When you spend $1000 on some slip ons you expect some quality and customer service.
Graves has neither.
This is from their website, Graves Exhaust systems are designed for the elite rider seeking top of the line performance, fit, finish and value.
I had 2 little cheap plugs fall out of my well crafted exhaust as they called it and they told me to buy them since they said, "We didn't cause
the rubber plugs to fall off and it's not a craftsmanship issue."
After some discussion, they said they would send out the plugs a couple weeks ago. Nothing yet.
I also said their craftsmanship sucks and their mid pipes look like ****.
They said, " The pipe benders we use and
welding process are the same builders that make our superbike pipes. If I can
get the pictures to load I'll review them."
They asked for pictures which i sent and I haven't heard a word.
I have yet to see any other manufacturer's mid pipes look so bad.
All this was over some 50 cent plugs which they feel very proud of and couldn't just ship them out right away without making a big deal out of it and all the advertising I did for them on the forums.
If you want quality for your hard earned money, look somewhere else.
I didn't come here just to bash Graves.
I came here to inform fellow riders on their options of performance exhaust and you can make your own decisions from here.
I doubt the minor performance gains ,if any, will justify the lack of quality and craftsmanship of an expensive system to put on such a beautiful bike.
Maybe the wrong person spoke to you or something along thoes lines!
Call them or PM them "they're a vendor here" and ask to speak to or request "Shane". Tell him your a member here and the issue you have. He WILL take care of it!
I don't see a name in any of the emails. It was just the sales email.
I gave them many oppurtunities to make it right and even showed them pics of my bike to try and smooth things over.
I agree with you. But Shane or anyone else should have handled it better, imo.
I blame rideit,:surprise:
Given that you think "their craftsmanship sucks and their mid pipes look like ****," why did you install them? Why not just return them and find something else?
I almost returned them and Riders Discount would have taken them back but they couldn't say if the new ones would be any different.
There was already a 3 week time period due to Graves building the exhaust and shipping etc.
I was kind of anxious at the time and then returning the exhaust and waiting another 3 weeks or more, I decided to accept them as is.
And absolutely nothing against Riders Discount. They have always been great.
It is interesting how certain aftermarket products tend to be used on specific brand bikes - even though the aftermarket supplier makes products for many lines.
Since this is a thread concerning Chuck Graves I'll post this. I'm not sure the year, but I'm pretty sure this is Chuck. I met him Wayyyy back here in Phoenix. He showed up at firebird raceway with a (new at the time)box stock gixxer. I think the bike had just came out and he ran it and ran it well.....
While I usually agree with you Elk, I do think the OP has the right to discuss quality and let forum members know of poor quality.
We all "let things go" that we shouldn't have at times. I do agree he should have sent it back.
Yes,
I didn't think of it as whining but just a personal experience and people can take it or leave it. It's just my review and if someone wants to spend their money there, that's up to them.
I'm sure Elk has some beautiful Ducatis and if something wasn't right from the dealer, he would have something to say about it but I wouldn't call it whining.
Graves made the big deal out of it and said they would ship me the plugs which they didn't and they would review the mid pipes which they didn't.
Sometimes it's the small things that sets companies aside from good or bad.
I was going to bring the mid pipes to our local polisher and clean them up.
That's why I didn't bother to send them back and deal with all the nonsense and possibly get the same condition mid pipes back after all that time.
On a positive note, they sound awesome and I took a lot of weight off the bike from the stock exhaust.
Marcel Irnie used one initially on his race bike, but had lots of problems. If my memory serves me correctly, the exhaust system fell apart during a race. He ditched it and moved on. That is one user.
I don't have any personal impressions to add. I have a Leo Vince which has gone into some sort of bankruptcy and/or closed the doors, so parts and service are non-existent.
Akrapovic or Arrow are most popular, and seem to be the best options.
My 2 cents is if you drop a wad of cash on some performance parts and the qaulity of those parts don't hold up to what they advertise, do everything in your power to get it fixed. It's worth going through the trouble, you spent the money...you should get what you paid for.
@185EZ:
Thank you for the information. I just received my Akrapovic slip on and although it didn't change the sounds of the bike dramatically, the finish and quality is one of the best I've seen. I am still in the market for a shorty for bike #2 and Austin Racing & Remus seem to be at the same quality level than Akra. I'll definitely will stay away from Graves.
I had some rubber grommets that fit more snug than what they had.
It finishes off the bare cut hole and still has a hole to releive any pressure that might blow the grommet out.
Mid pipes are going to the polisher and I'll post pics when finished.
Got my pipes back from the polisher, $50.
You can't even see the weld anymore. Did a nice job.
Some scratches were too deep to polish out since the metal is so thin.
Now I have a finished product to show off. OLD
I don't see anything wrong with those mid pipes other than the scratches that probably happened during shipping, which can happen to any exhaust. The fact that you can, "barely see the welds," should say a lot about Graves exhaust quality.
Those marks are most likely from the jaws of the bender. Unless they polish every pipe they will be there. I didn't notice marks in my Akro, but then again I didn't look that close.
It wasn't from shipping.
They put the pipes in the mandrel and shipped them out like that.
I've had several other exhausts and never saw those kinds of marks.
Those marks are most likely from the jaws of the bender. Unless they polish every pipe they will be there. I didn't notice marks in my Akro, but then again I didn't look that close.
Technically it was $910.
And I paid 50 bucks to get them cleaned up.
Delkevics are still about $500 for the pair but I didn't like the looks. I wanted something a bit more unique.
Didn't care for two brothers carbon either.
Akras were even more money so I settled inbetween
The cost of the Termignoni slipons for the Panigale 899 and 1199 is around $2200 and the Akrapovic is close to $2600. The full Akrapovic is $3500.
For the 2015 1299 you will find that the MSRP of the DP Akrapovic slipon is $3800 and the full is $5000. Of couse they come with a key to unlock the race and EVO maps respectively.
Just as info: even the Arrow Ti pipes from the header up to the link pipe are having these kind of bending machine marks. Companies like Akra either use different technique (hydro forming) or they are treating the pipes after the bending again (polishing/blasting) since my Akra's don't have the slightest mark like this on them...pity but that's the difference between all of these products :wink2:
These items are mass produced, the guy on the factory floor is not gonna give a **** if its got mandrel marks,,,thats QA's job to pass it or reject it.
Custom handmade would be a better option to have a product that is perfect.
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