Why are Bill’s Pipes not more popular?

Ghostrider145 1/31/2018 3:42pm
1/31/2018 3:42pm
In the 90’s I had a yz125 with a race motor modified by CT Racing. The owner recommended using a Bill’s exhaust.
So I chose CT Racing and Bill’s but both companies were smaller in size but seemed to actually care. I also had a few YZ250’s with Bill’s systems and a Noleen for reference.Whistling
High quality all around.
I think they bailed after the 2006 season on the Rockstar Suzuki Team? After poor results with a sub-par bike it seemed to burn them out. I’m not so sure Suzuki was backing that effort very well? I know “Dynamite” Dan was building Rocket fast bikes but that design didn’t care for added HP.

Ghost
hyler199
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hyler199 1/31/2018 3:52pm
1/31/2018 3:52pm
I like the look of them with the welded bits. that and Scalvini welds really intrigue me.

I had 1 stock ktm exhaust, two fmf gnarlys and I decided Id try the Pro Circuit Platinum 2. I am installing it on this winter and I ended up buying the Factory 304 Muffler (not the shorty) and really like the build quality of it. The expansion chamber alone looks to be better than the FMF. The mounts look better made, stronger and reinforced. The muffler looks really cool, i never thought Id ever buy one so thats something im looking forward to trying.

Anyways I hope oneday to try Bills and Scalvini they look really cool
Track and Trail 1/31/2018 4:06pm
1/31/2018 4:06pm
hyler199 wrote:
I like the look of them with the welded bits. that and Scalvini welds really intrigue me. I had 1 stock ktm exhaust, two fmf gnarlys...
I like the look of them with the welded bits. that and Scalvini welds really intrigue me.

I had 1 stock ktm exhaust, two fmf gnarlys and I decided Id try the Pro Circuit Platinum 2. I am installing it on this winter and I ended up buying the Factory 304 Muffler (not the shorty) and really like the build quality of it. The expansion chamber alone looks to be better than the FMF. The mounts look better made, stronger and reinforced. The muffler looks really cool, i never thought Id ever buy one so thats something im looking forward to trying.

Anyways I hope oneday to try Bills and Scalvini they look really cool
Neither are true cone pipes, but the Scalvini is close. The Bills version is a stamped pipe with unnecessary welds on it. Its a fake look for posers. Bills used to be very, very cool in the 90's. When they came back I was excited, but the imitation cone pipe hurts their rep.
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TomC31
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TomC31 1/31/2018 4:06pm
1/31/2018 4:06pm
Bills Pipes are amazing, i have worked with them for the last couple of years, i have been trying to get them more known here in Australia, they are a great product and great customer service, and they don't release something until it is perfect !

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Frank
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Frank 1/31/2018 5:33pm
1/31/2018 5:33pm
Good performance but they sell fake cone pipes. Sorry but that's a deal breaker for me. Worse than spoke skins.
JW381
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JW381 1/31/2018 5:41pm
1/31/2018 5:41pm
I will likely buy one for my new yz250x. Now that I have a motor that actually works, it's fun to consider different combos of pipes, silencers, vforce etc.
aeffertz
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aeffertz 1/31/2018 5:55pm
1/31/2018 5:55pm
Always get them for our 2 strokes.
TomC31
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TomC31 1/31/2018 5:57pm
1/31/2018 5:57pm


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SoCalMX70
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SoCalMX70 1/31/2018 5:58pm
1/31/2018 5:58pm Edited Date/Time 1/31/2018 5:59pm
Frank wrote:
Good performance but they sell fake cone pipes. Sorry but that's a deal breaker for me. Worse than spoke skins.
Wow, that is sad. There are far worse things that could be deal breakers. Christ.
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gnarwhip
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gnarwhip 1/31/2018 6:03pm
1/31/2018 6:03pm
Bill's rules. I had one of my YZ 125 thing sounded so sick. I've heard Bill is a super nice guy
Underground 1/31/2018 6:48pm
1/31/2018 6:48pm
Frank wrote:
Good performance but they sell fake cone pipes. Sorry but that's a deal breaker for me. Worse than spoke skins.
SoCalMX70 wrote:
Wow, that is sad. There are far worse things that could be deal breakers. Christ.
They sell cone pipe look-a-likes to want-to-be's that are after that look and still want a well performing pipe. Why is that a deal breaker? Man's got to eat. But you would by the lesser performing Scalvini because it looks more like a real cone pipe? Garage queen much?
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SoCalMX70
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SoCalMX70 1/31/2018 7:08pm
1/31/2018 7:08pm
Underground wrote:
They sell cone pipe look-a-likes to want-to-be's that are after that look and still want a well performing pipe. Why is that a deal breaker? Man's...
They sell cone pipe look-a-likes to want-to-be's that are after that look and still want a well performing pipe. Why is that a deal breaker? Man's got to eat. But you would by the lesser performing Scalvini because it looks more like a real cone pipe? Garage queen much?
Not sure why you quoted me. ???
oldblood
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oldblood 1/31/2018 7:35pm
1/31/2018 7:35pm
I tried to float the idea of the 2 stroke national race being a pipe manufacturers challenge. (To get Mitch and (Bill) and of course Donnie is all ready in it, to put some money behind some riders.
motoarmageddon 1/31/2018 8:28pm
1/31/2018 8:28pm Edited Date/Time 1/31/2018 8:32pm
Back in probably 1996 we just got our new 97 KX125 and my dad was calling around for hop up options, and he got Bill on the phone. Bill said he hadnt made a pipe for the 97 yet, but he had one for a 95 that would mount up but he hadnt tested with it. Bill sent us the pipe for free and just said to give him some feedback on how it ran. I remember the pipe had a big midrange hit but didnt rev as high as Pro Circuit. In those days i revved the shit out of my bike, throttle locked wide open and the clutch was my on/off. I liked my bike to have all top end
mxjon454
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mxjon454 1/31/2018 9:36pm
1/31/2018 9:36pm
I have a Bills on my '04 Suzuki 125 right now. Ive always ran Bills on all the Suzuki 2 strokes ive owned, including when i was on 80s. When 4 strokes came onto the scene, their pipes just werent the best out there, but their 2 stroke stuff has always been incredible. I dont think id get a 4 stroke exhaust from them, id go with Yosh, PC, or FMF depending on what bike i ended up on.
josh8811
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josh8811 1/31/2018 9:48pm
1/31/2018 9:48pm Edited Date/Time 1/31/2018 9:50pm
The boring name is part of the problem. Bills, or flying machine factory?
SoCalMX70
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SoCalMX70 1/31/2018 10:04pm
1/31/2018 10:04pm
mxjon454 wrote:
I have a Bills on my '04 Suzuki 125 right now. Ive always ran Bills on all the Suzuki 2 strokes ive owned, including when i...
I have a Bills on my '04 Suzuki 125 right now. Ive always ran Bills on all the Suzuki 2 strokes ive owned, including when i was on 80s. When 4 strokes came onto the scene, their pipes just werent the best out there, but their 2 stroke stuff has always been incredible. I dont think id get a 4 stroke exhaust from them, id go with Yosh, PC, or FMF depending on what bike i ended up on.
I wouldn't just dismiss their 4 stroke stuff. I've been following them for the past couple years and they've put some serious development and testing into their latest 4 stroke exhausts... especially over just this past year.
oldblood
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oldblood 1/31/2018 10:14pm
1/31/2018 10:14pm
josh8811 wrote:
The boring name is part of the problem. Bills, or flying machine factory?
funny in 83 me and the groms thought it meant 'fast mo............... .........

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SoCalMX70
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SoCalMX70 1/31/2018 10:16pm
1/31/2018 10:16pm
josh8811 wrote:
The boring name is part of the problem. Bills, or flying machine factory?
oldblood wrote:
funny in 83 me and the groms thought it meant 'fast mo............... .........
I thought the same thing as a kid in the 90s... Silly
Tom711
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Tom711 1/31/2018 11:47pm
1/31/2018 11:47pm
josh8811 wrote:
The boring name is part of the problem. Bills, or flying machine factory?
That’s funny because the name or the fact that it isn’t used by any of the guys all other tv or social media wasn’t even considered by my 10 year old son. I just told him it was the best pipe for him and his bike and he was happy. I might of dropped TP’s name once or twice just to seal the deal Wink
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kkawboy14 1/31/2018 11:54pm
1/31/2018 11:54pm
KennyT wrote:
It’s the name....Pro Circuit...FMF...now those are cool stickers
They could have used “amateur circuit” “MFM” “breaking wind” “flow” “Hi-Flow” but noooo they had to use Bills! Smile
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JW381 2/1/2018 5:07am
2/1/2018 5:07am
Which 2 stroke pipe offers the best over rev?
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Frodad78 2/1/2018 5:14am
2/1/2018 5:14am
JW381 wrote:
Which 2 stroke pipe offers the best over rev?
DEP Rev pipe is pretty nice. I like the quality of the build as well.
SeaClassExpert 2/1/2018 7:50am
2/1/2018 7:50am
They're not as popular because of a few reasons.

1. They aren't distributed by RMATV. I don't have market share figures but I have to think they move a lot of product these days.

2. Marketing: FMF sponsors the hell out of this sport and for better or worse, everybody runs their stuff or PC it seems like.

3. Sponsorship: I can't think of any SX or Outdoor teams that run Bill's stuff. Maybe I am mistaken? The only big name I can think of that is sponsored by them is Stank dawg.
SoCalMX70
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SoCalMX70 2/1/2018 8:27am
2/1/2018 8:27am
SeaClassExpert wrote:
They're not as popular because of a few reasons. 1. They aren't distributed by RMATV. I don't have market share figures but I have to think...
They're not as popular because of a few reasons.

1. They aren't distributed by RMATV. I don't have market share figures but I have to think they move a lot of product these days.

2. Marketing: FMF sponsors the hell out of this sport and for better or worse, everybody runs their stuff or PC it seems like.

3. Sponsorship: I can't think of any SX or Outdoor teams that run Bill's stuff. Maybe I am mistaken? The only big name I can think of that is sponsored by them is Stank dawg.
Cursory glance to the front page of Vital tells me HEP Suzuki is running Bill's. Wink
Tracktor
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Tracktor 2/1/2018 9:09am
2/1/2018 9:09am
Frank wrote:
Good performance but they sell fake cone pipes. Sorry but that's a deal breaker for me. Worse than spoke skins.
Well, except the fact that true "cone" pipes don't necessarily make more power than a stamped pipe. It's usually just a way to test designs or manufacture one off pieces. A stamped pipe would have less internal disruption due to less welds. I would worry less about looks and more about performance......................
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SeaClassExpert 2/1/2018 9:30am
2/1/2018 9:30am
SeaClassExpert wrote:
They're not as popular because of a few reasons. 1. They aren't distributed by RMATV. I don't have market share figures but I have to think...
They're not as popular because of a few reasons.

1. They aren't distributed by RMATV. I don't have market share figures but I have to think they move a lot of product these days.

2. Marketing: FMF sponsors the hell out of this sport and for better or worse, everybody runs their stuff or PC it seems like.

3. Sponsorship: I can't think of any SX or Outdoor teams that run Bill's stuff. Maybe I am mistaken? The only big name I can think of that is sponsored by them is Stank dawg.
SoCalMX70 wrote:
Cursory glance to the front page of Vital tells me HEP Suzuki is running Bill's. Wink
LOL thank you, I knew they had to be sponsoring somebody. Is this their first team?

Anecdotally, I have Bill's on my Husky and I genuinely don't think I'll buy FMF again, the difference in quality and performance is noticeable.
MXBen711 2/1/2018 10:46am
2/1/2018 10:46am
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
Bills IS hugely popular, just not in the UK. Madison powersports was the importer to the UK for a while but evidently didn't hit the figures...
Bills IS hugely popular, just not in the UK.
Madison powersports was the importer to the UK for a while but evidently didn't hit the figures that size of company expects so they canned it, now Doc Wob is the importer, but it does appear that he too is doing it half hearted job of it- low stock, hit & miss delivery dates, etc etc.... Perhaps this is merely a reflection of the size of the business here in the UK? There cannot be fortunes to be made from it, so why invest big time. Doc Wob is no mug in this field.

A very good friend of mine is personal friends with Bill cervera. He tells some interesting stories- he's old skool, been around a long time and seen a lot of things.
Did you know in the early days Bill made Pro circuit pipes for Mitch?
Bill is a two stroke fanatic and expert. When four strokes were coming in he hooked up with Big Gun and made pipes for them which I believe are now Branded Bill's.
I think a big part of his business now revolves around building roll cages for race cars if I remember right.
Theres many reasons why Bills pipes never has and never will work in the UK, and that's their ambitions outweigh their ability to supply. It might be different in the USA but in the UK that's how it was.

We launched the product really well in the UK but soon after as we grew the brand we couldn't get our stock, and on review trips we'd see pallets of our stock with dust on them we had struggled to get a reply about for months. Add to that the 4 stroke pipes weren't great when they originally came out and we were unable to continue. Evidently not due to low sales figures as some might suggest.

We would have quite happily carried on with Bills Pipes for as long as we could if the product could be supplied to meet requirements, but holding locations open in a warehouse in the hope that you might get stock one day isn't a successful business model.

I think maybe you'll find that Doc Wob might be having the same trouble, the guys there do a great job and its not like them to have patchy stock if they can help it.

Oh, and I'm the MX brand manager at Madison Powersports, its not my first post but I couldn't remember my password
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captmoto 2/1/2018 11:09am
2/1/2018 11:09am Edited Date/Time 2/1/2018 11:10am
SeaClassExpert wrote:
LOL thank you, I knew they had to be sponsoring somebody. Is this their first team? Anecdotally, I have Bill's on my Husky and I genuinely...
LOL thank you, I knew they had to be sponsoring somebody. Is this their first team?

Anecdotally, I have Bill's on my Husky and I genuinely don't think I'll buy FMF again, the difference in quality and performance is noticeable.
Is your Husky a 4 stroke? What year and model. Considering Bill's because I can go directly to them to buy and can get a little bit off on it. 17 FC450.
SoCalMX70
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SoCalMX70 2/1/2018 11:11am
2/1/2018 11:11am
SeaClassExpert wrote:
They're not as popular because of a few reasons. 1. They aren't distributed by RMATV. I don't have market share figures but I have to think...
They're not as popular because of a few reasons.

1. They aren't distributed by RMATV. I don't have market share figures but I have to think they move a lot of product these days.

2. Marketing: FMF sponsors the hell out of this sport and for better or worse, everybody runs their stuff or PC it seems like.

3. Sponsorship: I can't think of any SX or Outdoor teams that run Bill's stuff. Maybe I am mistaken? The only big name I can think of that is sponsored by them is Stank dawg.
SoCalMX70 wrote:
Cursory glance to the front page of Vital tells me HEP Suzuki is running Bill's. Wink
SeaClassExpert wrote:
LOL thank you, I knew they had to be sponsoring somebody. Is this their first team? Anecdotally, I have Bill's on my Husky and I genuinely...
LOL thank you, I knew they had to be sponsoring somebody. Is this their first team?

Anecdotally, I have Bill's on my Husky and I genuinely don't think I'll buy FMF again, the difference in quality and performance is noticeable.
Honestly not sure. I would venture to say yes it is. People are really just catching on that Bill's is very serious about their 4 stroke game... If they do things right I could see some expansion in the near future, meaning more stock and more retailers carrying their stuff.
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