How rare is this pipe?

Manbearpig
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Edgewood, TX US
Edited Date/Time 4/23/2018 7:56pm
So I stumbled across this pipe on Ebay and purchased it because I wanted a raw pipe for my 92 RM125 I'm restoring. I know companies used brass welds in the 80s and 90s but this is next level.

Any thoughts?
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cvm
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Monrovia, MD US
4/23/2018 3:00am
I'm not educated enough, but the pipe was welded & maybe the emblem was "braised" on??
Either way its awesome Smile

Manbearpig
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Edgewood, TX US
4/23/2018 7:03am
cvm wrote:
I'm not educated enough, but the pipe was welded & maybe the emblem was "braised" on??
Either way its awesome Smile

My thoughts exactly. I just don't remember seeing many raw fmf pipes for older bikes or the massive brass badge.
Bearuno
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4/23/2018 7:43am Edited Date/Time 4/23/2018 7:45am
Pressed / embossed on it, but covered as a whole, is, I assume, Gold Pipe, the FMF logo, and Feel The Power.

Why? Perhaps the FMF logo was badly done, and they opted to cover it up with the plate, and not 'Gold' plate it? At the original factory level.

Perhaps it's got a nasty bit of damage at the original logo area, and a plate has been scavenged from another pipe by an owner / repairer?

It's just run of the mill ( by a decent Welders standard ) group of brazes there. But well above the usual chicken shit brazing you see on most pipes. Check out brazing on many British ( and other nations) aftermarket frames some time. Or, CCMs. When I was starting to TIG in the 70s, Ray Ryan's ( one of the originators of ADB ) CCM was in the Competition Development workshop, opposite my frame jig, giving me a shitload of inspiration to equal / better the craftsmanship right in front of me.

Although, TIG brazing is a bit like cheating.......Whistling
Manbearpig
Posts
913
Joined
10/8/2008
Location
Edgewood, TX US
4/23/2018 7:56pm
Bearuno wrote:
Pressed / embossed on it, but covered as a whole, is, I assume, Gold Pipe, the FMF logo, and Feel The Power. Why? Perhaps the FMF...
Pressed / embossed on it, but covered as a whole, is, I assume, Gold Pipe, the FMF logo, and Feel The Power.

Why? Perhaps the FMF logo was badly done, and they opted to cover it up with the plate, and not 'Gold' plate it? At the original factory level.

Perhaps it's got a nasty bit of damage at the original logo area, and a plate has been scavenged from another pipe by an owner / repairer?

It's just run of the mill ( by a decent Welders standard ) group of brazes there. But well above the usual chicken shit brazing you see on most pipes. Check out brazing on many British ( and other nations) aftermarket frames some time. Or, CCMs. When I was starting to TIG in the 70s, Ray Ryan's ( one of the originators of ADB ) CCM was in the Competition Development workshop, opposite my frame jig, giving me a shitload of inspiration to equal / better the craftsmanship right in front of me.

Although, TIG brazing is a bit like cheating.......Whistling
Well I contacted someone that knew their stuff at FMF. And it turns out to be one of their factory pipes that they did a few of. They would use the standard pipe and not nickel plate them and put a brass badge over the normal imprinted fmf logos. They would actually paint these pipes black from the factory because of rusting at sea level. Interesting stuff to my dumb ass. Haha

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