Bike: 2007 Sportster 1200C, stock except for the Outlaw oil filter from DK Customs.

My goal: Stage 1 power increase without excessive (as I judge it) increase in exhaust noise.

Current status: I have a PV tuner with a tune for the DK 587 air cleaner and Rush 3" Slash down slip-ons with 1.75" baffles BUT, due to an omitted part from DK I was unable to install the 587 intake, so I installed the Rush slip-ons and left the bike with the factory tune for now.

Holy crap, THIS EXHAUST IS TOO FREAKING LOUID FOR ME.

In fairness, Kevin of DK had, given my not-too-loud goal, had recommended SE's, but I couldn't find SE II's, so I went with Rush as a not-as-loud-as-others alternative, and Rush told me that the 1.75" baffles would be the quietest.

Too loud.

Some bullet points:

• In my driveway I measured the factory exhaust as 82 decibels at idle from 6 feet away, the Rush's from exactly the same spot measured 88-89. Rush tone is lower, but with lots more pop and snap. Too much for my ears/taste.

• The butt-dyno gives a reading of less power/acceleration than stock exhaust. Mind you, that's with the stock tune, and I expect that to be fixed with the 587 intake (once the missing part arrives) and PV Fuel Moto tune.

• The engine has much more snap, crackle, and pop, and not in a good way. I had one big backfire up relaxing throttle after hard acceleration through three gears. As before, I hope the intake and custom tune fixes this.

• I do have DK Thunder Torque inserts, but didn't get them installed before my test run. Also, they sent me 1.75" inserts, the ID of the Rush is around 2.75", and I recall from reading TTI threads that, generally speaking, the TTI's should mostly fill the available space. The 1.75's in the 3" Rush look tiny and lost; it's hard to believe they'll do much of anything.

Since I'm hoping/expecting that the intake and tune will fix the unimproved power and rougher running, my biggest question is:

Any suggestions on how can I get the exhaust decibels down? I have vague notions of pulling the baffles and wrapping them in miles of muffler tape, as well as getting the biggest TTI's that will fit. Maybe the intake/proper tune will help by getting the engine running smoother/better, with less crackle/pop and no backfiring?

If the Rush's can't be toned down to acceptable levels, the only thing I can think of is to sell them at a loss and try current SE's, and if they're still too loud go back to stock mufflers.

 

I have Rush slipons with the 1.75" baffles too, except the baloney cut and not slash down. I went with a Figure Machine R4 a/c and Superchips Vigilante tuner.




Like you, my first thought when I put them on and fired it up was damn, that's loud! After going about 9,000 miles on the stock mufflers, it was a big difference. I thought about toning them down (Rush does make a 1.5" baffle) or maybe even getting rid of them. I also thought about pulling the baffles and wrapping more fiberglass packing around them, or getting thunder torque inserts.


In the end, I left them as is, started wearing earplugs, and I'm used to them now I'm so glad I didn't do anything to them. Brings a smile to my face every time I fire it up.


I think a good tune will help a lot in how they sound, and definitely in how it runs. I get no crackle or popping, no backfiring, and it runs smooth. I also think they sound better the more miles I've put on them. I've got about 6,000 on them now and they seem to just get better.


That said, everyone is different and if they just aren't doing it for you, I would look into getting some 1.5" baffles (hard to find but when I looked around about a year ago I found them here and there). Beyond that, just experiment with the TT inserts, and more fiberglass packing. As a last resort, you'd probably be able to sell them and get most your money back out of them. Good luck.

 

You shouldn't need torque inserts if you have baffles. The patriot defenders have an adjustable baffle that you can use to make the exhaust louder or quieter. Pretty cool idea I'm not sure if any other exhausts have the same thing. The baffles on your stock pipes are probably solid redirecting all air flow through the muffler. A lot of aftermarket exhaust have an open baffle that makes them louder. Get some different slip ons or wear ear plugs. No sense in making your miserable.

 

Get some Vance and Hines short shots. They are nice and quite.

 

My Vance and Hines are quiet as a short legged mouse pi$$in on cotton. I have actually been asked if it's a goldwing.

 

I would recommend flashing the ECM with the tune that FuelMoto gave you.
Even without the air cleaner mod , it should help.
I was looking at mufflers myself , and might have tried Rush if they offered the 1 1/2" core as an option to start.
I did find a pair of SEll mufflers , which everyone raves about , on my local craigslist.
The SEll's are very loud , nearly as loud as the Rush with 1 3/4" core , but the core does not go straight through.
There's a reason they are "for off road use only" rated.
I measured my stock muffler cores at 1 1/8" so I figured any aftermarket exhaust would be substantially louder than them.
The late model SE mufflers are EPA compliant , so they can't be too bad.
Any muffler with a straight through core will be more susceptable to decell pop and backfiring , but a tune will help quite a bit.
I did a mod similar to this on my stock mufflers , sounded real nice , but wanted to try the SEll's for grins.
http://www.xlforum.net/vbportal/foru...ad.php?t=16948
If I can't tame the SEll's with some tuning , they might have to go back on craigslist.
In all fairness , the SEll's have never popped or backfired , even with an SE air filter and just the factory tune.
Even 1 1/2" louvered Rush baffles would be quite a bit louder than stock 1 1/8" redirected baffles.
The really big TTI's would probably help some for sure.
Mick

 

mine is 1.75 baloney rush, I am thinking of getting something louder

 

Many moons ago we used to pack steel wool in the mufflers to adjust the volume, try removing your baffles and pack some in, I bet it would help.
You do have to re-pack a couple times a year as the moisture in the exhaust slowly dissolves the steel wool.

 

Or try this.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/stai...FYIXHwodMyQAIA

 

Alienbogey, I posted a response in your other forum, but since this forum is more responsive, I will post it here too.

The SEIIs are comparable to the Rush with the Rush being slightly louder with 2" baffles so with 1.75" baffles, it would probably be similar in decibels. You are correct that the TTI 158s are a bit small for the 3" pipes but it also depends on the baffle diameter. I installed the W258 in my Rush and it did quiet down the pipes a bit since the gap was only about 1/8" around the cone. You may want to try TTI Q258s which is the quiet version of the TTIs...it is cheap enough to try and less expensive than getting another slip-on. But if you are looking, perhaps the newer SEs (like Street Performance) are a better option if you want quiet.

BTW my SEIIs sold about a week after we communicated. Sorry we couldn't make it work but based on your post, I believe it would have been too loud for your liking.