FWIW, i have these on my 18 fatboy and great alternative to having replace the entire exhaust. The only gripe i had was that it wasn't loud enough and by that i mean my last bike had the V&H short shots. To give me the rumble that i was looking for, i removed the fiberglass packing and got the sound i was looking for!
I agree with you...that's why I replaced them. They sound good and look good, but I wanted loud. I have always liked louder. When I rode the bike to the shop to buy something, the service people and a few customers thought that they were just right. To each his own. I did not try to remove the packing. That would have been the next step had I not made up my mind to get the V&H Big Radius.