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Engine Mechanical TopicsDiscussion for motor builds, cams, head work, stripped bolts and other engine related issues. The good and the bad. If it goes round and around or up and down, post it here.
I have a 2011 Electra Glide Ultra Limited, 103” engine. I recently installed a stage 4 kit with the D&D 2 into 1 exhaust. I was given a choice of 3 baffles by the Harley dealer which was either a quite baffle, a performance baffle, or as he called it the ear splitter. I asked him what the difference was between the 3. He said I would get the most power from the performance baffle so that’s what I got.
However it is pretty loud and on a long trip the noise begins to wear on me and my wife. I love the power tho.
My question, would the quite baffle reduce the power and if so by how much? Most of my riding is long distance and in the mountains.
My other question is if I change the baffle myself, how hard is it to change and would I have to re-tune the bike to accept the new baffle?
You have a FatCat and they are, by some people's standards, too loud no matter what baffle you have. I have the same pipe, its been too loud since the day I got it. I have the Quiet Baffle which is to say the wrapped/perforated baffle. You have the Performance Baffle which is a perforated/unwrapped baffle. The ear splitter (as your dealer called it) is a louvered/unwrapped baffle AKA very, very loud.
There is another baffle called the CCT or Concentric baffle. It is quieter than the Quiet baffle but severely restricts performance. You might as well put the stock exhaust back on. I have one of those too. As far a retune for the switch, I'll let others chime in but there really isn't gonna be that big a difference between the Performance baffle and the Quiet baffle. Depending on what tuner you have, auto tune can make up the difference without a dyno. In any event, a more restrictive baffle will lead to a rich condition as opposed to lean so its not a huge deal. Plain and simple, if you think its too loud, it will always be too loud. Nature of the beast, to get the power you gotta have the free flow which brings noise.
There isn't much to changing a FatCat baffle. A block of wood and WD40 will get them out pretty quick. I've changed 4 or 5 of them. (Not mine 4 or 5 times)
I hope this helped. Sorry for the typos, I'm on my phone.
Last edited by Campy Roadie; Oct 4, 2013 at 06:55 AM.
Hey thanks, man. is there another type of exhaust out there that would give me that low growl that im looking for? I heard about a Vance & Hines exhaust but havent heard one on anybody elses bike. My wife will have to be convinced to spend some more money on it as she has said i spent enough money on the damn thing. I figure when she gets tired of the noise, she will authorize the expense.
I have a Vance & Hines Pro Pipe 2 into 1 on my Dyna. It's not as loud as the Fat Cat and seems to do a pretty good job. I would look into the Supertrapp 2 into 1 system. It gets a lot of good reviews and it's baffle system is tunable with discs. In then end though, they ALL produce more noise. But, noise is a subjective thing. One man's noise is another man's music. All that said, buy you and the wife some earplugs and be done with it. Chasing exhaust note/volume/performance is an expensive proposition and usually results in a small change compared to the money spent.
You might want to check out the Dragula by Dragos. My tuner recommends them over the fatcats. They're not quite as loud but have a deeper tone to them. They offer different baffle sizes for the intended application. Call Frank at Dragosbikeworks. 815-765-1790
I have a 2011 Electra Glide Ultra Limited, 103” engine. I recently installed a stage 4 kit with the D&D 2 into 1 exhaust. I was given a choice of 3 baffles by the Harley dealer which was either a quite baffle, a performance baffle, or as he called it the ear splitter. I asked him what the difference was between the 3. He said I would get the most power from the performance baffle so that’s what I got.
However it is pretty loud and on a long trip the noise begins to wear on me and my wife. I love the power tho.
My question, would the quite baffle reduce the power and if so by how much? Most of my riding is long distance and in the mountains.
My other question is if I change the baffle myself, how hard is it to change and would I have to re-tune the bike to accept the new baffle?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Bad advise from dealer. Quiet Baffle would have given more low end torque . Performance baffle usually gives you a big torque dip @ 2500 rpm.
i will jump on the fatcat bandwagon....i have the wrapped/"quiet" baffle...that thing is awesome good deep sound and when you get on it it will bark..its a good sounding pipe all around...i searched for pipes for awhile and never did i come across one person who disliked the fatcat
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