Stock harleys have come with an exhaust balance pipe for what seems like forever. The most obvious was the "H" pipes on the early Sportsters. Even my '07 Dyna and the softail Duece has a small connector pipe near the end of the exhasut pipes before the mufflers. Performance auto exhaust systems run a "H" pipe. I understood this to help my torque.

I presently run Straight Shot slip-ons to retain this little balance tube in hopes of that would be better than what would in effect just be drag pipes for me with a straight exhaust pipe. I believe the Side Shots have one built in.

Do these crossover/connector/balance pipes help with low end torque? If so, why do slip-ons come off as inferior to a new, complete system?

 

The crossover is a half assed fix to the problem of scavenging, slip ons allow you to cheaply make your bikes exhaust system flow better and allow you to continue to reap the limited benefits of the crossover type system.

The best fix is a good 2 into 1 pipe with a real collector that actually works as it should.

Many "Harley guys" don't like the look or sound of a 2 into 1 system and will gladly sacrifice performance gains for looks and excessive noise.

 

I'm not sure that I've ever seen a dyno comparison of the stock headers with a good muffler to a 2-1. Recently I had to change my exhaust to put footboards on. Rather than go with a complete 2-1 system I decided to find the headers off a 2010 FXDC with the crossover and the V&H Straightshot slip ons. I found them both at a huge discount. My reason for doing so was to ensure they'd fit okay with the footboards since Harley says they do, for looks (I like the V&H Straightshots on these headers), and because my friend has this setup and is running my TTS map from when I tuned my bike with my previous exhaust and told me he wasn't experiencing any issues with the tune on his exhaust.

I think the fact the crossover pipe has been on Dyna's since '91 or so says something about it. Personally I don't detect any power loss going from my Tommy Gun 2-1-2 to the traditional "2-2" with crossover. I also feel aftermarket don't always place the O2 bungs in the best location whereas Harley does a good job with it.