Got 2:1 S&S Super Street exhaust system / SE Pro Tuner for my new 2020 low rider S. Super excited. Dealer will install it on Friday. Question: I heard the S&S sounds really better without the dB reducer, and it’s easy to remove. But someone on this forum said removing dB reducer significantly cuts low and mid range performance. Is that fact or fiction? Why would it have such impact on low / mid performance? I definitely don’t want to cut performance of this awesome bike. Thanks!!

 

If you have the stock cam, there may not be much difference. Some cams are very sensitive to exhaust with reversion issues.

I have noticed that most people really slow down with loud exhaust. They turn the throttle to get the sound they want and if that happens with less throttle they just go slower and don't notice 'till they follow me.

Here is a comparison with two muffler's. One is too "open".

 

In this example it's even more noticeable... So it really depends on how you ride. You can get more torque with higher rpms, but down low it's noticeably soft.

Blue is with baffle, red is without.

 

That's a poor situation, either give up bottom end or give up midrange.

 

I was this someone. Not sure how much loss there is to show on paper but it is very noticable while riding. Simply remove your dB reducer and you will see what I mean when I said there is a noticable loss of torque and power down low until about 3500 RPM.

With the dB reducer in, the bike is more responsive down low and pulls harder through the low and mid range. I didn't feel a difference in the upper RPM range with and without the dB reducer installed.

The pipe sounds mean as hell without the dB reducer in but it was too much droning for my ears. Plus I like the way it performs with the dB reducer installed. I cut the dB reducer down to increase the volume a bit. It helped a bit and had no noticable effect on the performance.

Mchad had his on a dyno with the full length dB reducer and a dB reducer he cut down in length as I did and the dyno showed a negligible difference between the two. I'll look for that thread and place a link.

 

"it was too much droning for my ears. Plus I like the way it performs with the dB reducer installed"

agreed.

 

That’s helpful @Bowhunter - by the way, you can take full credit for being the one who influenced me to buy the S&S, so thanks a lot!!! I just got worried because on some other forum, it said the 2:1 S&S pipe sounds thin and raspy (their words).

 

I can agree that the pipe does sound a bit raspy but not enough to make me want to change pipes. Sorry I made you lighten up your wallet a bit but you will most likely not regret it. Also, from what I hear, the pipe sounds even better with a different cam.

 

So I really like the way the 2;1 S&S looks on a Softail, plus performance improvement . So really stupid ignorant question here: worst case scenario if I don’t like the sound, can you put a different slip-on on a full after market exhaust system to solve for sound, or I would have to replace the whole lot?

 

I can't remember from the other thread, are you running the 50 state or race exhaust. I have the 50 state now but thinking of trying to get the race slip on.