Ok, I admit it. I'm not mechanically inclined at all. I want to put the Thunderheader x series on my 2010 Street Glide, but the parts guy at my dealership says its "Too much Pipe" for my 96 cubic inch motor. I like the looks of the new x series, love the Thunderheader sound, but don't really care for the looks of the original thunderheader. If I go against my parts guy, and put one on myself, can I screw up my motor? Or what else could possibly happen?

 

Your not going to screw up your motor, but you are going to need more air in the intake as a stage 1 air kit and probably a tuner of some sort. The 2 to 1 Thunderheader is a torque monster, but requires a tuner to get it out. The slip-ons are ok, but you'll lose low-in tq without a tuner. I also think the TH is the best sounding pipes on the market, but also is the loudest.

 

Thank you. I'm going full exhaust no slip ons, plus Doing a PCV and heavy breather during the winter.

 

You should be fine then. I don't normally say this, but get it dynode. The canned map are ok, but they do leave a lot of hp and tq on the table. I have a TTS mastertunner, and was running a canned map. It ran great, but not that good on mpg. I had it dynode and gained 11 hp and better mpg. So it was worth the money.

 

The x series pipe is for large motors and has large diameter primaries for those large motors. The standard TH would work better for your 96" I would think. That's not to say you can't run the x but you will get better performance from the standard TH.

 

It's going to be stupid loud for sure. My buddy went from a regular T-header to a X-pipe on his 124" and it was obnoxious. So much so that he took it off and put on a Boarzilla, which is tolerable.

With his big-inch motor, the torque curve definitely improved over the standard pipe, but on your bike I'll be willing to wager that with an otherwise stock motor your bottom end will feel pretty flat. with the 2" primaries and larger collector there won't be much backpressure or exhaust velocity to give you help with torque. Spend some $$ on cams, headwork and a throttle body and you'll have better results.

But hey, if it's all about the look and sound then go for it.

 

I've got a 1025 TH and man what good job it does on higher #'s on hp/torque & it's not that loud.