P3 Carbon Fiber Pipe Guard Review

[Chad 0]

Thought I'd do a quick review of a recent purchase... A P3 Pirie Performance Products carbon fiber exhaust guard for the FMF Mega Bomb - For KTM 350 XCF-W (Item #: P3HSKT35MB).

Can be found here on the internet - http://www.shop.piri...-P3HSKT35MB.htm

Craftsmanship

This is a great looking, well made guard. It is clean, smooth and the edges are well finished. The fit is near perfect. What I would term ideal spacing between the guard and the pipe at all points of coverage. A model I purchased for my stock header (sorry, don't recall the manufacturer) has points where the guard makes contact with the header.

The guard also has heat shielding paint on the inside to keep some of the heat from the header from passing through the guard to your pants, etc. Again, it's clean and looks nice. If it works, a great idea and addition.

The only other model I found online is the Moose/E-Line model (only did a quick search). The P3 appears to have superior fit and workmanship, but I wasn't able to compare them side by side.

Cost - $104.95 + shipping

A few dollars more the Moose/E-Line model ($99.95), but appears to be markedly superior. The Moose model does not appear to have the accurate fit of the P3 and does not have the heat shielding paint on the interior.

Is it worth the wait?

I'll start by saying Eric attempts to let you know he may take some time to deliver on your order. He is a one-man shop and purportedly makes each guard by hand. He states on his page:

"Due to the current overwhelming popularity of our products, most items will take up to 4 to 6 weeks to ship, and some items could be longer then 4-6 weeks. Please understand that we strive to ship your order as quickly as we can. At this time it is best to contact us via email to check on specific product backlog. Our email address is: pirie@msn.com

I placed my order on 1/24/2013. My credit card was charged on 2/6/2013. My order was shipped on 6/25/2103, 158 days later! 5 months is certainly longer than 4-6 weeks!

As suggested on the website, I e-mailed Eric to get an idea of backlog and estimated shipping delays. I received no response. So I went ahead and ordered anyway. After 6 weeks, I requested an update on my order 3 times via e-mail. Never received a response on any e-mail.

At the most, Eric's customer service is non-existent. But a quick search of the internet on the subject reveals this over and over again.

Due to things I had going on... trips, injury, and no overwhelming compulsion to put my new mega bomb on, I was not overly upset with the delay. I did worry I would never receive the product though. Then I would have been a different story!

Hopefully the pics will give you a good idea of the quality of Eric's work. In my opinion, it is a very high quality product with an excellent fit. Far superior to the carbon fiber guard I purchased for my stock pipe.

I would highly recommend Eric's products for the price and quality. HOWEVER, if you are impatient, need your order filled quickly, or despise crappy customer service, I would not suggest ordering through Eric.

Hopefully, you'll find this helpful... Covered what I thought was important. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

[Spaugh 1]

I have one on my 2T. Its a great product but that guy doesnt know how to run a business. Doesnt return emails, charges you months before shipping etc. If his guards werent as nice as they are he would be ancient history.

[Chad 0]

I have one on my 2T. Its a great product but that guy doesnt know how to run a business. Doesnt return emails, charges you months before shipping etc. If his guards werent as nice as they are he would be ancient history.

Agreed.

[daijones 0]

Great guards for sure, I run them on most of my 2 strokes but have always been fortunate to find them in stock with other dealers (like Munn racing @ ktmtalk) so not had the long waits / no response dealing directly.