Key Figures · Companies · Maker

R&D Racing Products

A maker of foiled intake grates, flame arresters and bolt-on parts, in the US trademark register as a corporation from 1995, which said in 2018 that it would close.

• a year printed above a fact on this page
• a year printed above no fact

Printed above the facts, 1993 to 1998, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2018. Printed above none, 1999 to 2007, 2010 to 2015 and 2017. 3 facts have no year printed above them and mark no box.

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What it made and sold

1996, 1997 and 1998 · Confirmed

Independent tests and comments name R&D parts in the 1990s. Group K, in comments on magazine articles of 1996 and 1997, names an R&D flame arrestor and R&D nozzle sets and discusses an article on R&D bolt-on parts for the Kawasaki SS 750. Personal Watercraft Illustrated's test of a Yamaha GP800 with an aftermarket twin exhaust, in December 1998, ran an R&D Racing GP800 Pro Flow Power Plenum flame arrestor.

Sources: Group K Between the Lines 1996; Group K Between the Lines 1997; PWI December 1998 Factory Pipe test

2008 · Likely

Personal Watercraft's profile of April 2008 reports R&D naming the Aqua Vein intake grate as its most important aftermarket product and describes carbon ride plates being made for the Kawasaki Ultra 250X and shelves of cast aluminium drop nozzles, ride plates and flame arresters.

Sources: Personal Watercraft on R&D 2008

2009 · Confirmed

US patent 7,794,294, granted in 2010, lists among its references online catalog pages of 1 September 2009 titled as covering R&D Aquavein intake grates, and a BRP patent granted in 2014 lists web pages titled "Aquavien Pro Shoe/Grate 2002" and "R&D Grate 2004" among references its applicant cited.

Sources: US patent 7794294; US patent 8905800

Patents and trademarks

1993 · Likely

The AQUAVEIN mark, for foiled gratings for personal watercraft, was filed on 19 January 1993 and registered on 28 September 1993 by an individual trading as R & D Racing USA, who claims first use on 16 December 1992. The registration was cancelled on 12 February 2016. Personal Watercraft's profile of 2008 and catalog pages of 2009 name the Aqua Vein or Aquavein grate as R&D's. The register names an individual, not the corporation; the archive reads the mark as R&D's by its goods and its trading name.

Sources: USPTO record serial 74349341; Personal Watercraft on R&D 2008; US patent 7794294

1994 and 1995 · Likely

Two more marks for foiled jet gratings for personal watercraft, R&D RACING PRODUCTS U.S.A. and R&D, were filed on 11 April 1994 in an individual's name and registered in July and August 1995, claiming first use on 24 October 1993. Their registrations were cancelled in 2017 and 2020. Their owner is an individual too, and the archive reads the marks as R&D's by their wording and goods.

Sources: USPTO record serial 74512146; USPTO record serial 74512147

1995 and 1997 · Confirmed

R & D Racing Products U.S.A., Inc., a California corporation, filed the mark PRO FLOW POWER PLENUM R&D RACING PRODUCTS U.S.A. on 1 November 1995 for a flame arrester for personal watercraft, claiming first use on 20 July 1995. It was registered on 21 January 1997 and cancelled on 27 August 2003.

Sources: USPTO record serial 75013174

Likely

US patent 5,234,361, Foiled grating for jet watercraft, filed on 10 November 1992 and granted on 10 August 1993, names Glenn Dickinson and William D. Chapin as inventors and prints no assignee; a related patent, 5,281,177, was granted in 1994. Reading them as R&D's work rests on the same two names signing its 1998 page and on its foiled grates, an inference.

Sources: US patent 5234361; US patent 5281177; R&D Racing Products page 1998

On the race sheets

Likely

The promoters' release for the 2006 Mark Hahn Memorial 300, posted on the association's site with the date 6 December 2005, says the APBA endurance record for the 300 miles was set at the previous year's race aboard an R&D Yamaha GP1300R. The Watercraft Journal wrote in 2018 that R&D's sponsorship had helped launch the Havasu 300.

Sources: Mark Hahn 300 release 2005; Watercraft Journal on R&D 2018

The business on record

2016 · Likely

R&D's own web page, captured in May 1998, presents R&D Racing Products, USA Inc. as a designer of two- and four-stroke racing products and is signed by Bill Chapin as President and Glenn Dickinson as CEO. The Harris Southern California Business Directory of 2016 lists R & D Racing Products USA Inc with Glenn Dickinson as President and Bill Chapin as Vice President, as the directory's search results show them.

Sources: R&D Racing Products page 1998; Harris directory 2016

Contested

The documents differ on how R&D began. Its own page of 1998 says it was established in 1972. Personal Watercraft's profile of 2008 dates its personal watercraft work to 1982 and says Chapin joined by the end of 1987. The Watercraft Journal in 2018 says R&D grew out of a partnership of Dickinson and Chapin, and prints a company release that puts it more than 30 years in the trade.

R&D Racing Products page 1998 says

R&D was established in 1972.

Personal Watercraft on R&D 2008 says

R&D began its personal watercraft work in 1982; Chapin came in by late 1987.

Watercraft Journal on R&D 2018 says

R&D began as a Dickinson and Chapin partnership, and its release says over 30 years in the trade.

Sources: R&D Racing Products page 1998; Personal Watercraft on R&D 2008; Watercraft Journal on R&D 2018

2018 · Likely

The Watercraft Journal reported on 5 September 2018 that R&D, which it calls R&D Performance Products, would close on 27 September 2018, and printed the company's statement under the name R&D Racing Products. The statement, from its president, Glenn Dickinson, says orders would ship until the last day and calls the change a semi-retirement.

Sources: Watercraft Journal on R&D 2018

Names as printed

R & D Racing Products U.S.A., Inc. (USPTO record serial 75013174); R&D Racing Products, USA Inc. (R&D Racing Products page 1998); R & D Racing Products USA Inc (Harris directory 2016); R&D Performance Products (Watercraft Journal on R&D 2018)

Elsewhere in the archive

• History chapter: The aftermarket: pumps, plates, mats, registers
• History chapter: The aftermarket: hulls, rule books and closures
• Event: Havasu 300 and Mark Hahn Memorial 300
• Era: The early years, in print
• Era: The makers and their machines
• Era: The rule book years

What the archive has not read (2)

• The 1993 and 1994 marks name an individual as owner, and no document read ties that registrant to a named person at R&D (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-16). California's business registry was not searched, so the corporation's formation date is not held.
• The JetSkiWorld blog that, according to The Watercraft Journal, first reported the closure is not held (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-16).

Documents cited on this page

• USPTO record serial 75013174 (tsdr.uspto.gov): Trademark Status and Document Retrieval record, serial 75013174, registration 2031861 (PRO FLOW POWER PLENUM R&D RACING PRODUCTS U.S.A.), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 1997-01-21; government, high. PRO FLOW POWER PLENUM R&D RACING PRODUCTS U.S.A., filed 1 November 1995, registered 21 January 1997 and cancelled 27 August 2003 under Section 8, for a flame arrester for personal watercraft. First use claimed for 20 July 1995. The owner is R & D Racing Products U.S.A., Inc., a California corporation. The published date is the registration date.
• 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.
• Group K Between the Lines 1997 (groupk.com): Between The Lines - January 97 to December 97 (Group K, groupk.com), Group K, 1997; enthusiast media, medium. The same shop's comments on the technical items in the PWC magazines of 1997, issue by issue, kept on its site under the heading January 97 to December 97. Read on 2026-10-05 and held as text; the page is current and no earlier capture is held, so the dating rests on the heading and the issue-by-issue layout. Medium as a trade participant's period commentary, cited only for which products it names as existing.
• 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.
• Personal Watercraft on R&D 2008 (personalwatercraft.com): Catching up with R&D Performance Products, by Vasilis Moraitis (PersonalWatercraft.com, 21 April 2008), PersonalWatercraft.com, 2008-04-21; enthusiast media, medium. A trade visit to R&D. Dates its personal watercraft work from 1982, has Bill Chapin joining by the end of 1987 for research and development and Glenn Dickinson running manufacturing and marketing. The page also shows an update date of 29 April 2016. Its author also runs jetskiworld.gr, so the two are not independent of each other.
• US patent 7794294 (patents.google.com): US patent 7,794,294, Water intake grill for personal watercraft (USPTO record), United States Patent and Trademark Office, read in Patent Public Search, 2010-09-14; government, high. Filed 25 February 2009 with related applications of 2 October 2007 and 21 April 2009, granted 14 September 2010, one individual inventor, no assignee printed. Cited here only for its other-references list, which names three online catalog pages dated 1 September 2009 for R&D Aquavein, Worx Racing Maxiloader, Solas, UMI Racing and other intake grates. The record does not hold those pages.
• US patent 8905800 (patents.google.com): US patent 8,905,800, Inlet grate for a water jet propulsion system (USPTO record), United States Patent and Trademark Office, read in Patent Public Search, 2014-12-09; government, high. Assigned to BRP US Inc., filed 18 July 2013 with a related application of 31 August 2009, granted 9 December 2014. Cited here for what its applicant listed as references: US 5,114,368 and US 5,540,605, and web pages the applicant dates, among them an Aquavien Pro shoe and grate of 2002, an R&D grate of 2004 and a Riva Yamaha GPR race grate and pump shoe of 11 May 2001. The record does not hold the pages.
• USPTO record serial 74349341 (tsdr.uspto.gov): Trademark Status and Document Retrieval record, serial 74349341, registration 1794865 (AQUAVEIN), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 1993-09-28; government, high. AQUAVEIN, filed 19 January 1993, registered 28 September 1993, renewed 12 August 2003 and cancelled 12 February 2016 under Section 8, for foiled gratings for personal watercraft. First use claimed for 16 December 1992. The owner is an individual, with the trade name R & D Racing USA printed in the record. Street addresses, the attorney and the correspondent are replaced in the held copy. (as USPTO record serial 75013174 above)
• USPTO record serial 74512146 (tsdr.uspto.gov): Trademark Status and Document Retrieval record, serial 74512146, registration 1907259 (R&D RACING PRODUCTS U.S.A.), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 1995-07-25; government, high. R&D RACING PRODUCTS U.S.A. (a mark with words and a design), filed 11 April 1994, registered 25 July 1995, renewed 15 April 2005 and cancelled 4 December 2017 under Section 8, for personal water craft parts, namely foiled jet gratings. First use claimed for 24 October 1993. The owner is an individual. (as USPTO record serial 75013174 above)
• USPTO record serial 74512147 (tsdr.uspto.gov): Trademark Status and Document Retrieval record, serial 74512147, registration 1908341 (R&D), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 1995-08-01; government, high. R&D (a design mark), filed 11 April 1994, registered 1 August 1995, renewed 19 April 2005 and cancelled 10 April 2020 under Section 8, for personal water craft parts, namely foiled jet gratings. The owner is an individual. (as USPTO record serial 75013174 above)
• US patent 5234361 (patents.google.com): US patent 5,234,361, Foiled grating for jet watercraft (USPTO record), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 1993-08-10; government, high. Filed 10 November 1992, granted 10 August 1993, inventors printed as Dickinson; Glenn and Chapin; William D., no assignee. Seven claims for an intake grating whose foil, carried on two lengthwise bars, divides the intake channel. The held text is the USPTO Patent Public Search record read on the accessed date (street addresses removed from the held copy); the link is the public Google Patents page for the same patent. It names no company, so tying it to R&D is an inference.
• US patent 5281177 (patents.google.com): US patent 5,281,177, Foiled grating for jet watercraft (USPTO record), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 1994-01-25; government, high. Filed 5 August 1993 with a related application of 10 November 1992 (the filing date of 5,234,361), granted 25 January 1994, inventors printed as Dickinson; Glenn and Chapin; William, no assignee, five claims. Held as the USPTO Patent Public Search record; the link is the Google Patents page.
• R&D Racing Products page 1998 (web.archive.org): About R&D, rd-performance.com (Wayback capture of 30 May 1998), R&D Racing Products, USA Inc.; manufacturer primary, medium. The company's welcome letter, signed Bill Chapin, President, and Glenn Dickinson/CEO. Medium for who signed for the company and with what title in 1998; its history (established in 1972) and its claims for its racing record are the company's own and no page relies on them.
• Mark Hahn 300 release 2005 (web.archive.org): 2006 Mark Hahn Memorial (the promoters' release as posted on ijsba.com, dated 6 December 2005, Wayback capture of 19 September 2020), International Jet Sports Boating Association (carrying the promoters' release), 2005-12-06; editorial, medium. The race's own release, carried by the IJSBA, naming DSM Events owner Jim Russell and Mike Follmer as event co-promoters of the 2006 race of 25 February 2006 at Crazy Beach, Crazy Horse Campground, Lake Havasu, sanctioned by the APBA, and referring to the inaugural event of the year before. Medium: an event's own account carried by a body. Telephone numbers and the contact lines are not copied; its grading words are not used.
• Watercraft Journal on R&D 2018 (watercraftjournal.com): R&D Performance Products Closes Its Doors After 30 Years, by Kevin Shaw (The Watercraft Journal, 5 September 2018), The Watercraft Journal, 2018-09-05; enthusiast media, medium. Report of R&D's closing on 27 September 2018, calling Glenn Dickinson its President and Bill Chapin a former Performance Jet Ski technician and Dickinson's business partner in R&D, and printing the closing statement signed by Dickinson. The news was first reported by jetskiworld.gr.
• Harris directory 2016 (archive.org): 2016 Harris Southern California Business Directory and Buyers Guide (Mergent; read through archive.org's full-text search), Mergent Business Press, item held by the Internet Archive, 2016; editorial, medium. The 2016 edition (ISBN 978-1-63053-834-7), read the same way. Entries for Skat-Trak Inc (Ken Stuart, President) and R & D Racing Products USA Inc (Glenn Dickinson, President; Bill Chapin, Vice President). Same publisher as the 2015 edition, so the two are not independent.

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“R&D Racing Products”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/key-figures/companies/rd-racing-products/

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