Cascade- innovations

[Sandking]

Another quality place for billet and anything else custom check out risdesigns.

[Snopczynski]

Good to no that Im not the only one that has had problems with them. Just kinda shady now that Ive gotten to know them better. Dont think ill ever trust them again. I can also get similar billet parts and accessories from 3 of my vendors that somewhat specialize in the billet and bling. Hit me up anytime.

 

I think before I went bad mouthing a shop on here, I would ask them directly to clarify what your accusing them of. So far you have acted on what sounds like 2nd hand (from the grapevine)information from someone else. I would make sure my facts are straight before I went and said something about them. I can tell you right now, you have already said some things that are false.

 

Mike has been doing all their port work for a little over 2 years now, Chris does all the crank work in house as well, and has for some time. They haven't used Louie Swan for cranks in about 3 years. They also do all their boring in house. They are a full engine shop, not just an assembly shop.

 

I have being doing business with them since 1993, and I am prety confident in their ability to do motor work, I trust the parts they sell, and their pricing is fair. They also carry everything for a banshee, and always have even the most odd ball motor parts in stock.

[alf44]

Another quality place for billet and anything else custom check out risdesigns.

R.I.S does have a great line of billet parts and accessories and lots of other cool shit. I am also a dealer for them.

 

I think before I went bad mouthing a shop on here, I would ask them directly to clarify what your accusing them of. So far you have acted on what sounds like 2nd hand (from the grapevine)information from someone else. I would make sure my facts are straight before I went and said something about them. I can tell you right now, you have already said some things that are false.

 

Mike has been doing all their port work for a little over 2 years now, Chris does all the crank work in house as well, and has for some time. They haven't used Louie Swan for cranks in about 3 years. They also do all their boring in house. They are a full engine shop, not just an assembly shop.

 

I have being doing business with them since 1993, and I am prety confident in their ability to do motor work, I trust the parts they sell, and their pricing is fair. They also carry everything for a banshee, and always have even the most odd ball motor parts in stock.

Actually I also have a long history with them. Nothing against the guys personally. Im not bashing them, Im simply stating some past experience with them. I trusted them until they werent honest with me. Its not second hand. Theres actually alot of history there. So like I stated its just my opinion, my experience with them and thats it. No need to get upset man. Mike personally told me 2 months ago when they set my motor up that He has just recently started to do port work himself and that they DO send there stuff out to lou. No biggie dude. Im just proly not going to use them any longer. Dishonesty sucks.

[Snopczynski]

R.I.S does have a great line of billet parts and accessories and lots of other cool shit. I am also a dealer for them.

 

 

Actually I also have a long history with them. Nothing against the guys personally. Im not bashing them, Im simply stating some past experience with them. I trusted them until they werent honest with me. Its not second hand. Theres actually alot of history there. So like I stated its just my opinion, my experience with them and thats it. No need to get upset man. Mike personally told me 2 months ago when they set my motor up that He has just recently started to do port work himself and that they DO send there stuff out to lou. No biggie dude. Im just proly not going to use them any longer. Dishonesty sucks.

 

Thats odd, Chris told me about an hour ago that mike has been doing the port work for a little over 2 years now. Chris had also told me in the same conversation that he himself had been doing the crankwork himself since they quit using Louie all those years ago. Im not sure I feel the dishonesty lies with Cascade on this one.

[bansheesandrider]

I think before I went bad mouthing a shop on here, I would ask them directly to clarify what your accusing them of. So far you have acted on what sounds like 2nd hand (from the grapevine)information from someone else. I would make sure my facts are straight before I went and said something about them. I can tell you right now, you have already said some things that are false.

 

Mike has been doing all their port work for a little over 2 years now, Chris does all the crank work in house as well, and has for some time. They haven't used Louie Swan for cranks in about 3 years. They also do all their boring in house. They are a full engine shop, not just an assembly shop.

 

I have being doing business with them since 1993, and I am prety confident in their ability to do motor work, I trust the parts they sell, and their pricing is fair. They also carry everything for a banshee, and always have even the most odd ball motor parts in stock.

Every time I go in there I get nothing but attitude from Chris. He is a Banshee god and I am an idiot. 3 years ago when we were doing my buddy's GF's bike he went there to pickup the crank and was told that it had not come back from the rebuilder yet. My buddy asked who the rebuilder was, thinking it was probably Twister which was on the way home, and they told him they could not give out that info. They did not want to give it out because they did not want to lose their cut. So it was only second hand because It was my buddy's crank that I was waiting to put in. It was also the same buddy that bought the bike from them and had clutch problems while we were riding together, but he did not want me to spend time fixing it for him when they should have done it under warranty. If somebody spent 6 or 7K in my shop, I would want to make sure that they were happy with the expierence they had with me, not charge them more money to fix the problem. Also this is a buddy that I would trust with my life or wife and there are not to many people that I would say that about. When I wanted a set of CSFX silencers to go on my wife's T3s, they wanted to charge me normal price for a set PLUS $70 an hour shop labor for probaly about 3 hours to "custom" build me a set of stingers to fit the T3s as they no longer made them for T3s. That used to be a stinger that hung on the wall all the time but he said he would have to "custom" build me a set. I told him it would be cheaper for me to buy a set of Fattys and stingers for them than to custom build ones for the T3s. I have spent alot of money there over the years, I have cascade seats on all my bikes and I have just about every billet piece they make for a Banshee on my bike. 2 of my bikes used to be in their photo album on the counter and Becky knew me on sight when she saw me away from the shop. But when Kevin and Becky sold it, the customer service has gone seriously down hill. I only go in there for parts or seat covers now, but then again I don't like anybody working on my stuff but me. Like I said before, I take all my crank work, boring and head work to Twister. The last crank I had done, Louie did while I waited and he walked me through every step of what he was doing and told me why or how. It all made sense to me and he did the complete crank very quickly with no wasted steps.But you are right about their parts inventory at Cascade, it is very good. But as Alf said, I won't trust them to build me a motor or do critical work.Also, I am just stating the expierences that I have had with them.

Edited July 9, 2010 by bansheesandrider

[alf44]

Every time I go in there I get nothing but attitude from Chris. He is a Banshee god and I am an idiot. 3 years ago when we were doing my buddy's GF's bike he went there to pickup the crank and was told that it had not come back from the rebuilder yet. My buddy asked who the rebuilder was, thinking it was probably Twister which was on the way home, and they told him they could not give out that info. They did not want to give it out because they did not want to lose their cut. So it was only second hand because It was my buddy's crank that I was waiting to put in. It was also the same buddy that bought the bike from them and had clutch problems while we were riding together, but he did not want me to spend time fixing it for him when they should have done it under warranty. If somebody spent 6 or 7K in my shop, I would want to make sure that they were happy with the expierence they had with me, not charge them more money to fix the problem. Also this is a buddy that I would trust with my life or wife and there are not to many people that I would say that about. When I wanted a set of CSFX silencers to go on my wife's T3s, they wanted to charge me normal price for a set PLUS $70 an hour shop labor for probaly about 3 hours to "custom" build me a set of stingers to fit the T3s as they no longer made them for T3s. That used to be a stinger that hung on the wall all the time but he said he would have to "custom" build me a set. I told him it would be cheaper for me to buy a set of Fattys and stingers for them than to custom build ones for the T3s. I have spent alot of money there over the years, I have cascade seats on all my bikes and I have just about every billet piece they make for a Banshee on my bike. 2 of my bikes used to be in their photo album on the counter and Becky knew me on sight when she saw me away from the shop. But when Kevin and Becky sold it, the customer service has gone seriously down hill. I only go in there for parts or seat covers now, but then again I don't like anybody working on my stuff but me. Like I said before, I take all my crank work, boring and head work to Twister. The last crank I had done, Louie did while I waited and he walked me through every step of what he was doing and told me why or how. It all made sense to me and he did the complete crank very quickly with no wasted steps.But you are right about their parts inventory at Cascade, it is very good. But as Alf said, I won't trust them to build me a motor or do critical work.Also, I am just stating the expierences that I have had with them.

[jbooker82]

Ive had nothing but great experiences dealing with Mike and Chris. Its been a while since I have needed anything from them. But I have to agree with Snop about Mike's been porting for a couple years. I have no idea who does there crank work. Most builders only true and weld in house anyways. Almost every other builder sends their cranks to either Twister or Crankworks anyways. So I dont see a big deal there. And not to burst any bubbles, but Im pretty sure Cascade is not too concerned about losing work to you Alf. Cascade has been around for a long time and sells and ships parts worldwide. They have their own product line and have built bikes that have been showcased in Magazines and online. They have distributors selling some of their goodies and have a strong stance in this market place.

 

There are going to be times when doing business that you cannot please every customer. I can see the frustration when at one time you get a deal on custom silencers, but when you go back the price went up or almost doubled. I know there has been times when I have built parts for a client only to find out I really under quoted the job. But you can be sure I wont do it as cheap the next time. But then I get the "well you did it for my buddy for this price" senario, and now im the bad guy. So I can see how its difficult from both points of view.

Well said. Besides where you going to get chrome CPI's or Shearers that look this good.

[bansheesandrider]

My frustration on the pipe deal was not that the price had gone up. They wanted me to pay regular price for a set of stingers and silencers PLUS pay 3 hours shop labor for the custom stingers. When Kevin still owned it and the silencers had first come out when Oregon cracked down on noise, Kevin did a set of custom stingers with slincers for my Engine Trix pipes at the normal price, no additional labor for "custom" stingers. So on the T3 deal they wanted me to pay for 1 set of silencers and 2 sets of stingers but they were only going to give me 1 set of stingers and 1 set of silencers. That is exactly how Chris said it to me and he told me to "take it or leave it", I said I would leave it and if I wanted their silencers that I would buy a set of Fattys(which my wife likes better anyway) and then buy a set of off the shelf silencers.

 

 

As for where else you can get nice chrome pipe, just buy a set of bare pipes and take them to a well known local chrome shop. That is all Cascade is doing. They certainly are NOT doing their own chrome.

 

All I am saying is that based on my expierences with them , they will not be building any motors for me, or doing any crank, cylinder or head work. I will continue to buy parts, seat covers and off the shelf silencers from them, because in those catagories they have some of the best deals out there, on items that fit my needs.

Edited July 10, 2010 by bansheesandrider

[Snopczynski]

My frustration on the pipe deal was not that the price had gone up. They wanted me to pay regular price for a set of stingers and silencers PLUS pay 3 hours shop labor for the custom stingers. When Kevin still owned it and the silencers had first come out when Oregon cracked down on noise, Kevin did a set of custom stingers with slincers for my Engine Trix pipes at the normal price, no additional labor for "custom" stingers. So on the T3 deal they wanted me to pay for 1 set of silencers and 2 sets of stingers but they were only going to give me 1 set of stingers and 1 set of silencers. That is exactly how Chris said it to me and he told me to "take it or leave it", I said I would leave it and if I wanted their silencers that I would buy a set of Fattys(which my wife likes better anyway) and then buy a set of off the shelf silencers.

 

 

As for where else you can get nice chrome pipe, just buy a set of bare pipes and take them to a well known local chrome shop. That is all Cascade is doing. They certainly are NOT doing their own chrome.

 

All I am saying is that based on my expierences with them , they will not be building any motors for me, or doing any crank, cylinder or head work. I will continue to buy parts, seat covers and off the shelf silencers from them, because in those catagories they have some of the best deals out there, on items that fit my needs.

 

Cascade currently uses a Jig for their stinger tubes, so to mass produce stinger tubes and sell them is not an issue. The Cut T3 pipes were never the same between any two models because they were hand cut and re-welded. So making a jig for the stinger tubes would be impossible. To correctly make stinger tubes for cut T3's, you would need to take the bike and pipes there, then have them bend up the stinger tubes by hand on the bike. I don't know what your experience is with the retail industry or custom work, but custom jobs go by an hourly rate. I made a set of cut T3 stinger tubes for csfx silencers here in my shop and charged the person an hourly rate to do it. As far as you thinking what they told you was ridiculous, it is not, it is how businesses operate. Its like AZCUSTOM said, you do it once for a set low/standard price, and figure out that you will never do it again at that price. It takes way too long to justify it.

 

As for Chrome, no you cant just take a set of pipes down to a chrome shop anywhere and get a triple plate Oregon show chrome job. Most chrome shops cant afford the state licensing for the chemicals to do a triple plate job. So the chrome job you get is usally very low quality, dull, will rust, and/or eventually peel off. Cascade gets a deal on their chrome because of the bulk that they send to that shop, so I doubt your gonna walk into the same chrome shop and get chrome done for less if your Joe Blow off the streets.

[alf44]

Ive had nothing but great experiences dealing with Mike and Chris. Its been a while since I have needed anything from them. But I have to agree with Snop about Mike's been porting for a couple years. I have no idea who does there crank work. Most builders only true and weld in house anyways. Almost every other builder sends their cranks to either Twister or Crankworks anyways. So I dont see a big deal there. And not to burst any bubbles, but Im pretty sure Cascade is not too concerned about losing work to you Alf. Cascade has been around for a long time and sells and ships parts worldwide. They have their own product line and have built bikes that have been showcased in Magazines and online. They have distributors selling some of their goodies and have a strong stance in this market place.

 

There are going to be times when doing business that you cannot please every customer. I can see the frustration when at one time you get a deal on custom silencers, but when you go back the price went up or almost doubled. I know there has been times when I have built parts for a client only to find out I really under quoted the job. But you can be sure I wont do it as cheap the next time. But then I get the "well you did it for my buddy for this price" senario, and now im the bad guy. So I can see how its difficult from both points of view.

Tim. I didn't say they should be concerned by losing business to me. I also said I'm no where near there level. What I Said was since I've started my own thing alot of our riding buddies & friends that used to go there, come to me now. Thats what I was saying. Sorry for the misunderstanding there. If I can offer same or similar products for less and still make a profit of course they will help me out. The more I've got to know them mainly Chris Ive learned how Rude, arrogant and now untrustworthy they are. Mike in my opinion is a great guy. He was in contact with me through the whole setup of my motor but still never mentioned that the cylinders were already set up for a 4mill and proly why I was having issues with it all last year. In my own experience. I have also spent thousands upon thousands of dollars there. I'm not telling anyone to not go there. They do have everything usually In stock. I for one have just lost my trust In them and I'll proly go elsewhere from now on if I need to.

Just want to clarify.

[jbooker82]

 

As for Chrome, no you cant just take a set of pipes down to a chrome shop anywhere and get a triple plate Oregon show chrome job. Most chrome shops cant afford the state licensing for the chemicals to do a triple plate job. So the chrome job you get is usally very low quality, dull, will rust, and/or eventually peel off. Cascade gets a deal on their chrome because of the bulk that they send to that shop, so I doubt your gonna walk into the same chrome shop and get chrome done for less if your Joe Blow off the streets.

 

That and prep and polishing is part of the process. I think cascade has polished a thing or two. I don't know if cascade does it for the pipes they sell or not. I knew they didn't do there own chrome plating. They do there own quality control and that is what you pay for.

[bansheesandrider]

Cascade currently uses a Jig for their stinger tubes, so to mass produce stinger tubes and sell them is not an issue. The Cut T3 pipes were never the same between any two models because they were hand cut and re-welded. So making a jig for the stinger tubes would be impossible. To correctly make stinger tubes for cut T3's, you would need to take the bike and pipes there, then have them bend up the stinger tubes by hand on the bike. I don't know what your experience is with the retail industry or custom work, but custom jobs go by an hourly rate. I made a set of cut T3 stinger tubes for csfx silencers here in my shop and charged the person an hourly rate to do it. As far as you thinking what they told you was ridiculous, it is not, it is how businesses operate. Its like AZCUSTOM said, you do it once for a set low/standard price, and figure out that you will never do it again at that price. It takes way too long to justify it.

 

As for Chrome, no you cant just take a set of pipes down to a chrome shop anywhere and get a triple plate Oregon show chrome job. Most chrome shops cant afford the state licensing for the chemicals to do a triple plate job. So the chrome job you get is usally very low quality, dull, will rust, and/or eventually peel off. Cascade gets a deal on their chrome because of the bulk that they send to that shop, so I doubt your gonna walk into the same chrome shop and get chrome done for less if your Joe Blow off the streets.

I know exactly how they make their stinger tubes and if you read what I posted earlier, I said that Kevin made the set of stingers for my Engine Trix pipes at the regular price. Yes, I took my bike to Kevin and left it there for him to custom bend that set and he did the whole job for what it would have cost to buy an off the shelf set of stingers and silencers. There was no extras labor for the custom set like they wanted to charge me for the set for the T3s. I also worked in an exhaust shop when I first became a professional mechanic and I do know a little bit about custom pipe versus off the shelf pipes.

 

 

I never said you could get pipes chromed anywhere else cheaper, I said to take you BARE pipes to a GOOD chrome shop and you could get just as good of a job done elsewhere. I know that GOOD chrome shops are hard to come by in the green world we live in. I had my chrome done by someone else in the Portland area and considering that it has been on my bike for 13+ years it has held up really well. I also said that Cascade is one of the better places to go to make yourbike pretty. But, I don't think they are the best place to go to have a motor built, AND I think their customer service has gone downhill since Kevin and Becky sold it. I am really surprised that you guys are sticking up for Cascade considering that they are not a site sponsor and everybody on here is always saying to use a site sponsor.

Edited July 11, 2010 by bansheesandrider

[Snopczynski]

I really dont care if someone is a site sponsor or not. I stick up for what is right, and I do a ton of business with Cascade because they treat me right. There are some people on here (and I am not saying if it is members or sponsors)that I would not let touch my stuff, nor would I ever enter into a transaction with them. There are certainly some well known and good people on this site to use, but there also a lot of well known people that are not on the site to use that are just as good or better to use. Some people on here are the best of the best, but this isn't the only place to find a good motor builder, or chassis designer.

 

I realize Kevin made you a set of stinger tubes for the regular price, but I would be really interested in seeing if he would have done it again for someone else. As I said, you do something custom once at the standard rate and lose your ass, your not apt to do it again and get burned a second time. Again, there was no clarification as to wether or not Kevin did it all the time or just once for you.

Edited July 11, 2010 by Snopczynski

[bansheesandrider]

When Kevin did it he said he was going to keep the bend info in his database so that in the future he could do more of them and that was why it was the regular price, because he wanted to expand his database. And that is what pissed me off about the T3 deal is that they should of had the info to do it because the T3s that I have are the standard JD Racing cut T3s that were sold by the hundreds here in Oregon. I also agree that there are alot of non sponsors that are a great place to have do stuff on your bike. But as I said this is what I HAVE EXPIERENCED at Cascade and I know that it is not the customer service that it was when Kevin and Becky owned it. All this arguing doesn't really matter because I am going to continue to use Twister for my cranks, boring and head work. I am going to continue to buy my bling and seat covers from Cascade. I don't plan on having anything else ported but I don't know where I will go for that if I do.

[donkeypuncher]

I don't plan on having anything else ported but I don't know where I will go for that if I do.

 

 

HJR