So I want to cut my Lowrider ST baffles out. No exhaust for me this year. I know they might not sound best wide open. I have ordered some lollipops to put in. So who has done that, what does it sound like, and do lollipops improve things if you have done that?

Thanks.

 

Been there done that, got curious on what would happen if i removed the baffles and cut back about an inch from the ends of the mufflers. The baffles then just pull right out, but the cats will still be up in the nose of the slips. If you want the cats out just pop those out through the front of the slip. The exhaust sounds tinty and raspy and you will lose low end torque, but 258 Thunder Torque Inserts which is what i used woke the bike right up and sounded just like short shots. I tried the 258 inserts before i popped the cats out, and after i popped the cats out, and imho the bike ran better when i had the cats in. I've since installed some S&S slash cuts on and the sound of them is very similar to what the insert sounded like, but not as abrupt at the throttle meaning the throttle wasn't as touchy.

 

Excellent, thank you. So that is sort of what I have gotten... That the sound with no baffles isn't that great, but it is louder. I saw one video where he made sort of half a baffle from the stock parts. I don't know about that.. So inserts. The stocks are 3", so I ordered the 158s. I thought the 258s might be a little too restrictive. Maybe I should give them a call.

Good to know about the cat. I didn't plan on removing them. I didn't know how that would sound... And this is temporary. I am getting a full exhaust, just not this year. Winter. I had jet skis and I did a popular mod of straightening the exhaust and taking out the resonator. It didn't really do much for performance, but just motoring around it was really drony.. Kind of annoying. Kind of regretted it. So I know about gutting stuff and it not being great. I just want louder and not irritating. And louder always means deeper.... Nobody ever wants louder and brighter.

 

Yes, I succumbed to the temptation once.
I ruined a perfectly functional set of mufflers by knocking out the baffling.

I was left with no back pressure so exhaust reversion ruled the day. If it wasn't snapping and popping on deceleration it was wheezing on acceleration. Sound was my sole motivation and to say that I was bummed out with the result would be an understatement.

If your bike is fuel injected you'll be sorry you upset the factory air/fuel formula.

I would advise against removing the baffling.

 

One thing to consider when deciding where to place the hole for the insert, is to mark the hole while you have the shields on so to not get in the way of the clamp that holds the shield on. Had to redrill mine since the nut for the insert was in the way, but in any event with the cats still in youll be legal anyway.

 

I cut mine open and put in 10" long 2.5" diameter perforated fiberglass wrapped sections back in and rewelded them. I don't really feel any low end loss and the sound is pretty loud. I wouldn't say it sounds great but it isn't too bad...but it is pretty loud. There is no coughing, snapping, or wheezing on my bike at all nor is there any decel popping. It runs like the day I bought it except just louder. I ended up spray painting them with some BBQ grill high temp paint to make them disappear more. Both of my mufflers were different total length and you could tell by looking at the heat shields and how much stuck out past them. And yes they were different length from the factory with little quality control. The look of them bothered me from the day I bought the bike.

 

Well, now I have. I cut the end off at the weld rather than cutting the weld inside. Came right out. Got a chance to get out for a bit. My loudness problem is definitely fixed. The stock sound is all muffler.

Now I wouldn't exactly call it great. It's pretty much how most describe it. It's just an open can, not tuned for sounding good. A little unrefined, a little crack and a little droning. I have lollipops coming so I am hoping they will improve it a bit like most say. And yes, I think I lost a tiny bit of torque. It's not slow or anything like that, it just doesn't feel like it hits as hard as it did. We'll see what the inserts do.

Big picture is I think it's a good thing, it just needs to be made better. If the inserts are not enough, I have thought of ways of adding a little bit of baffle back in. That will take some more thought, but I think I can get it where I want it and I don't have to ride a sewing machine all summer.

 

You know the sound a nice Harley makes when its rumbling at a light then pulls away with a louder yet classy chug?
Pulling the baffles does away with all that. You have louder sound but it has a ratty quality, even with TTIs. I pulled the baffles from a set of Rush sportster slip ons and put 258 TTIs in it. It's not too loud and it runs great with a very strong mid range, but dang it, it just sounds ratty.
I'm in the process of cutting the full length baffles down to half length and repacking them just to see what that does.
I like messing around with the thing, I'm retired.
If the short baffles don't work out it will take ten minutes to put it back how it is now. I used Vied's from DK Customs to richen the closed loop mixture and they work well. In fact they can richen it up too much. I reset them several times to get them right. It's only mods are the vieds, an external breather, 6" air filter and these slip ons. It runs really strong.

 

Exactly. I was looking at the baffles to see if I can modify. There are other baffle inserts I'm curious if they would work, but don't want to put a bunch of money in. Looking at anything just to get a layer of fiberglass in to dampen a tad. Screen, perforated pipe, ect. But it's all good, it is temporary. The stock sewing machine sound was much more annoying.

Ya... Like this stuff.

https://www.motosport.com/LA-Choppers-Universal-Exhaust-Baffle?variant=LCH0003-X001-Y009&variant[LCH0003]=LCH0003-X001-Y014

A foot in each. Mine are 3.4" cans... So 2.5" to hold 1/2" of fiberglass. Something simple. We'll see. Lots of options.

 

You can just cut out the entire center section of the baffles and only use the front and rear endcaps for centering purposes. Just weld whatever length piece and diameter of perforated tubing in between them and wrap with fiberglass mat and put them back in a reweld the rear cap on.