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none of the dealers have any thing I can compare side by side. The one nearest me has one bike with a Milwaukee 8 114 with Vance and Hines big radius 2 by 2 but I would need a twin cam with same pipes and baffles. Thats not gonna happen unless you are lucky.
I am a new rider compared to a lot of guys and girls here, so I was hoping to rely on experience in this forum for some help. Im actually just starting to ride again. I got hit last October and my right leg suffered major damage to bones, knee and ligaments. So Im just now able to get back on a bike. Went on a few test rides and fell in love with the breakout.
Now its just a matter of a older 103 twin cam or a 107/114 Milwaukee 8. From what I have been able to pick up on from YouTube, twin cam wins in the side by side sound category, but again, would love for some insight.
Best advice is to take your time and find a local hot spot for bikes in your area. Youll surely find what youre looking for. Dont focus too much on what brands of exhaust are on the bikes, as any twin cam bike will sound better than an m8 bike, unless you like rice sounding bikes. If it were my money, Id look for a nice twin cam garage queen.
Thanks. I feel like Im taking a beating here! Maybe I asked the wrong question lol. Im not a old rider, just a new one who got hit by someone on their phone trying to get back into it. Im sold on the breakout at this point. So Im stuck with these engine choices.
This place has changed a lot in the last 10 years. Just take the good with the bad. Die hard grey beard bikers are far and few between these days and most of them arent sitting around giving **** to new guys on a forum. Keep that in mind. Now, given your question, you are wanting to make your bike purchase/choice based largely on the exhaust sound. That in itself is a reason to catch some ****, but Im guessing you figured this out. Thats going to be considered ridiculous by most.
I had a set of v&h big radius without the baffles on a twin cam Fatboy some years ago. It was a loud bitch, but sounded good just idling in the driveway. My current stock M8 sounds like **** and Im guessing its just going to sound like shiny **** once I get a full exhaust on it with no cat. I guess you trade the sound for the better performing motor. So to answer your question, of the two, get twin cam for the better sound.
This place has changed a lot in the last 10 years. Just take the good with the bad. Die hard grey beard bikers are far and few between these days and most of them arent sitting around giving **** to new guys on a forum. Keep that in mind. Now, given your question, you are wanting to make your bike purchase/choice based largely on the exhaust sound. That in itself is a reason to catch some ****, but Im guessing you figured this out. Thats going to be considered ridiculous by most.
I had a set of v&h big radius without the baffles on a twin cam Fatboy some years ago. It was a loud bitch, but sounded good just idling in the driveway. My current stock M8 sounds like **** and Im guessing its just going to sound like shiny **** once I get a full exhaust on it with no cat. I guess you trade the sound for the better performing motor. So to answer your question, of the two, get twin cam for the better sound.
well like I said I wasnt basing everything on sound. I just wanted sound to be a factor. I can save some money and get a older twin cam and get what I want instead of getting a newer M8, paying more and not getting what I want, though there are some good things about the M8. But overall I have been disappointed in the M8 sound. Just not enough to experience to judge if the M8 is actually that much quieter or not.
It’s not that the TC sounds better than an M8, maybe they do, maybe they don’t...it’s the fact the EPA kicked HD in the baby maker with the newer Models and engine. More restrictions and they got fined for their tuners. so that equates to dealers being much stricter on what mods void the warranty. They don’t want more fines. TC, twin cams or twinkies what ever you choose to call them are past tense and not current production so won’t have a warranty to void
While you may not get a that knuckle, pan head shovel sound out of a later model, they can still sound good with the right pipes.
edit: tossing this in here ... the various sounds of HD motors over the years.
A twin cam will sound better and you will also be getting an engine that was produced 17 years, that means a later model had many of the bugs worked out that came with the platform. Plus the cost factor.
Come on zerk, dont hold back lol...even better is the guy not looking for a performance gain from a cam but just that "lopey" idle. More like loopy. When i was just a wee ladd in the mid 70s i had this twist grip thing on my chopper bicycle called a "raw-power.
The faster you twisted it the more motorcycle sound you got out of it...just keep your honda rebel and get one of those, much cheaper. Lol
Iremember those.
Are those Fender pre-amp tube covers I see back there? About right for a 12AX7?
Its not that the TC sounds better than an M8, maybe they do, maybe they dont...its the fact the EPA kicked HD in the baby maker with the newer Models and engine. More restrictions and they got fined for their tuners. so that equates to dealers being much stricter on what mods void the warranty. They dont want more fines. TC, twin cams or twinkies what ever you choose to call them are past tense and not current production so wont have a warranty to void
While you may not get a that knuckle, pan head shovel sound out of a later model, they can still sound good with the right pipes.
edit: tossing this in here ... the various sounds of HD motors over the years.
There is a difference. Side by side no doubt. Never liked the M8 and went with a 17 Dyna and 16 Streetglide the last years to avoid the M8. Even my wife can tell the difference between my bikes and the neighbors 20 Roadglide coming down the street. The Twin Cam is more obnoxious, sound and otherwise then the M8. The M8 can be made to sound more HDish and less import by a high lift cam (my neighbor did on his 20).
V & H!? Save up and get an exhaust for it.
Last edited by Highwaymans; Jul 14, 2020 at 02:46 AM.
OP lives in NC.
I would take your time as pipes, etc. are expensive. Go to Daytona for Biketoberfest and hang at the hot spots as bike come in. Eventually you will hear what you like and ascertain from that bike's owner what they're running and, voila' within a few hours and more than a few hundred dollars later ... it'll be on your bike.
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