Hey all, new guy here from ohio, not a new rider, started out with a hardtailed ironhead i built, then an 06 shadow 750, and have an xs650 now as a project. But today i went in and signed papers on my first big twin, 2014 Street Bob, I have had the itch for a long time to have a new Harley big twin and finally happened! I have a few questions to get out of the way and i will try not to make a bunch of threads of questions. so here we go
Recommendations are welcome and thanks ahead of time for any input
I plan to make some immediate changes and since i know their is some experience here i will just list them and tell me what you think.

1. Bars, cant stand the bars on the street bob, gonna go with some narrow apes, how high can i go with stock cables without any serious modification?
2. Slip-ons, what brand, trying to stay budget minded, low and deep sounds what im looking for, and do i have to open her up with a new air filter with slip ons?
3. Forward Controls, dealership wanted 390 without installation, seemed high to me? where is the best place and best quality out there?
Pretty much sums up what im doing to it. gonna keep it fairly close to stock, still have the old xs650 to chop on. This bike will be just for cruising.
Thanks!

 

1. I have read 14"
2. I have straight shots by V&H love em. Cycle shacks seem to be the prefered budget new brand. I would wait and buy barely used pipes or muffs at a deep discount.
3. That's what they cost. Quality i would stick with HD.

 

2. V&H slip ons are good budget slip ons (had em on my bob) but the sound is most definitely not deep. More of a raspy-race sound. I hated it, got some Big Shots which sound much much better.

Lots of people like the SE slip ons, I read they have a deeper sound but I haven't experienced it firsthand.

3. Not really an answer to your question, but some thoughts: Moving from mids to forwards or back again is invasive surgery on your primary. That means labor cost. You might find some used forwards on eBay, and save a few bucks . Granted mids are out of fashion, but I picked up a full set of used mids for $100.

If you like piecing things together hit me up in PM, I have a few parts from my old forwards laying about still.

 

Congrats and welcome. Just a thought with the new exhaust and the A/C you might want to consider a tuner to correct the lean condition that these engines have from the factory.

 

Exhaust sounds are definitely a personal taste issue. Before I bought my V&H Twin Slash slip-ons I read that some people thought they were too loud with the regular baffles and some wrote they weren't loud enough. They ended up being just right for me. Listening to youtube clips helps a little but you are better off finding some other bikes and listening to them live.
Good luck. Enjoy the ride.

 

Screamin Eagle slip ons, are not very loud and not much of a rumble. Like kchaile said, you need to listen to the sound in person, then decide on which way to go. You don't have to change A?C with slip ons, but you'll not be getting everything out of your bike, if you don't, and as Jeff said, you'll want to consider a tuner.

 

I'd say try out the cycle shack slip-ons, for the price...(about 150$), they sound great.

As far as forwards, I'm looking into this as well. From what I've seen, you can just get the kit...longer shift and brake rod, plus all hardware for around $150 off ebay. You have to reuse your stock pegs and controls though.

 

You can go 14" bars with all the stock wiring and cables/lines.

 

Man, I'm really diggin those bars you've got on there. Adding another item to my list....

 

I wouldn't go budget minded on your exhaust, I've always liked Cobra's stuff, they aren't too loud but they have a great deep tone, they wont blow out your ear drums either, plus they have lifetime chrome warranty and the slip-ons will actually improve the performance of your bike without a tune.


as far as the forwards go be careful of what your buying, there is a lot of junk out there. if I were you I would just bite it and pay the $390, it's a new bike, I wouldn't start by putting questionable parts on it.