I chopped off the last 4 inches of my pipes, 2022 Heritage Classic 114, and pulled out all the internals. Fitted the biggest DK inserts as instructed. The bike is loud, so I'm not sure if it's me getting used to it, or is it just unpleasant. It sounds metallic and "clackety". Can I add exhaust wadding or stainless steel wool loosely to dampen the sound, or does that sound incorrect?

 

it’s unpleasant.

whatever you were trying to accomplish, well, I’d get a new set of pipes and start over.

 

I removed the stock baffles from my old breakout and made my own replacements. Went to an exhaust shop and had them take a 12in long piece of 2in dia pipe and flare the ends to 3in to fit into stock muffler. I cut some slots in the middle of the baffles and wrapped them with some of the stock packing. Slide them back in and used a bolt to lock them in. Sounded great! Cost $20

 

Shortening any exhaust will make it louder. If that was your intent, you succeeded. There's no way I'm aware of to use any other material in there, it would defeat the purpose of the lollipop design of those inserts.