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I ran the V&H BS Staggered on my Dyna, my Girl has them on her 09 Deluxe. They're definitely loud. I have Straightshots on my 05 Heritage I can hear the difference, I think the SS on my Heritage has a snappier tone to it, but I believe that may have to do with the Stage ll. I'd love to try the Freedom Exhaust 4" Union 2 into 1. But I've never heard it, so that can be risky.
If your heart is set on true duals, as byersmtrco said above, you'll still need a good tune, or you will get decel pop....
Sound is very subjective.. you would need to hear them in person to be sure. I have 3 Softails with 3 different exhausts. I like all three, and all three sound good. I ran straight pipes on my old shovel head for 8 years. I will never do that again, but I still tend to like pipes a little bit on the loud side.
I have Vance & Hines Straight Shots on my '01 Springer. Classic, true dual look, and sound good to me. They look like straight pipes, but have baffles. These are probably the second loudest, of the three. These are the old version before V&H's new PCX, Power Chamber Exhaust Technology (ie: high flow catalytic converters).
I have Vance & Hines Big Shots Staggered on my '03 Heritage. Look like duals, but have a chamber between the two pipes. Kind of a mix between true duals and 2-1-2 exhaust. These look good, but they are the old version before the PCX, Power Chamber Exhaust Technology, and they are loud. These are the loudest of the three, by a fair margin.
I have a Bassani FireSweep exhaust on my '09 Crossbones. Ture duals with a slight turn-out. Look good, sound good. These are probably the least loud of the three, with a little deeper tone than the other two.
If you can go to a bike night or other such bike gathering and hear various exhausts in person, you will be better able to make a decision...
I'm running V&H shortshots staggered on my 2016 FLSS with the FP3 Plenty loud! Was able to get rid of the decel pop with a tune but could never get rid of the accel pop. V&H tech had this to say about it, "Keep in mind that the ShortShots Staggered are a short drag style pipe. They will pop and backfire. That is what they are designed to do. We may never get to zero popping since we are fighting what the exhaust was designed to do."
I’ll do a comparison between two different three step tuned pipes on my 127. Whatever makes the most power above 4000 rpm I’ll keep regardless of aesthetics or sound.
Above are 1 3/4” to 2” to 2 1/4”
The Road King is also running step tuned three step true duals on the 113”
1 3/4” to 2” to 2 1/4”
Last edited by Rains2much; Apr 3, 2025 at 03:33 PM.
No one asked, but yes, you can fit the Straightshot systems on a 2013+ TwinCam
using some O2 adapters. This also allows me to run a tool box on the RH side...
(both of which are not "supposed to fit" )
The Straightshots only come in Chrome, so I had them media-blasted & re-coated
with Techline Coatings Turbo-X black...
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