from another one of his customers!!!! This guy had gotten his system several weeks before me and his header got so hot it roasted his brake fluid (which runs near the header). This customer has literally spent thousands trying to figure out what the problem is. The company told him his tune was way off, so he had it tuned at several places, then they told him his coolant system was off, so he had his coolant system inspected and replaced a few components...after lots of digging he found out the ceramic coating this company was using, was not up to snuff AND didn't apply a thick enough coating to help with header heat!
So here is my dilemma...what would you do...I am tempted to call my bank and do a chargeback on 2 out of the 3 charges considering what I have been through. I feel like I am owed money in a big way at this point. Please let me know your thoughts. Here are some pics...
