Key Figures · Parts maker

Gary Coffman

Cycle News called Gary Coffman owner of Coffman's Exhaust Systems in 1992; a 2021 USPTO application for COFFMAN'S EXHAUST names Coffman, Gary E, read here as the same person.

1. The early years, in print, 1981 to 1993 (this page's records)
2. The makers and their machines, 1985 to 2005 (this page's records)
3. Noise, safety and federal rules, 1996 to 2002
4. The rule book years, 2002 to 2018
5. Three rule books, 2021 to 2026

1990200020102020

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Business

2021 · Confirmed

USPTO's record of the mark COFFMAN'S EXHAUST, serial 97137167, gives its owner as Coffman, Gary E, with the entity typed as a corporation organised in California. The application, filed on 22 November 2021 for exhaust mufflers, silencers, exhaust pipe, exhaust systems and exhaust tips, names no watercraft among its goods. It claims first use on 1 January 1980, which is the applicant's own claim and not a founding date, and was abandoned in 2023 for failure to respond to an Office action; the mark never registered.

Sources: USPTO record serial 97137167

1992 · Likely

Cycle News of 25 November 1992 calls Gary Coffman the owner of Coffman's Exhaust Systems, in a short line of its people-news column. The same full name and a business of that name that makes exhaust systems tie the line to the 2021 application, so reading the two as one person is the archive's inference.

Sources: Cycle News 25 November 1992; USPTO record serial 97137167

Likely

Cycle News carried a classified advertisement placed under the name Coffman's that offers new dual Jet Ski pipes in 88 of the 95 issues from 13 January 1982 to 19 October 1983 that the archive's scan read; the held OCR prints the heading Jet Skis above it in the first 30 of the 88, from 13 January to 4 August 1982, and no heading after. The advertisements print an address in Huntington Beach, California, and name no person. The issue of 9 June 1982 also carries two other Coffman's advertisements, for a Suzuki motorcycle pipe and an ATC pipe. Reading that advertiser as the business whose owner Cycle News names in 1992 rests on the shared name and the goods, exhaust pipes, and is the archive's inference.

Sources: Cycle News Coffman's Jet Ski ads; Cycle News 9 June 1982; Cycle News 25 November 1992

Likely

A news item in Cycle News of 4 April 1990 reports that Coffman's Custom Exhaust Systems moved to a new facility in Ukiah, California. The item names no person, so reading that business as the Coffman's Exhaust Systems whose owner the magazine names in 1992 rests on the shared name and goods and is the archive's inference.

Sources: Cycle News 4 April 1990; Cycle News 25 November 1992

Likely

A flyer from Factory Pipe Products, held as the Internet Archive's OCR and dated by that archive to 1990, names Coffman among the makers whose aftermarket short-body pipes its silencer is said to fit; the same list says the silencer fits stock pipes for the JS 440, JS 550, JS 650, SX and X2. The flyer names no person, so reading that Coffman as the owner Cycle News names rests on the shared name and goods and is the archive's inference.

Sources: Factory Pipe flyer 1990; Cycle News 25 November 1992

Names as printed

Coffman, Gary E (USPTO record serial 97137167)

Elsewhere in the archive

• History chapter: The aftermarket: exhaust pipes and engine parts
• Era: The early years, in print
• Era: The makers and their machines

What the archive has not read (4)

• No document read other than the company's own history page of 2001 says who founded Coffman's or when, and the archive prints no founding history for it unless a primary document turns up (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-07).
• No held document links the Coffman's that advertised from Huntington Beach, California, in 1982 and 1983 to the Coffman's Custom Exhaust Systems that the 1990 item places in Ukiah, California, except the name and the goods, and only the 1992 line and the 2021 record name a person (searched the archive's mirror, the research cache and the OCR text of the 550 Cycle News issues of 1982 to 1992, 2026-10-07).
• After the issue of 19 October 1983 the scan found no Coffman's advertisement that names a Jet Ski; the advertisements of 1983 to 1986 it found are for ATV, ATC and motorcycle pipes (the Cycle News OCR texts of 1982 to 1992, searched on 2026-10-07).
• No patent turned up under the name Coffman, and USPTO trademark name searches for COFFMAN, COFFMANS and COFFMAN'S returned one record in the exhaust trade, this application, which names no watercraft (searched 2026-10-05; the search results are not held).

Documents cited on this page

• USPTO record serial 97137167 (tsdr.uspto.gov): Trademark Status and Document Retrieval record, serial 97137167 (COFFMAN'S EXHAUST, application abandoned), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2021-11-22; government, high. COFFMAN'S EXHAUST in standard characters, filed 22 November 2021 for exhaust mufflers, silencers, exhaust pipe, exhaust systems and exhaust tips (the goods do not name watercraft), abandoned on 2 March 2023 for failure to respond to an Office action; it never registered. The owner is printed as Coffman, Gary E, with the entity typed as a corporation organised in California. The application claims first use and use in commerce on 1 January 1980, which is the applicant's own claim. The published date is the filing date. High for what the register records.
• Cycle News 25 November 1992 (archive.org): Cycle News, 25 November 1992 (archive.org OCR, excerpt: people-news line naming Gary Coffman as owner of Coffman's Exhaust Systems), Cycle News, issue held by the Internet Archive, 1992-11-25; enthusiast media, medium. A short line in the magazine's people-news column that calls Gary Coffman the owner of Coffman's Exhaust Systems. Only the owner phrase is kept; the rest of the line is removed from the held copy and nothing from it is used. Medium as a period magazine for the owner phrase.
• Cycle News Coffman's Jet Ski ads (archive.org): Cycle News, 13 January 1982 to 19 October 1983: Coffman's classified advertisement for Jet Ski pipes (archive.org OCR excerpts, 88 issues), Cycle News, issues held by the Internet Archive, 1982-01-13; enthusiast media, medium. One line per issue for 88 of the 95 held issues in the span, each the OCR text of a classified advertisement placed under Coffman's name that offers new dual Jet Ski pipes. The OCR prints the heading Jet Skis above it in the first 30 lines only (13 January to 4 August 1982). Medium as period advertisements for what they show the advertiser sold and under what name; the horsepower and racing-rule claims are the advertiser's and are not used. The advertisements name no person. Addresses, phone numbers and OCR address fragments are replaced in the held copy, and the header lists the seven held issues in the span that print no match.
• Cycle News 9 June 1982 (archive.org): Cycle News, 9 June 1982 (archive.org OCR excerpt: Coffman's classified advertisements), Cycle News, issue held by the Internet Archive, 1982-06-09; enthusiast media, medium. Two classified advertisements from the issue of 9 June 1982 placed by Coffman's of Huntington Beach, California, for pipes for a Suzuki motorcycle and an ATC. Medium as period advertisements for what they show the advertiser sold in that issue; neither names a watercraft. The private classifieds between the two were dropped, and the street address and phone numbers are replaced in the held copy.
• Cycle News 4 April 1990 (archive.org): Cycle News, 4 April 1990 (archive.org OCR, excerpt: Coffman's Custom Exhaust Systems moved), Cycle News, issue held by the Internet Archive, 1990-04-04; enthusiast media, medium. A MOVED item in the news column reporting that Coffman's Custom Exhaust Systems moved to a new facility in Ukiah, California. Medium as a period magazine for the item; the item names no person. The street address, zip code, telephone and fax numbers are replaced in the held copy, and the OCR's two parts of the item are given in order.
• 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.

Cite this page

“Gary Coffman”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/key-figures/gary-coffman/

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