I'm gunna be blacking out my bike... Thought i'd start with the pipes. The first thing I did was call Harley (which was stupid) and apparently I can't get blacked out header pipe heat shields. Well, correction - I can, but only in the BUCKSHOT style, which I don't want. And I told the dude... "but... I've seen Fat Boy's with black heat shields!" and he told me yeah, but Harley does NOT make em for SPORTYS!
So, blackout process... HALTED! at the first step. hahaha
I'm gunna try the twin slash black mufflers... but, they would DEFINITELY look silly with chrome header pipe shields. The guys at Harley recommended I powder coat mine with black ceramic.

Is this good advice? or should I grab the buckshots and suck it up?

 

That's fine advice. Try to find a powdercoater who's done motorcycle parts before, especially header heat shields. I've seen heat subjected powdercoated parts done wrong and they faded to a dull gray.

 

Powder coating is a great way to go and many times cheaper. You do need to make sure the place is reputable though for sure and I agree, make sure they have down bikes before. If you are blacking it all out, they will be your best friends! LOL Post pics once you get her rolling. Good Luck with the project.

 

Get in touch with Joe at Powder Pros. He's a sponsor here and I'm sure he'll do the right job for you.

 

Why don't you just get a full black exhaust from Vance & Hines or someone. Might not be to much more and it will perform better.

 

Joe is great!! I sent him some small parts from my blackout project, and he did them just right. Took a little longer than normal as he was having some issues with smaller parts and he wanted them right. He got them right, price is good. Man is a perfectionist!

 

This is what mine looked like with the twin slash slip-ons before I added heat shields:



And here it is with the buckshots:






As mentioned before, it would probably be easier and cheaper to just buy full pipes like the V&H Short Shots.

 

Personally, I like the buckshots.

But I'm a cheap skate and actually love the look of exhaust wrap on a sporty. If it were me, I'd get black exhaust wrap (more like a dirty gray), wrap my header pipe, but some flat black slash tip mufflers on, and spend my money on the powder-coating for other parts.


My sister opted for the V&H short shots on her 1200. Sweet looking pipes...but obnoxiously loud. Just like her.