American Custom. Stock look, better flow and performance, choice of sound thru baffling system, and best price around.

 

Look at this site: http://www.kess-tech.de/en/index.php?language=en

This is a German manufacturer of high quality exhaust systems. Can be customized ... from very quiet to very loud. I guess, and some American manufacturer makes such systems.
When closed, were below 60 decibels ... almost like electric car.

 

Less restrictive pipes are not necessarily a good thing. Open pipes with proper maps or carb adjustments will give you more power at higher RPMs, but usually at the expense of bottom end torque, which is where most near stock Harleys shine. Back pressure and reversion pulses help to cram some of the scavenged air-fuel mixture back into the cylinder where it improves the volumetric efficiency. The benefit is more power and better fuel economy. That is the purpose of the cross-over pipe on stock exhaust designs. In my opinion, you don't need louder pipes if you don't want them. Here is a great mod that will give a little 'better' sound, without sacrificing much in the way of performance http://www.xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/showthread.php?t=16948

 

cut the catalytic converter out and add XIEDs. there was a huge discussion here on that recently. bottom line is it cools things down, tiny bit more sound, little loss of mileage, and maybe a tad better or smoother performance. the cats will need to come out anyway--those things do make it pretty warm on the rider and passenger's leg. the XIEDs richen the air/fuel ratio slightly. the motor is not running quite so lean(hot). this is a low cost way to go. just did my 2012 e.g. classic and am pleased with the result.

 

I run the Screamin Eagle intake on my '07 Wideglide with stock exhaust and love it. I use a Dobeck TFI for adjusting my fuel ratio and it works MUCH better that the XIED that I now have sitting in a drawer. I did go to a Vance and Hines pro-pipe for a short time and it was much loader than I was comfortable with. The Stock exhaust sound does improve with time.

 

I have to ask;
If your happy with stock sound, not interested in spending more money,
why bother with things such as power-comander, ceramic heads etc. Leave
your bike stock. I have a '02 Roadking stock and it'll get me where I'm
going just as quick as anyone else.

 

Harley's sound doesn't come from any special or unique exhaust. It comes from the fact that its a 45 degree, single crank pin, air cooled, push rod operated engine. The exhaust on the bike has to meet certain EPA restrictions. To meet those restrictions they have to make a restrictive muffler at a reasonable cost to both the MOCO and the consumer. Many aftermarket companies make less restrictive slip on mufflers as well as complete exhaust systems that flow A LOT better, make more power and are only marginally louder than the stock system. They are able to do this and eliminate that horrible wheezing, gasping for breath sound the stock bikes make. The only downside is that they are not free. Figure out your budget and hit the search button. Then get on youtube and find all the clips on Harley exhausts you can find. There are THOUSANDS!!! Look at them mounted up and listen to how they sound. Hell, I myself probably have four sound clips on youtube. All the info you could ever want is on this site and youtube. The fact your here asking means you get that. Just keep asking and researching and NEVER take one persons opinion as the gospel. Listen to everyone and make up your own mind. Lastly, yes.... if you bolted the stock mufflers to aftermarket head pipes, you would gain almost nothing. The stock head pipes on the bikes are designed very well. Once the catalytic converters are removed, they function quite well. The restriction is in the mufflers.

 

Since everyone else is expressing their opinions, I thought I'd offer mine.

From everything I've read on here and in other places, the stock air cleaner is the most restrictive part of the intake/exhaust system on these bikes. If you replace it, you'll get more air into the engine which generally is a good thing. The downside of that is that the stock ECM settings may not have enough adaptability to compensate for the extra air. You may need to have it reflashed by the dealer or use one of the after market systems.

I had my dealer install the less restrictive Screaming Eagle backplate on my bike and kept the football cover because my understanding was that this change added about five horsepower. See the link below for dyno chart comparisons.

http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/g...bmLocale=en_US

They reflashed the ECM and I felt the bike ran fine with just that reflash. Others have reported less than satisfactory results with the reflash but again, my bike ran fine.

A number of people claim power increases with exhaust changes. I have yet to see any documentation supporting the claim of increased power. All the dyno charts I've seen related to claiming increased power with an exhaust change included other changes such as a new air cleaner, new ignition map, dyno tuning, cams, or other things. Without back to back runs with only the exhaust being changed, I'm not convinced that changing the exhaust does anything other than make it louder. If someone has a dyno chart showing a power increase from changing the exhaust only, I'd like to see it.

I'd leave the catalytic converter in the exhaust if it was my bike. Some have reported heat issues and although I've not ridden a catalyst equipped HD for an extended time, I find it hard to believe that the converter makes that much difference.

If you want a exhaust with just a little more sound, you might want to look at HD's Screaming Eagle systems as they are a little less restrictive which means they are a little louder but still are legal as they have the EPA stamp.

Again, these are my opinions/perspectives. Ultimately it's your bike and your decision as to what changes to make.

 

YES - you HAVE to have louder pipes. Now don't anybody ask this again.

 

Yes, it's about respect.

Loud pipes distinctly identify a bike as a Harley. Without the roar you could easily be mistaken for a metric Vtwin. Other Harley riders would look down on you. How will you scare children and make women turn away ? If there is someone walking along the side of the road I always crack the throttle and watch them jump. It's part of the lifestyle.