Went to their web site and scanned the instructions. Then before this morning ride, the instructions made a lot more sense to me.

I am not a wrench -- generally I can things apart but putting them back together again is another story.

 

Not hard at all. I did mine in about 1 1/2 hours. They are very straightforward in the instructions. Everything lined up perfect. You'll just want to becareful with the little exhaust gaskets on the return pipe at the bottom. I didn't even have to re-jet after the install. I put them on 1 year ago and have had no problems and they sound great. I just added my big sucker stage 1 air cleaner (see post). It really helped out. Good luck.

 

It might be worth getting a pair of the crossover gaskets before doing the work, though. They aren't expensive, and it doesn't hurt to change them with the install. One of those things where it would suck if you mess up one of the old gaskets, then have to stop installing the pipes to go to the dealership.

The biggest challenge I had was getting the old mufflers off. They were pretty stubborn, but with a bit of WD40 and some twisting I got them loose. The last tip I'll say is to think about whether you might want the quiet baffles before doing the install. It's a bit of a catch 22 since you will not know how they sound until installed, but if you want them in there, they are a LOT easier to put in before you install the pipes than after. I had to actually loosen the pipes up again in order to slide one of the baffles in).

 

How loud at the slip-ons w/ quiet baffles vs stock pipes? And without the quiet baffles. Went to the dealer today and they did not have bike w/ V&H pipes to let me hear.

I'll keep checking

Thanks

 

I have staightshots on my bike.I installed the entire exhaust not just the slip-ons.It was pretty easy.I have baffles in mine but I'm not sure what kind they are.You can look up the pipes and see fins in there,but I can put a broom handle all the way up the pipes untill the bend.So the baffles are small.They do come out but I have never taken them out.The sound is great to me.They are loud but not crazy loud.

 

I put the quiet baffles in right off the bat... i like the sound, not obnoxiosly loud but not real quiet either.
if you do put them in, watch the fiberglass wrapping that it doesn't bunch up on the edge of the pipe, i had a problem with that when putting mine in.had to wrap plastic around fiberglass to compress it a little at a time to get it in. ditto with those other guys about the crossover gaskets only 6 or 7 bucks i didn't bother trying to reuse the old ones. other than that, i'm very pleased with mine!

 

Those are the stock baffles that come with the pipes. As gary said, the quiet baffles have a fiberglass wrapping around them. It's hard to judge someones taste in how loud is too loud, but I will say that I feel like the sound level is exactly right for me with the quiet baffles in. They are still loud enough so that I can hear and feel what the engine is doing, but they aren't so loud that if I decide to go riding at 11pm my neighbors will give me an earful.

I think the biggest difference is what one would expect. The stock baffles give a more "open" sound, whereas in the quiet baffles some of the sound sorta stops short in the pipe. I'm not quite sure how else to describe it.

I did have the stock baffles in originally, so it's certainly possible to put the quiet baffles in after the fact if you want to hear how both sound. Part of the installation involves you loosening the pipes at the head because you have to move the pipes away from the bike a little bit to slide them on. Ultimately, the forward pipe is just about a half inch too high to be able to slide the old baffle out, or slide the new baffle in with the rear pipe behind it. I had to unbolt it from the frame and loosen it at the head again to slide it out a bit to do the exchange.

As has been mentioned also, getting the quiet baffles in is a bit of a pain since the fiberglass has a tendency to bunch up around the pipe opening. Having to do this while the pipe is still on the motorcycle makes this a little bit tougher.

 

Thanks. I really appreciate all the valuable comments I get on this forum.

 

A couple of notes when doing it. The gaskets people are talking about are on the crossover pipe between the two slip-ons and the reason it gets damaged is because we simply unbolt the slip-ons then wrestlethem off. If you take your time and loosen the support for the crossover, it will make it alot easier and help with not damaging the gaskets.

Another thing you want to do is take a wrench to the exhaust flange at the cylinder head after you are finished to make sure it is tight. Both my 07 sportster and my brothers 07 Dyna were loose after a thousand miles.

troutspinner

 

Quote:

ORIGINAL: troutspinner

Another thing you want to do is take a wrench to the exhaust flange at the cylinder head after you are finished to make sure it is tight. Both my 07 sportster and my brothers 07 Dyna were loose after a thousand miles.

troutspinner

Thanks. Was that stock or did you modify your exhaust? Is checking the exhaust system something that is routine inspected at 1,000 check up?