sinncere
12-13-2011, 01:23 PM
PREFACE: I'll take more photos of the pieces on the bike as soon as I can; it's already dark by the time I get off work, and have been pretty busy lately during my days off. I will update with more photos once I have them.
Recently I decided to pull the trigger on a plan I had awhile back to revert the remaining black trim pieces on my bike to CF trim pieces. After the paint job, I thought this was the next best (and easiest) thing to do as far as bodywork was concerned.
I did a lot of reading and Favorited a lot of web pages for CF manufacturers for my bike, including the likes of Magical Racing (http://www.moto-works.jp/bikes/02_03_yzfr1.html), Dynomite UK (http://www.dynomite.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=8_50), RED Racing Parts (http://www.redracingparts.com/en/english.htm#english/motorbikesmotorcycles/productsandcomponents/general/intro/carbonfibrefiber.php), MDI Carbon Fiber (http://mdicarbonfiber.com/store/index.php?c=191), etc, and in the end, I settled for MDI Carbon Fiber. Notable reasons for having done so include their location relative to me (local in Southern CA), number of parts/trim pieces available in CF for my bike, (trim) pieces I intended to replace, and ultimately, their price.
MDI Carbon Fiber have their own consumer website to buy the parts from, but they also have an eBay store, and for some reason unknown to me, some parts for my bike in their website were listed for less through their eBay store (though not by much), so naturally I purchased the pieces that I wanted from their eBay store. The pieces in this instance were the Front Sprocket Cover, Gas Tank Trim Panels, and the Upper Fairing Trim Pieces, initially (more on this later).
http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=453265&stc=1&d=1323811357
Starting with the build/quality: MDI does not hide the fact (matter of fact, they disclose it) that they make their pieces with CF sheets, epoxy resin, AND fiberglass, the latter no doubt being a big contributor to why they are able to offer their pieces at a very competitive price. I have no quip about pure CF-only pieces, but for my purposes in replacing only the trim pieces on my bike, I had no qualms about CF/fiberglass replacements. I certainly had no problem with the lower prices too :lol!
Pitting their CF pieces next to the OEM units, it's pretty obvious they are not 100% to the dot as far as mounting dimensions are concerned, but this discrepancy did not offer a lot of trouble to make the parts useable. Mostly, the pre-drilled holes just needed to be enlarged as needed with a drill, then the pieces more or less mounted securely on the bike in conjunction with the OEM fairings. Admittedly, I am only able to use two of the three mounting holes for the CF sprocket cover due to alignment issues, but I find that any combo of the two bolts secured the sprocket cover more than enough on the bike; it's not going anywhere.
The "biggest" issue I came across as far as fitment was with the fuel tank trim panels; OEM units have tabs on their underside that are then slotted into "hooks" on the fuel tank to secure the pointed end before you screw the other end in place. The MDI CF pieces did not have these tabs, so while you can screw the pieces in places where appropriate, you had to adhere the pointed end to the tank somehow. This was not unusual per se, as other people have dealt with the same issues for these replacement pieces from other CF manufacturers, and they simply used either double-sided tape, so some kind of chemical bond. I tried the 3M double-sided tape, but found the CF pieces to still be stiff enough that they eventually pop off the tank. I didn't want to resort to a bonding agent for a couple of reasons; wasn't quite keen on slabbing anything on the bike, AND I had pulled the trigger on a CleverWolf CF tank protector. If I made the tank pieces work with the CF tank protector, I just thought there'd be too much CF around the fuel tank, which could actually detract the paint job on the tank, which is practically a center-piece for me.
So I decided to contact MDI about returning/exchanging them for other pieces instead, which segues into their service.
Customer Service/Support: First of all, shipping and receipt of the items was quick as expected, seeing as they're just five hours south of me or so. But their online customer service? Just as ready and quick :thumbup.
Before I purchased the items altogether through their eBay store, I had emailed them about having the items combined in one shipping, if they could accommodate this, and how to go about doing it on eBay. As far as I know, you purchase items in eBay one at a time, therefore you pay for each items' shipping respectively. They were quick to respond citing that they augmented their listings to show free shipping on the items I had my eye on, so I could purchase them individually through eBay and not incur any shipping costs at all. Of course, they did box them together and shipped all at once. They even honored their eBay listed prices despite the (major) difference from their own website's listed prices; one example of this is that they had a CF Clutch Cover listed for $49, but the photo is of a front sprocket cover ($75+), which is what I wanted. So I sent an inquiry about it, asking if they really meant to list a clutch cover, or a sprocket cover. They said they updated their listing to incidate a front sprocket cover as pictured, but the price remained at $49, and they honored it upon my purchase.
With the issue of returning/exchanging the fuel tank panels that I opted not to make fit on my bike, they gave me no trouble when I asked if I could instead exchange them for the Inner Trim Pieces on both mid-panels (found immediately by the radiator). All I had to do was ship the pieces back, and a week later or so, I got my replacement trim pieces, which of course, also fit to the bike with little to no issues.
In testing their outstanding service some more, I also contacted them to seee if they could replicate a front fender and rear hugger I found for my bike from Magical Racing (front with fork guards and M1 short-style rear hugger). They offer the option of contacting them for custom pieces, but I would be pleasantly surprised if they can accommodate this particular request.
I'm already more than satisfied with my transactions and dealings with MDI Carbon Fiber that I cannot recommend them enough if you are also looking into replacing small pieces to your bike. I do not have an opinion yet on their larger, more prominent replacement pieces/fairings, as I have no plan to overhaul the custom-painted OEM fairings on my bike at any time, though I did find an R1-Forum member who provided his experience and review here (http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=297571) of the larger CF fairings from MDI.
If you do not have any reservations with CF/fiberglass replacement trims and accents that are not structurally integral to your bike, and want good, fast, and hassle-free service on top of it, give MDI Carbon Fiber a consideration. :thumbup
Recently I decided to pull the trigger on a plan I had awhile back to revert the remaining black trim pieces on my bike to CF trim pieces. After the paint job, I thought this was the next best (and easiest) thing to do as far as bodywork was concerned.
I did a lot of reading and Favorited a lot of web pages for CF manufacturers for my bike, including the likes of Magical Racing (http://www.moto-works.jp/bikes/02_03_yzfr1.html), Dynomite UK (http://www.dynomite.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=8_50), RED Racing Parts (http://www.redracingparts.com/en/english.htm#english/motorbikesmotorcycles/productsandcomponents/general/intro/carbonfibrefiber.php), MDI Carbon Fiber (http://mdicarbonfiber.com/store/index.php?c=191), etc, and in the end, I settled for MDI Carbon Fiber. Notable reasons for having done so include their location relative to me (local in Southern CA), number of parts/trim pieces available in CF for my bike, (trim) pieces I intended to replace, and ultimately, their price.
MDI Carbon Fiber have their own consumer website to buy the parts from, but they also have an eBay store, and for some reason unknown to me, some parts for my bike in their website were listed for less through their eBay store (though not by much), so naturally I purchased the pieces that I wanted from their eBay store. The pieces in this instance were the Front Sprocket Cover, Gas Tank Trim Panels, and the Upper Fairing Trim Pieces, initially (more on this later).
http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=453265&stc=1&d=1323811357
Starting with the build/quality: MDI does not hide the fact (matter of fact, they disclose it) that they make their pieces with CF sheets, epoxy resin, AND fiberglass, the latter no doubt being a big contributor to why they are able to offer their pieces at a very competitive price. I have no quip about pure CF-only pieces, but for my purposes in replacing only the trim pieces on my bike, I had no qualms about CF/fiberglass replacements. I certainly had no problem with the lower prices too :lol!
Pitting their CF pieces next to the OEM units, it's pretty obvious they are not 100% to the dot as far as mounting dimensions are concerned, but this discrepancy did not offer a lot of trouble to make the parts useable. Mostly, the pre-drilled holes just needed to be enlarged as needed with a drill, then the pieces more or less mounted securely on the bike in conjunction with the OEM fairings. Admittedly, I am only able to use two of the three mounting holes for the CF sprocket cover due to alignment issues, but I find that any combo of the two bolts secured the sprocket cover more than enough on the bike; it's not going anywhere.
The "biggest" issue I came across as far as fitment was with the fuel tank trim panels; OEM units have tabs on their underside that are then slotted into "hooks" on the fuel tank to secure the pointed end before you screw the other end in place. The MDI CF pieces did not have these tabs, so while you can screw the pieces in places where appropriate, you had to adhere the pointed end to the tank somehow. This was not unusual per se, as other people have dealt with the same issues for these replacement pieces from other CF manufacturers, and they simply used either double-sided tape, so some kind of chemical bond. I tried the 3M double-sided tape, but found the CF pieces to still be stiff enough that they eventually pop off the tank. I didn't want to resort to a bonding agent for a couple of reasons; wasn't quite keen on slabbing anything on the bike, AND I had pulled the trigger on a CleverWolf CF tank protector. If I made the tank pieces work with the CF tank protector, I just thought there'd be too much CF around the fuel tank, which could actually detract the paint job on the tank, which is practically a center-piece for me.
So I decided to contact MDI about returning/exchanging them for other pieces instead, which segues into their service.
Customer Service/Support: First of all, shipping and receipt of the items was quick as expected, seeing as they're just five hours south of me or so. But their online customer service? Just as ready and quick :thumbup.
Before I purchased the items altogether through their eBay store, I had emailed them about having the items combined in one shipping, if they could accommodate this, and how to go about doing it on eBay. As far as I know, you purchase items in eBay one at a time, therefore you pay for each items' shipping respectively. They were quick to respond citing that they augmented their listings to show free shipping on the items I had my eye on, so I could purchase them individually through eBay and not incur any shipping costs at all. Of course, they did box them together and shipped all at once. They even honored their eBay listed prices despite the (major) difference from their own website's listed prices; one example of this is that they had a CF Clutch Cover listed for $49, but the photo is of a front sprocket cover ($75+), which is what I wanted. So I sent an inquiry about it, asking if they really meant to list a clutch cover, or a sprocket cover. They said they updated their listing to incidate a front sprocket cover as pictured, but the price remained at $49, and they honored it upon my purchase.
With the issue of returning/exchanging the fuel tank panels that I opted not to make fit on my bike, they gave me no trouble when I asked if I could instead exchange them for the Inner Trim Pieces on both mid-panels (found immediately by the radiator). All I had to do was ship the pieces back, and a week later or so, I got my replacement trim pieces, which of course, also fit to the bike with little to no issues.
In testing their outstanding service some more, I also contacted them to seee if they could replicate a front fender and rear hugger I found for my bike from Magical Racing (front with fork guards and M1 short-style rear hugger). They offer the option of contacting them for custom pieces, but I would be pleasantly surprised if they can accommodate this particular request.
I'm already more than satisfied with my transactions and dealings with MDI Carbon Fiber that I cannot recommend them enough if you are also looking into replacing small pieces to your bike. I do not have an opinion yet on their larger, more prominent replacement pieces/fairings, as I have no plan to overhaul the custom-painted OEM fairings on my bike at any time, though I did find an R1-Forum member who provided his experience and review here (http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=297571) of the larger CF fairings from MDI.
If you do not have any reservations with CF/fiberglass replacement trims and accents that are not structurally integral to your bike, and want good, fast, and hassle-free service on top of it, give MDI Carbon Fiber a consideration. :thumbup