2017 Road Glide Special.

Bought my first Harley almost a month ago. Had the 1000 mile service last weekend.

When I bought the bike, the only upgrade I added was S&S slip ons. I LOVE the sound of them when I get on the throttle, but idling leaves a little to be desired.

What can I do to make the idle exhaust note sound better/louder? I realize the newer bikes are EFI and I'll never get that old school harley sound, but there are other things that can be done, yes?

I'm considering the stage 1 air/tuner upgrade. Will this significantly improve the idle sound? I dont have the budget yet for any motor work like cams and such, so just wondering if just the stage 1 upgrade with help.

I'd like to keep the S&S slip ons, but could consider adding headers.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

headers will improve sound.. (and performance) air intake and tuner will offer slight improvements in performance but the headers are key if you want better sound.

it gets even better once you go to a stage 2 kit. I just did mine and now I have a nice potato potato sound when idling. Sounds pretty awesome on the highway. Go for headers but I would first discuss it with your local HD shop. Some shops will support it, others may simply say if you don't get their SE versions (which I believe is garbage) any other brand will void your warranty. it's a 50/50 toss up with these guys.

 

hate to disagree with you on this, but I have just slip on's. I heard a bike with headers and the same slip on pipes. not a lick of difference in sound. I have said this on a few posts on this site. I honestly say get slip ons and save your money after that.

 

I have the S&S MK45's on mine. After about 3000 miles, they will break in and sound a little louder. Takes time for the packing to set in.

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the twin cams don't sound like an EVO and the M8 is even further removed from that classic sound. They are also very quiet compared to earlier models.

 

Yes I realize this, but surely one can improve on the quiet idle note of most any pipe with some kind of upgrades.

Not sure if true dual headers still have cats in them?? or even getting mine cut out, but I'm thinking that may void the factory warranty, so not sure I want to go that route just yet.

 

I started with just aftermarket mufflers. started with the SE street cannons. didn't like them, although some said they were fine with it. Then went with V&H mufflers... better, deeper but on idlle still too subtle for me.. again, others have said they were satisfied with it.. me I wanted a more traditional harley sound. Finally swapped out the stock head pipes with the cat for V&H power duals w/o cat.. that gave me the sound I was looking for.. louder at idle and much nicer on the road. Adding the torque cam kit improved the sound once again by giving me more potato potato sound. Now I'm happy. Sound is subjective but the headers do make a difference IMO. BTW, the V&H muffler (eliminator 400) have removable baffles and no packing.. That may also be a key differentiator.

 

Thanks. I'm thinking I may go a similar route. Wondering if I should worry about warranty issues though. Will the local dealership balk at me adding aftermarket headers? or will they want me to add the SE headers?

Also what kinds of prices should I expect for headers without cats?

 

After hearing umpteen Stage 1 M8's with all sorts of builds I came to realise the only way to get the Harley sound with these bikes is to go straight to a full Stage 2.

I used Bassani 2-1-2 Headers, Rineharts 4 inch muffs, a SE M8 Heavy Breather and the 448 cam - dyno tuned with the SE Pro Super Tuner. Result? Stump pulling Torque off the line, and it sounds like it should now, lumpy and deep at idlle and shear music when cracking it.

I had a massive increase in HP and TQ so even though it cost me 4.5K Oz dollars it was worth every penny.

 

Go stage III, you get more of everything