Hello everyone. Been riding bikes for 30 years and bought my first used Harley 883 in January. I love the bike, but I'm having to figure out all the do's and don'ts pertaining to HD. I have a 99, 883 custom with a CV carb.

So my question is this, can you run 2" drag pipes on this bike (with no baffles) and not have to tune it everyday?

A good buddy of mine owns 5 HD's and works part time on them. We cleaned and rebuilt the carb, and replaced the jets with a 45 slow and 165 main per his recommendation. He then did a mod on the air box where he cut out some of the plastic on the inside and back of the base, and drilled some 3/4" holes in the front rear section to help bring in more air.

My next step was to buy new exhaust. He says that you have to stay with 1,3/4" in order to get some back pressure. Well he told me this AFTER I bought some 2" already. The problem I'm having is that at idle there is grayish colored smoke coming from the muffler and my plug will have that dried black soot built up on it. The bike runs GREAT, but when I slow down to 30 mph or under, it sputters and misses something fierce! So I thought it was running too rich (due to the smoke and plugs), and I leaned it out. Then it run even worse, so I tried going back the other way again. No matter what I do there is just no way for me to get that miss out at low speed. I thought maybe it wasn't getting enough air, so I took off the air box cover, and used some oversize washers to hold just the air filter on. It ran great, but the same thing at low speed.

So today I thought I payed a visit to my local Harley shop to ask them about getting it on the dyno to tune it. The guy told me that it will never run consistent as long as I have drag pipes on it, and that I will always be tuning it depending on weather, humidity, and gas quality.

He said it was a long shot and recommended trying some cones in the mufflers. So I installed them this afternoon and tried adjusting the carb but it made no difference.

So please, any help would be appreciated! I just want to ride the bike and enjoy it for a while.

 

Do you insist on staying with drag pipes? They don't do much good unless you know, you're drag racing the bike. I would start with putting real mufflers on it, OE or aftermarket, and diagnose carb or intake issues from there. Good luck!

 

I'm not stuck on the drag pipes. Just like the look and the sound. I've thought about either buying some baffles for them, or just going back with stock. I'm wondering if baffles would help?

 

Get some Thunder Torque Inserts. Not only will it run stronger in the low and mid range, you will get rid of some of the sputtering, and there will be no issues tuning it, and Not having to continually re-tuning it.

All I run in all three of my bikes are pipes with no baffles and TTI's in them.

For your set up you'll want the W158's

Your drag pipes with TTI's in them will out perform any slip-on you could replace them with...plus, to many ears they will sound better.

These are NOT Torque cones.

You can check out hundreds of videos on youtube of Thunder Torque Inserts to take a listen.

 

If you want the drag pipes, your friend is right. 1 3/4", 39" long and take it to a reputable dyno tuner who will get the jetting on the carb right. The CV is a great reliable, tunable carburetor. You can get lost and spend a gazzilion dollars trying to diagnose and fix your problem, which is simple. A really good tuner can get it done for a relatively low cost.

 

If you like the looks of drag pipes, try going with V&H Straight Shots. Not much of a bump from header to muffler, so they stay close to the look you want, and give you options on baffles for sound, volume and performance.

 

As DK Customs stated use the TTIs in your pipes. Very lightly turn your air/fuel mixture screw in all the way then back it out 2 1/2 turns.
I have a 2000 1200XLH with 45 and 185 jets. No baffles and TTIs installed in Short Shots. It will tear you off the seat.

 

Drag pipes suck, there are a hundred internet keyboard flexer's who will say mine work fine.

I will counter that their definition of "fine" is less than optimal.

Short pipes suck Fat pipes suck. Baffles or any other crap stuck in a drag pipe is like trying to fart around a CORK!

I will not even attempt to tune any of these pipes. I chose challenges that I have a chance of conquering.
Tuning a motor is a series of compromises, and if you start off on the wrong foot you cant get back in sync.

The first problem with tuning a Harley motor is the design, the siamesed intake and air(oil) cooled is 2 points against you right from the start.

Another huge problem is a Harley's owner, they have been poisoned by Jessie Jerkoff and Obsessive Compulsive Cycles and have lost the whole concept of motorcycling. They ride an HD as a trophy to attract attention, they expect a show bike that runs like a cross country touring AND drag racing machine.

The HD owner's choice of parts is based on what he saw at the bar, what he saw at a bike show, and what he thinks he saw at the races (I say thinks because he never made it past the hospitality booth and went home in the tow truck because he dropped his bike in the parking lot). These decisions are based on what he thinks other people think, the story's heard from his drunk uncle around the campfire, and what some **** on TV planted in their head. Tainted by drug induced dreams of what looks cool and sounds cool.

Now the bike owner spends copious amounts of time on the internet to find just the right color Forcewinder or the best deal on a bug catcher, and some whacked out drag pipes. Which he then has someone install on his bike.
And then complains that his bike runs like dog vomit.

ALL of his parts choices are based on the size of the erection they give him not based on science or years of hands on experience of a few individuals who don't wear blinders or rose colored glasses and dont drink the marketing KoolAid. These are the same guys whose harleys dont leak and you will rarely find at the local watering hole or at the side of the road broke down. They get 40+ miles to the gallon and can pass you anytime they please (so fast that you cant tell what kind of drag pipes or forcewinder they have).

BECAUSE THEY DONT USE PARTS THAT DONT WORK! They have 2 into 1 pipes or stock headers with slipons and air filters big enough for a big block. They also have oil coolers, dual plugs and most dont need compression releases. They dont rev their motors byond 5800-6000rpm their handlebars are below and not wider than their shoulders. Many have bugs from 3 or more different states on their machines.

 

and now back to our regularly scheduled programming

 

Dyno of a Sporty with straight pipes (drag pipes) no baffles and the Patented Thunder Torque inserts.

Great linear power, no issues tuning or staying tuned. This one is efi, but carbed is even easier and less expensive to tune.




The reason drag pipes get a bad rap with some people is that they are great for drag racing (WOT) but at less than wide open they allow more reversion than baffled pipes. This is easily resolved with the Thunder Torque Inserts, on baffled or un-baffled pipes.