Sportster Models 883, 883 Custom, 1200 Custom, 883L, 1200L, 1200S, 1200 Roadster, XR1200, and the Nightster.
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

Baffles...

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jan 11, 2016 | 09:55 PM
  #1  
sawka's Avatar
sawka
Thread Starter
|
Tourer
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 359
Likes: 56
From: Dallas
Default Baffles...

So I got an exhaust on my bike many months ago and It lost all its lowend torque but it seemed to cruise fine and I was just happy to not scrape anymore on turns. Then I got the 1200 put in and the guy who tuned it told me the exhaust was chocking the bike. I decided to tear the baffles out and run tti's and it ran like a freaking dream. rode for a few days like that but it got a bit too loud for me so I put the baffles back in thinking the added back pressure would help lowend torque and although Id lose a bit of sound I would be able to leave the state without worries of being pulled over. It now runs like a flaming bag of crap again so I can determine the baffles are just way too resticting but they do have a ton of dimples in them. I would show a picture but I dont have the bike at my place right now so I pulled up an example. My question is what would actually quiet the bike down a bit but not make it choke on itself?

EDIT: Solution on the second page.
 

Last edited by sawka; Jan 19, 2016 at 07:45 PM.
Reply
Old Jan 12, 2016 | 05:32 AM
  #2  
grbrown's Avatar
grbrown
Club Member
15 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,897
From: Bedford UK
Default

Baffles are a bandaid IMHO, they are no substitute for a well designed and made system. What system are you currently using?
 
Reply
Old Jan 12, 2016 | 05:37 AM
  #3  
QC's Avatar
QC
Seasoned HDF Member
10 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Top Answer: 1
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 100,455
Likes: 19,810
From: Centennial, CO
Default

Those will be loud. My experience with the TTIs is that they were relatively quiet at cruise.
Also, did you get a dyno tune with your engine upgrade?
 
Reply
Old Jan 12, 2016 | 05:55 AM
  #4  
HKMark23's Avatar
HKMark23
Seasoned HDF Member
10 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 6,174
Likes: 1,960
From: Great State of Canada
Default

Taking from your post that its a baffle issue, and assuming thats indeed correct,?, I'd be tempted to try the cheap solutions first. Since you've nothing (apparently) to loose, take a drill to your existing baffles and open em up a bit. If thats not suitable, why not remove em again and try DK,s Thunder Torque inserts (lollipop baffles). They're dirt cheap so if you don't like them either you won't be out of pocket much.

I've got the TT's. They are aggressive sounding, but not like hollow pipes, and they do preserve torque.
 
Reply
Old Jan 12, 2016 | 06:51 AM
  #5  
PaPaBlista's Avatar
PaPaBlista
Intermediate
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 49
Likes: 4
From: Kentucky, USA
Default

Cut your baffles in half...or plop down the cash for a real exhaust system, Drag pipes sound cool but they kill performance unless your at 5+ grand on the tach.

http://www.harley-performance.com/harley-exhaust.html < check this out

Sonic pulse. Think of this as a shock wave. This pulse travels through the exhaust and at the end of the pipe actually turns around and heads back toward the exhaust valve. The wave will also pull exhaust gas back along its path and if it reaches the open exhaust valve the gases will dilute the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber. Under the right (or wrong) conditions this wave will even push some of the air/fuel mixture back through the intake valve into the intake, a common occurrence with short drag pipes. Torque cones can sometimes reduce this condition.

Thermal pulse. Similar to sonic pulse, this is a wave created by the hot gas exiting the exhaust valve. The thermal pulse also reverses direction at the end of the pipe but unfortunately travels at a different rate, thus reaching the combustion chamber at a different time.

Exhaust gas velocity. This is the rate at which gas travels through the exhaust system. The optimal velocity is 300 feet per minute. For the most part all stock Harley engines require a 1-3/4? diameter pipe to maintain 300 fpm. Bigger is not always better and a larger pipe will actually slow this velocity thus restricting flow.
 
Reply
Old Jan 12, 2016 | 06:56 AM
  #6  
sawka's Avatar
sawka
Thread Starter
|
Tourer
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 359
Likes: 56
From: Dallas
Default

Sorry for being vague but I'm on my phone right now. I should have been more clear in the original post. The tune was the generic stage one from Harley. There aren't any dyno places around here I've found except a dealership so I decided to pass till I find a real shop. I do in fact have dk's thunder torque inserts and using them alone I got a bunch of decel pop and it was rather loud but it ran great. I am running "Santee holeshot" exhaust. I figured running then thunder inserts with a small free flowing baffle would probably do the trick but I'll try drilling them when I have a chance to work on them if that's the best solution.
 
Reply
Old Jan 12, 2016 | 07:04 AM
  #7  
sawka's Avatar
sawka
Thread Starter
|
Tourer
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 359
Likes: 56
From: Dallas
Default

Originally Posted by PaPaBlista
Cut your baffles in half...or plop down the cash for a real exhaust system, Drag pipes sound cool but they kill performance unless your at 5+ grand on the tach.

http://www.harley-performance.com/harley-exhaust.html < check this out

Sonic pulse. Think of this as a shock wave. This pulse travels through the exhaust and at the end of the pipe actually turns around and heads back toward the exhaust valve. The wave will also pull exhaust gas back along its path and if it reaches the open exhaust valve the gases will dilute the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber. Under the right (or wrong) conditions this wave will even push some of the air/fuel mixture back through the intake valve into the intake, a common occurrence with short drag pipes. Torque cones can sometimes reduce this condition.

Thermal pulse. Similar to sonic pulse, this is a wave created by the hot gas exiting the exhaust valve. The thermal pulse also reverses direction at the end of the pipe but unfortunately travels at a different rate, thus reaching the combustion chamber at a different time.

Exhaust gas velocity. This is the rate at which gas travels through the exhaust system. The optimal velocity is 300 feet per minute. For the most part all stock Harley engines require a 1-3/4? diameter pipe to maintain 300 fpm. Bigger is not always better and a larger pipe will actually slow this velocity thus restricting flow.
I'll read through that information more thoroughly later today. I'm not really trying to make a ton of power, just want a bike that will get me up steep hills and won't make my neighbors want to kill me. If a new exhaust is what I need I can afford it now but I know just running the tti's no tune gave me the exact performance I could have hoped for. I just want to quiet it a hair and still have most of that power.

Edit: they are the quiet version of the TTIs
 

Last edited by sawka; Jan 12, 2016 at 07:59 AM.
Reply
Old Jan 12, 2016 | 07:33 AM
  #8  
HKMark23's Avatar
HKMark23
Seasoned HDF Member
10 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 6,174
Likes: 1,960
From: Great State of Canada
Default

"Note to self, read before posting" !

Apologies, I missed that you were using TTI's already. I dunno if there's a huge difference but there are a couple of models of TTI. Have you considered trying the ("quieter" ???) set ? The guys at DK are pretty square shooters. I personally would trust what they had to say on the matter,,,, but I'm Canadian .
 
Reply
HD Forum Stories

The Best of Harley-Davidson for Lifelong Riders

story-0

8 Best Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever

 Pouria Savadkouei
story-1

10 Worst Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever

 Pouria Savadkouei
story-2

Killer Custom's Jail Break Is The Breakout That Refused to Blend In

 Verdad Gallardo
story-3

Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?

 Verdad Gallardo
story-4

Harley-Davidson Reveals Super Cool Cafe Racer Concept

 Verdad Gallardo
story-5

Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II

 Verdad Gallardo
story-6

10 Motorcycles You Should Never Buy

 Joe Kucinski
story-7

10 Things Harley-Davidson Needs to Fix in 2026

 Verdad Gallardo
story-8

Southpaw Super Glide: A Left-Hand-Drive 1979 Harley FXE Built to Fit the Rider

 Verdad Gallardo
story-9

The Best and Worst Harley-Davidson Moves of 2025

 Verdad Gallardo
Old Jan 12, 2016 | 07:37 AM
  #9  
grbrown's Avatar
grbrown
Club Member
15 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,897
From: Bedford UK
Red face

Your pipes are just fancy drag pipes. In the notes that PaPaBlista gives above there is an omission, which is that every vehicle on the planet, with two or more cylinders, comes with an integrated exhaust - in other words the exhaust outlets from the cylinders are joined together in some configuration. Your bike had a balance pipe when it was new, for a jolly good reason, which is that the exhaust from each cylinder is used to boost the performance of the other cylinder. That gives us improved low/mid range torque. There isn't a way of restoring that with separate pipes, which will get into their stride at high revs.
 
Reply
Old Jan 12, 2016 | 08:04 AM
  #10  
sawka's Avatar
sawka
Thread Starter
|
Tourer
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 359
Likes: 56
From: Dallas
Default

Originally Posted by grbrown
Your pipes are just fancy drag pipes. In the notes that PaPaBlista gives above there is an omission, which is that every vehicle on the planet, with two or more cylinders, comes with an integrated exhaust - in other words the exhaust outlets from the cylinders are joined together in some configuration. Your bike had a balance pipe when it was new, for a jolly good reason, which is that the exhaust from each cylinder is used to boost the performance of the other cylinder. That gives us improved low/mid range torque. There isn't a way of restoring that with separate pipes, which will get into their stride at high revs.
And to be completely honest I would have kept the stock exhaust if said connector didn't drag when I did some "spirited" riding. On my old bike with the H connector I still scraped but it wasn't nearly as often or as early. I'm not worried about the performance, just want to actually ride the bike without scraping it and have fun. If it means taking the baffles out and only using the TTI's until an officer has an issue then I might as well do that.

Had I rode that hard during the test ride and knew the scraping was an issue I would have immediately gone to a triumph dealership and picked up a Bonnie instead. But I got the bike to where I enjoy riding now without scraping except for pegs, which isn't too often or unexpected, and now I just need to sort the exhaust volume issue out and I'll have my dream bike setup.
 

Last edited by sawka; Jan 12, 2016 at 08:14 AM.
Reply



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:44 AM.

story-0
8 Best Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever

Slideshow: Not every Harley gets it right, but these are the ones that genuinely earned their reputation.

By Pouria Savadkouei | 2026-04-15 14:23:21


VIEW MORE
story-1
10 Worst Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever

Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.

By Pouria Savadkouei | 2026-04-01 20:01:09


VIEW MORE
story-2
Killer Custom's Jail Break Is The Breakout That Refused to Blend In

Slideshow: Killer Custom's "Jail Breaker" build focuses more on stance and visual aggression than mechanical overhaul.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-03-18 19:20:32


VIEW MORE
story-3
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.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-03-07 16:15:30


VIEW MORE
story-4
Harley-Davidson Reveals Super Cool Cafe Racer Concept

Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's new RMCR concept revives the café racer formula with modern hardware-and it may be exactly the reset the company needs.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-03-04 12:23:37


VIEW MORE
story-5
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.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-02-24 18:19:44


VIEW MORE
story-6
10 Motorcycles You Should Never Buy

Slideshow: There is no shortage of great motorcycles to buy, but we would avoid these ten.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-02-19 14:50:51


VIEW MORE
story-7
10 Things Harley-Davidson Needs to Fix in 2026

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.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-01-13 18:33:17


VIEW MORE
story-8
Southpaw Super Glide: A Left-Hand-Drive 1979 Harley FXE Built to Fit the Rider

Slideshow: Graeme Billington's left-hand-drive Shovelhead is as much about problem-solving as it is about classic Harley form.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2025-12-30 11:27:08


VIEW MORE
story-9
The Best and Worst Harley-Davidson Moves of 2025

Slideshow: A clear-eyed look at what actually worked for Harley this year, and what quietly undermined its progress.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2025-12-29 17:10:48


VIEW MORE