When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
fwiw I de-cat-ed my 2017 H-D Fat Boy mufflers today, all done through the entrance hole. I used: holesaw set various diameters incl extension (I bought this), bench vice with padding, dark garage & headlamp. It's not difficult if you're patient. You have to keep tightening the set/grub screw, otherwise it can disappear into the muffler. I found that it's better to stay away from the edges until you've drilled through, and then tidy up the edges after that. In the photo, the muffler on rhs is not yet done. Oh well, something to do during lockdown.
Last edited by bustergut; Mar 13, 2021 at 09:20 AM.
Interesting, never knew they started putting cats on motorcycles. That sounds a little scary because cats tend to get extremely hot.
If it wasn't for the picture (thank you), I wouldn't have believed you.
Oh wait, are you in Commiefornia? They have very different vehicle rules from the rest of the world.
Interesting, never knew they started putting cats on motorcycles. That sounds a little scary because cats tend to get extremely hot.
If it wasn't for the picture (thank you), I wouldn't have believed you.
Oh wait, are you in Commiefornia? They have very different vehicle rules from the rest of the world.
You must not have looked into new Harleys for many years.....
You are correct about CA, and they started with cats first..... BUT ...
Harley has been putting cats on motorcycles since around 2006ish.... Been so long I have forgotten when it started in CA then moved to the rest of the line....
Originally they were in the mufflers. About 2010ish, they started putting them in the head pipes....
With the M8 engines, they started putting some back in the mufflers...
And yes, they get hot...!!!
On my 2012 bagger, my wife did not enjoy riding with me on anything other than cool days, because her right foot was just above the CAT in the head pipe.... I didn't even have to tell her when I switched out the exhaust (no CAT), she knew immediately....
When I got my 2016 bagger, I had a new exhaust (no CAT) within a week....
Last edited by hattitude; Mar 16, 2021 at 09:15 AM.
Well, having removed the "honeycomb" cats, see above;
I went back in to remove the "tin can" cylinders surrounding the cats (slightly damaged),
and the "blanket" padding surrounding the cylinders.
My mufflers are now as clean inside as my rifle barrel was during my conscription in a former life.
However, the rifle was a great deal easier.
I have a lot of respect for keyhole surgeons.
Last edited by bustergut; Mar 23, 2021 at 12:35 AM.
My neighbor and I just did his on his 2017 Heritage Softail, 103 Twin Cam.
He did buy a hole saw with a drill bit extension and all, but he ended up taking them back to Lowes, we didn't use them.
We drilled three holes into the Honeycombs with a long 1/2" drill bit while mufflers were in a Bench Vice with wood on each side of the jaws.
I placed a 1x4 piece of wood on the floor and I had a long chisel and we started chiseling and hammering them out.
Once in a while a piece would get stuck, but we just flipped the muffler over and beat it down onto the wood.
The piece would come close to the end (exhaust entrance side) and I could grab it with small Needle Nose Pliers I had.
They turned out great, he finally got to ride it yesterday. It's just a hair louder, and it really cut down on the heat on his right leg, which was our main objective.
I've now put these de-cat-ed H-D mufflers back on my Fat Boy.
When I bought the bike a few years ago from the H-D dealer, it had been a demo with low mileage, and it came already fitted with V&H Straightshots. I swopped the V&H standard baffles for V&H quiet baffles with padding. It had never been re-tuned and it never popped on decel.
I liked the noise but it was bothering people and interfering with its annual compulsory roadworthy test.
The biggest problem I had removing the V&H was that my ring wrenches are not slim enough to fit into those slots to hold those nuts. Instead I used a mini long-nosed vise-grip, but that was tedious and time consuming (I've ordered new tools, yet again...)
I had to buy #65900012 clamps (mine were rusty) and #65900017 gaskets (not required in all countries).
The de-cat-ed H-D mufflers are running well, and the bike is now more manageable when changing down in lower gears. Decibels are down from 88 to 84.
And on the subject of exhausts, does anyone have experience of dealing with these guys? americancustom.com
Last edited by bustergut; May 21, 2023 at 03:10 PM.
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.
Mufflers de-cat-ed
