Q. Who is Pacific Coast Star?
A. We began by making seats in early 1999, and have by word of mouth (and
now via the Internet) developed into a company which is now selling seats,
customization products, and performance products all over the world. As we grow,
our goal is
to produce high quality original parts for the Yamaha Star line (and some other
bikes along the way) at a reasonable price. After all ..It's all about the ride!
__________________________________________________________________________________
SEAT FAQsQ: How does the seat program work?
A: All of our seats are sold on an exchange basis. Once we receive your order, we hand make a seat and ship
it to you. You try it out for a week, (try that with any other seat company!) if
you like it keep it, and send your stock seat back to us. If your not happy with
it, return it for a refund (minus shipping) no questions asked. When we receive
the seat in return, we inspect it for any damage, or scuff marks.
Q : Are your seats much more comfortable than stock?
A: Believe it or not, we get that questions allot! Really, how do you expect
us to answer that question? Well here is what we say: There is no honest way for
us to answer that question. Since comfort is relative, what is comfortable to
one customer may not be to another. This is why we offer the chance to try our
seats before you are committed to keeping them. If the seat is what you are
looking for, keep it, and return your OEM seat. If it isn't, just return ours
and we will refund the cost of the seat. Try that with most other companies!
Furthermore, most of our customers must think it is a big improvement, because
we have a less than 2% return rate on our seats.
Q: What if my seat has scuffs or damage
and I would like to order one from you?
A: Call us, many times we can
replace the damaged parts for little or no cost. Some damaged seats can be converted into a Potato Chip
seat which will get all new material anyway. If that's the case, often we will
be able to give you a non damaged seat at no cost to you. On the other hand, some seats are more
"rare" and because of that we cannot convert them into Potato Chip
seats as often, so we must charge for the repair. If that happens we will call
you to explain the problem, and inform you of the cost, and options. If your
concerned about your old seat, Call Us First... We will do everything we can to
work something out for you.
Q: How long does it take to get the seat after I order it?
A: Our concern has always been that the cost of a quality aftermarket seat is overwhelming for most riders. So, from the day we began building seats, we dedicated ourselves to keeping the price of our seats very affordable. This means we continually get a very large number of orders. The overwhelming majority of our customers understand the wait may be longer than desired, but accept that due to our price and quality. Due to the high volume of seats we produce, we will not commit to a deadline nor will we entertain complaints about lead times. Please be assured that no charge will be placed on your card until the seat is shipped. If you call us we will do our best to keep you updated with regards to your shipping status. If the seat is outside of your desired time frame, we will be happy to cancel your order, but rest assured that 95% + of our customers now realize it was well worth the wait. We could of course raise our prices significantly to slow down the number of orders, in attempt to reduce the delivery time. But as a company we have deliberately chosen not to. Q: Can I get a custom COLOR seat ?
A: Yes. For a custom color we recommend going to a paint or hardware store,
and selecting a paint chip from their paint chip board. We have many colors to
select from, and we will do our best to match it as close as possible. Note, custom seats are subject to non return.
Call for specific information and pricing.
Q: I got my seat, and it has been raining for a week and haven't had a chance
to try it yet. Do I need to send my stock seat back?
A: As much as possible we need the seats to be returned within a week, but if
you need more time to try it out, due to weather, or other problems, give us a
call. We will be happy to work with you.
Q: What if I want to keep my stock seat, AND you new seat.
A: Well, unfortunately, that is not an option we provide. But here is an
option. All we need is a quality core seat to replace the seat we sent you. Many
times it is very easy to find a used seat online, or at a dealer. If you cannot
find a used seat, and choose not to return a core, YOU WILL BE CHARGED THE OEM
REPLACEMENT COST OF THE SEAT!!! So it will be cheaper to find a used seat, and
ship it back to us. Remember, the core MUST be the same style seat you received.
(i.e. an 1100 Classic drivers seat core must be an 1100 Classic drivers seat)
__________________________________________________________________________________
V-Star 1100 PERFORMANCE FAQ's
Q: If I install one of your performance packages, will my bike still be
dependable for a daily driver.
A: Yes, absolutely. All of the performance parts we sell on the internet are
designed for performance and dependability.
Q: If I install your full package will my gas mileage suffer?
A: Actually, it can improve. Under normal average driving conditions many
people report their mileage has actually increased by around 40 to 60 miles per
tank! Now, if you have a heavy throttle hand all bets are off, but with the
increased power, gas mileage will be the last thing on you mind!!! Actually,
even while driving aggressively your gas mileage will be similar to what you
bike was before the performance upgrade. This is possible because the new Keihin carbs
are significantly more efficient than the OEM carbs, and the
increased power the pistons and cams provide mean you will not need to open the
throttle as much to develop the same speed and power.
Q: Do your pistons require me to bore my cylinders?
A: No. Our pistons are designed to use the stock bore. As a matter of fact,
we recommend NOT boring the 1100 engine. Yamaha's cylinders
have a nickel/ceramic sleeve. This sleeve is VERY good for heat dissipation, and
great for longevity. Even after 10's of thousands of miles
often the OEM cross hatching in the cylinder is still quite obvious and
sometimes looks brand new!
Q: If the bore and stroke remain the same, then how do you generate so much
more power?
A: Quite simply, higher compression. The tighter you compress the fuel and
air mixture in an engine, the more violent /efficient the combustion, thus
creating more power. (that's a very
simple answer)
Q: If 10.6:1 compression is so much better than 8.3 :1 (stock) compression,
then why not go even higher, like 11.1:1 or 12:1 or higher.
A: After much testing, we have found with the 1100 motor, 10.6 is the
exact compression to produce the best performance gains and still be able to use
today's pump
gas and still be able to use a performance cam that is going to put the power
band in the most advantageous area. A compression rating of 11.1:1 (for example) dangerously over compresses the
engine requiring race (100 octane or higher) fuel to avoid pre-detonation (ping), or
the use of a cam with a huge overlap to actually allow the compression you just
created to escape
bringing the compression back down to "safe" levels. The main problem with that
is, the longer the cam overlap is, the less bottom end power your engine can
generate. Meaning you move you power band significantly higher in the rpm range.
This may be fine for an R6 or R1 that spin 12000+ RPM, but not on a V-Twin that
maxes out a +/- 8000 RPM. Look, it's pretty simple, if a higher
compression piston were to actually perform better, all we would need to do is
make a phone call, and increase the dome height on our cylinders. We've
done the testing, that's how you get proven performance.
Q: This information is great, but I have allot more questions.
A: Great, we expect you to. There's allot of hype and misleading information
out there about performance, and who makes the best engine kit. We are proud to
say we were the first, and still the best in V-Star performance. The info here is VERY basic and brief. We are proud to say, every other engine kit we are aware of,
offered by any other company, is just a poor copy of our hard work. We really
enjoy taking the time to talk performance with our customers. We look forward to
your call and will be happy to take the time to answer any questions you may
have. Performance engines are fascinating, and helping you understand them
better is what we're here for.
__________________________________________________________________________________
SHIPPING INFORMATION
Q: I ordered an item from your website, but when I check the order
status is says closed and no other info. What does the mean?
A: We mark the invoice closed the day the product ships but we do not put the
tracking number on that page. In most cases, if you provided us with a correct
e-mail address, you should
receive a shipment confirmation from the shipping carrier with tracking
information.
Q: I see the order is closed, but I did not receive any tracking confirmation.
A: There are a couple of reasons for that:1. Tracking confirmation requires that
you put your valid e-mail address (with no typos!) in when you placed the order.
2. International shipments are process through a variety of carriers. Some
international carriers may not provide consumer accessible tracking information.
If you are not international, and you are certain you put your e-mail address in
correctly, give us a call, we should be able to get it for you.
__________________________________________________________________________________
OTHER FAQsQ: I heard a rumor about a product you sell, but I can't find it on your web
site.
A: We work on bikes, not computers. Therefore things make it on the bikes before
they make it on the web site. We are developing new products continuously, and
often they are available before they hit the web site. Call us, we will help you
out in any way we can. Very likely the rumor is true!!!
| 
