Originally Posted by FatBob2018

I had Stage I and Stage II done at the same time (Softail M8). Total cost, including parts, was $1500. But, I didn't need a new A/C; my M8 114 included the Ventilator as standard, so I didn't have to swap out that part. So the parts included the S&S Grand Nationals mufflers (under $400 at FuelMoto), and the SEPST tuner with cables ($300 at Boardtracker), and the Stage II torque camshaft kit (I think it was $330 at Boardtracker). They charged me 6 hours labor to install the cam, and 1/2 hour to install the mufflers. Dealers were offering a winter special of 25% off labor, so labor was $75/hr. Total bill was about $1500 after parts, labor, shop supplies and tax and whatnot.

Harley's chart for Stage II for a touring bike includes either the Heavy Breather or Ventilator A/C, and Street Cannons. They don't list the High Flow Exhaust unless you're going to Stage IV. So it's up to you -- that High Flow Exhaust certainly won't hurt anything, but it's probably $800 more than you really need to spend for Stage II-level power. If you plan on someday going to Stage IV, then yeah, you'd save some money buying it first, but then again you should just go Stage IV anyway because it'll involve replacing the camshaft with a different one than Stage II, so that's about $1,000 worth of parts and labor that would be duplicated when going Stage IV. Or, maybe it's worth it because you prefer the look, or the sound, or whatever. There are probably reasons your dealer suggested it; you may just want to ask them if Street Cannons are good enough. Might be an easy way to shave about $800 off your build price.

Which is a long-winded way of saying -- I doubt you need a $1300 exhaust system, you'd probably be fine with $550 slip-ons.

And, as said, you can save about 25% on parts by buying through Boardtracker or Surdyke or Newcastle (about 18% less, plus no sales tax)... but some dealers don't like installing parts that weren't bought through them, so you'd have to decide what that's worth to you.