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Factory Pipe

Exhaust maker of Ukiah, California, in print from 1980; Bombardier's 1998 racing handbook lists it for exhaust systems, and its owner registered the FACTORY PIPE mark and was granted a water-injection patent.

At a glance

Kind
Maker
Made
exhaust pipes
On the record
11 years, from 1980 to 2012
People
Ross Liberty (ran it)
In the archive
8 links
Years 1980 to 2012, one box each A single row of boxes, solid for a year printed above a fact and hollow for a year printed above none. 1980 19902000 2012
  • a year printed above a fact on this page
  • a year printed above no fact

Printed above the facts, 1980 to 1982, 1989, 1994 to 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004 and 2012. Printed above none, 1983 to 1988, 1990 to 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001 to 2003 and 2005 to 2011. 2 facts have no year printed above them and mark no box.

Every year from the first to the last year printed above a fact on this page, one box a year.

How we know: the year printed above each fact below.

What it made and sold

1980 and 1981 · Likely

Cycle News of 24 September 1980 and 4 February 1981, read through the Internet Archive's search and not as pages, print advertisements from Factory Pipe Products for pipes for the Yamaha R5, RD350, 400 and 400F motorcycles, the second from Ukiah, California.

Sources: Cycle News 24 September 1980; Cycle News 4 February 1981

1982 · Likely

The June 1982 Cycle Guide lists Factory Pipe Products of Ukiah in its product directory as a maker of expansion chambers for street Yamaha two-strokes. The company's advertisement in the same issue adds that pipes for the ATC 250R, Trimoto, Odyssey and Jet Ski were also available, which is the advertiser's word.

Sources: Cycle Guide June 1982

Likely

A Factory Pipe Products flyer, held as the Internet Archive's text and dated by that archive to 1990, advertises a pipe for the JS 550 and a silencer it says fits the stock pipes of the JS 440, JS 550, JS 650, SX and X2 and the aftermarket short-body pipes of seven other makers it names.

Sources: Factory Pipe flyer 1990

1995 · Likely

Group K's comments of 1996 on magazine tests say that Watercraft World of August 1995 radared a Sea-Doo HX fitted with a Factory Pipe, and comment on later magazine tests of Factory Pipe exhausts for the HX, the Sea-Doo XP and the Kawasaki 750 SXi.

Sources: Group K Between the Lines 1996

1996 · Likely

Personal Watercraft Illustrated tested the company's exhaust for the Sea-Doo XP 720 in Ukiah in February 1996 and described its Electronically Controlled Water Injection, or ECWI, which used a rev limiter that the magazine says Micro Touch Inc. made for Factory Pipe. The May 1996 article reported that, as of press time, the system was not legal at IJSBA-sanctioned events, because the association's 1996 rule book barred controlled devices that alter the flow of water.

Sources: PWI May 1996 Factory Pipe test

1998 · Likely

Personal Watercraft Illustrated's December 1998 test of a twin-pipe exhaust for the Yamaha GP800 says Factory Pipe made the three-pipe exhaust of Polaris's SLX Pro, and manufactured the three-pipe GP1200 system that a tuner developed for Yamaha's 1997 factory racing team, which Riva Yamaha also sold.

Sources: PWI December 1998 Factory Pipe test

1998 · Likely

Bombardier's 1998 Sea-Doo Racing Handbook lists Factory Pipe, for exhaust systems, among the aftermarket manufacturers it says it recommends, and its section on the 787 engine gives a Factory Pipe with the variable water control system as the suggested exhaust. The handbook's 1996 edition does not list the company (the edition's aftermarket list, searched 2026-10-16).

Sources: Sea-Doo Racing Handbook 1998; Sea-Doo Racing Handbook 1996

Likely

Group K's race kits for the Kawasaki 750 stand-up, on an undated page of its site, are built around a Factory Pipe Products dry pipe with ECWI, which the page describes as cooled by a full-length water jacket.

Sources: Group K Kawasaki 750 racing page

2012 · Likely

The Press Democrat of 24 July 2012 describes Factory Pipe as a manufacturing plant in the Ukiah area whose machines make mufflers, tuned pipes and manifolds, and whose business includes exhaust systems for personal watercraft and all-terrain vehicles beside its work for Polaris.

Sources: Press Democrat 24 July 2012

Patents and trademarks

1994 and 1996 · Confirmed

USPTO's record of the FACTORY PIPE mark, applied for on 25 May 1994 and registered on 4 June 1996, names Ross H. Liberty, an individual, as owner, for exhaust systems, among them expansion chambers and water boxes, for recreational watercraft, motorcycles, snowmobiles and ultralight aircraft. The registration was renewed for the third time in April 2026. The registrant claims first use on 31 January 1991.

Sources: USPTO record serial 74529118; USPTO name searches Oct 2026

1998 and 2000 · Confirmed

US patent 6,026,641, filed on 2 February 1998 and granted on 22 February 2000, names Ross H. Liberty as inventor of a system for controlling exhaust gas temperature in a two-stroke engine by injecting water, and names personal watercraft among such engines' uses; it names no assignee. It calls ECWI a system developed by the applicant, the name PWI's 1996 test gives the Factory Pipe system, which is how the archive ties the patent to the company. Another company's patent, filed in 1997, describes electronically controlled water injection too, so no first is claimed.

Sources: US patent 6026641; PWI May 1996 Factory Pipe test; US patent 5983633

On the race sheets

2004 · Confirmed

The association's overall sheets for Pro Ski and Pro Runabout at the 2004 World Finals print Factory Pipe in the sponsors column against more than one entry each, which records what the riders entered.

Sources: 2004 World Finals Pro Ski overall; 2004 World Finals Pro Runabout overall

The business on record

1989, 1996 and 1998 · Confirmed

Period magazines name Ross Liberty as the owner: Cycle News of 24 May 1989 calls him the owner of Factory Pipe Products, and Personal Watercraft Illustrated does the same in its tests of Factory Pipe exhausts published in May 1996 and December 1998.

Sources: Cycle News 24 May 1989; PWI May 1996 Factory Pipe test; PWI December 1998 Factory Pipe test

Names as printed

Factory Pipe Products (Cycle Guide June 1982); FPP (Group K Between the Lines 1996); Factory Pipe, LLC (Factory Pipe team page)

Elsewhere in the archive

What the archive has not read (2)

  • No independent document dates the founding. The company's own team page, copyright 2021, says Ross Liberty founded it in a Southern California garage some 45 years before, making exhausts for motocross; that is the company's account (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-16).
  • No state registry record for the company was read, so no legal name or formation date is given beyond the Factory Pipe, LLC its own page prints (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-16).

Documents cited on this page

  • Sea-Doo Racing Handbook 1998 (archive.org): Sea-Doo Racing Handbook, 1998 edition (Bombardier Inc.; Internet Archive item manualzilla-id-6025632, OCR excerpts), Bombardier Inc., held by the Internet Archive, 1998; manufacturer primary, medium. The craft maker's racing handbook for Sea-Doo racers, dated 1998 by the Internet Archive's item title (its text lists 1996 IJSBA champions and paint codes to 1997). Read from the OCR text on 2026-10-16. Its Aftermarket Manufacturers section lists makers the craft maker says it recommends, each with a line of goods in brackets: Factory Pipe (Exhaust Systems), Hot Products (Racing Parts), Ocean Pro Engineering (Race Parts and Flame Arresters), Westcoast Performance Products (Racing Parts and Carbon Fiber Hulls) and others; its 787 engine section names a Factory Pipe exhaust; a page quotes the Westcoast Performance Products racing team manager. Medium: an independent maker's document, read as OCR, and the list is its recommendation, not a test. Held as excerpts with addresses and telephone numbers removed.
  • Cycle News 24 September 1980 (archive.org): Cycle News, 24 September 1980 (read through archive.org's full-text search: Factory Pipe Products advertisement), Cycle News, issue held by the Internet Archive, 1980-09-24; enthusiast media, medium. Three OCR passages that the Internet Archive's full-text search returned for the issue, not the page or the full advertisement; the issue's own text was not read. They print Factory Pipe Products, Dept. CN, 3001 S. State St. #30, offering pipes for Yamaha RD400s and the like, and R5, RD350, 400 and 400F pipes. The passages do not print the town. Medium as a period advertisement for the name, street address and pipes the advertiser printed; its claims are the advertiser's. Phone numbers are replaced in the held copy.
  • Cycle News 4 February 1981 (archive.org): Cycle News, 4 February 1981 (read through archive.org's full-text search: Factory Pipe Products advertisement), Cycle News, issue held by the Internet Archive, 1981-02-04; enthusiast media, medium. Two OCR passages that the Internet Archive's full-text search returned for the issue, not the page or the full advertisement; the issue's own text was not read. One prints Factory Pipe Products at 3001 S. State St. #30, Ukiah, CA 95482, and the other prints Factory Pipe Products R5, RD350, 400 and 400F pipes at a price, its start running on from a different classified. Medium as a period advertisement for the name, address and pipes the advertiser printed; its claims are the advertiser's. A phone number is replaced in the held copy.
  • Cycle Guide June 1982 (archive.org): Cycle Guide, June 1982 (archive.org OCR, Factory Pipe Products directory entry and advertisement), Cycle Guide, issue held by the Internet Archive, 1982-06; enthusiast media, medium. Two excerpts of a motorcycle magazine's June 1982 issue: a product-directory entry for Factory Pipe Products of Ukiah, California, and its display advertisement, whose last lines add pipes for other machines, watercraft among them. Medium as a period magazine; the entry is the maker's information and the advertisement is its own. (as Cycle News 24 September 1980 above)
  • Factory Pipe flyer 1990 (archive.org): Factory Pipe Products, Pipe Dream (promotional flyer, 1990; archive.org OCR), Factory Pipe Products, held by the Internet Archive, 1990; manufacturer primary, medium. A promotional flyer, undated in its text but quoting magazine tests of July and August 1990, for a Kawasaki 550 pipe and a silencer. Its fitment line names aftermarket pipe makers by brand. Medium for what the advertisement prints, including the brand names; its performance claims and testimonials are the company's and are not used. The OCR is partly broken and the phone numbers are replaced in the held copy.
  • Group K Between the Lines 1996 (groupk.com): Between The Lines - 1996 (Group K, groupk.com), Group K, 1996; enthusiast media, medium. A tuning shop's comments on the technical items in the PWC magazines of 1995 and 1996, issue by issue, kept on the shop's site under the heading 1996. Read on 2026-10-05 and held as text. It is the shop's current page and no earlier capture is held (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-09), so the dating rests on the heading and on the issue-by-issue layout. Medium as a trade participant's period commentary: the shop sells engine kits and names the parts it uses, and its opinions of other makers' parts are not relied on. Cited only for which products it names as existing. The shop's telephone number and street address are removed from the held copy.
  • PWI May 1996 Factory Pipe test (web.archive.org): Factory Pipe Products Sea-Doo XP 720 Exhaust System, by Jeff Hain (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, May 1996, Wayback capture), Personal Watercraft Illustrated, 1996-05; enthusiast media, medium. The magazine's test of the exhaust at Factory Pipe Products' headquarters, naming Ross Liberty as owner, describing his Electronically Controlled Water Injection (ECWI), and reporting that the ECWI was not legal at IJSBA events as of press time. The article's own verdicts on the product are not used.
  • PWI December 1998 Factory Pipe test (web.archive.org): Factory Pipe's Yamaha WaveRunner GP800 Exhaust Systems, by Jeff Hain (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, December 1998, Wayback capture), Personal Watercraft Illustrated, 1998-12; enthusiast media, medium. The magazine's test of a Factory Pipe twin exhaust for the Yamaha GP800, twice naming Factory Pipe owner Ross Liberty. Phone numbers in its supplier list are removed from the held copy; the product verdicts are not used.
  • Sea-Doo Racing Handbook 1996 (archive.org): Sea-Doo Racing Handbook, 1996 edition (Bombardier Inc.; Internet Archive item manualzilla-id-6034982, OCR excerpts), Bombardier Inc., held by the Internet Archive, 1996; manufacturer primary, medium. The craft maker's racing handbook, dated 1996 by the Internet Archive's item title (its paint and porting tables run to the 1996 models). A page quotes the "Pro Racing Team Manager, Westcoast Performance Products", and the Aftermarket Manufacturers and Services list names Westcoast Performance Products among seven makers; the OCR prints the services column apart from the names, so no service is matched to a maker. Factory Pipe, Hot Products and Ocean Pro are not in this edition's list. Medium: an independent maker's document read as OCR. (as Sea-Doo Racing Handbook 1998 above)
  • Group K Kawasaki 750 racing page (groupk.com): Kawasaki SXI Pro 750, Racing Mods (Group K page), Group K; manufacturer primary, medium. The shop's page for its kits for the Kawasaki 750 stand-up, undated and listing a 2002 model: a preface on a 2001 relationship with Kawasaki's race team, the exhaust section that defines the shop's use of dry for a Factory Pipe pipe, and the kit lists. Medium as a seller's description of products it sells; its relationship claims are the shop's own and no Kawasaki document is held (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-09). The held copy omits the site menus.
  • Press Democrat 24 July 2012 (pressdemocrat.com): Industrial inspiration, by Glenda Anderson (The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, 24 July 2012; excerpt), The Press Democrat, 2012-07-24; editorial, medium. A regional newspaper's business feature on Factory Pipe's plant in the Ukiah area, read on 5 October 2026. Only four lines are held: the plant, what its machines make (mufflers, tuned pipes and manifolds), and that the business includes exhaust systems for personal watercraft and all-terrain vehicles beside work for Polaris. Medium as one independent newspaper report. Nothing else from the article is used.
  • USPTO record serial 74529118 (tsdr.uspto.gov): Trademark Status and Document Retrieval record, serial 74529118, registration 1977631 (FACTORY PIPE), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 1996-06-04; government, high. FACTORY PIPE, filed 25 May 1994, registered 4 June 1996, renewed, for exhaust systems for recreational watercraft, motorcycles, snowmobiles and ultralight aircraft. Registrant and current owner Liberty, Ross H., an individual. The status view leaves the first-use field blank. Owner and correspondent addresses are removed from the held copy. The published date is the registration date.
  • USPTO name searches Oct 2026 (tmsearch.uspto.gov): USPTO tmsearch records, name searches for the parts makers (read 2026-10-06), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2026-10-06; government, high. Our extract of USPTO's trademark search records for name searches run on 2026-10-06: Skat-Trak spellings, WORX, R&D and AQUAVEIN, Jet Dynamics, Ocean Pro, Hydro-Turf and Pacific Creations, JET STRIP, Solas and others, each with the total the search reported, and the records for the marks that exist. High for what the register records; a query with no hits is recorded as no records, which is an absence in this register and no other.
  • US patent 6026641 (patents.google.com): US patent 6,026,641, Method and apparatus for improved control of exhaust gas temperature from a two-stroke engine (USPTO record), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2000-02-22; government, high. Filed 2 February 1998, granted 22 February 2000, inventor printed as Liberty; Ross H., no assignee, five claims for water fed through a valve into a two-stroke exhaust with a means of smoothing its pulses. The background calls ECWI a system developed by the applicant. An earlier filing by another company covers electronically controlled water injection too, so no page calls this a first. Held as the USPTO Patent Public Search record; the link is the Google Patents page.
  • US patent 5983633 (patents.google.com): US patent 5,983,633, Electronically controlled water injection system (USPTO record), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 1999-11-16; government, high. Filed 30 May 1997 and granted 16 November 1999 to a company, Autotronic Controls Corporation of El Paso, Texas, with three inventors named. Its claims cover an exhaust chamber into which a solenoid valve, driven by a pulse width modulator that follows an engine rpm signal, injects coolant water; the background names two stroke engines in personal watercraft. It does not cite, and was granted before, the patent held as us-patent-6026641. A patent proves inventors, dates and claims, not that a part raced or sold. (as US patent 6026641 above)
  • 2004 World Finals Pro Ski overall (web.archive.org): 2004 World Finals, Pro Ski overall points (PDF, Wayback capture), International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2004; sanctioning body, high. Pro Ski overall points by boat, name, hometown and sponsors, with three motos and the sum. One rider who rode all three motos is missing from this overall, so the sheet is read with the moto sheets.
  • 2004 World Finals Pro Runabout overall (web.archive.org): 2004 World Finals, Pro Runabout overall points (PDF, Wayback capture), International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2004; sanctioning body, high. Pro Runabout overall points by boat, with three motos and the sum. The sheet prints no position column and its cells drift out of line partway down the list, so an overall position read from it is an inference.
  • Cycle News 24 May 1989 (held here, not public): Cycle News, 24 May 1989 (archive.org OCR, excerpts), Cycle News, issue held by the Internet Archive, 1989-05-24; enthusiast media, medium. Two excerpts of the issue's OCR: a motorcycle enduro report, and a short notice that calls Ross Liberty the owner of Factory Pipe Products. The rest of the 1989 notice is removed from the held copy; only the owner phrase is used.
  • Factory Pipe team page (factorypipe.com): Our Team (Factory Pipe page, copyright 2021), Factory Pipe, LLC, 2021; manufacturer primary, low. The company's own team page, copyright 2021, whose first entry says its owner founded it some 45 years earlier making stamped two-stroke exhaust systems for aftermarket motocross. Low: a founding date and place are the company's own account of its history. The held copy keeps that entry and the page footer only, with the phone and fax numbers replaced.
Cite this page

“Factory Pipe”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/key-figures/companies/factory-pipe/

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