Just looking for some opinions. Stealer told me "why get a full exhaust when you already have some of the best header pipes for your bike?" Made sense to me. Now I'm really considering slip ons.

Man I wish the rain would stop... tropical storm Fay sucks ***.

 

I went with a full exhaust, but I guess it comes down to what you like better and how much you want to spend. I agree that there is nothing wrong with the factory header pipes. Nothing wrong with the stock mufflers either, just a little quiet for me.

 

I just put on a set of Rinehart slip-ons and they look & sound awesome. I went with black and had the stock heat shields powdercoated to match (still not sure if that will hold). I definitley noticed a difference in the performance.

Either way you have to have the mapping done, so if money is an issue get the slip-ons so you have extra money to pay for the mapping.

 

I cannot bend the front exhaust pipes so I bought the big radius.
Take a look at the V&H straight shot slip-on, they are great mufflers, good sound and performance.

 

I just didn't like the look of the stock components. I know EVERYONE has them on the boards...but for the price, sound, performance, and LOOKS...you can't beat V&H Shortshots in black.

 

ha ha ha typical dealer... i had slip ons for a while then came across these could not pass

 

A good friend of mine is a Harley dealership mechanic, and in his job spends a lot of time dyno tuning bikes that have various exhaust/muffler configurations.

He told me (and I agree) that people spend far too much time worrying about what the "best exhaust" is, and how much additional power they have gotten from installing their exhaust of choice.

From true dyno readings (and not someones 'seat of the pants dyno), the difference in power between various systems is not that great, and what you get should be based on what looks and sounds best to you.

You can get a substantial increase in power if you go with a tuned full race exhaust system, but these only produce maximum horsepower figures in a very narrow RPM range, such as 6,000 to 7,000 RPM, etc... This won't do you a bit of good on a street bike which normally operates in the 1,500 to 5,500 RPM range.

For what it's worth, he told me that from dyno tuning many 1200 Sportsters (without cam and/or head modifications) the best overall performance increase throughout the normal operating range has come from the V&H ShortShots, with the old style 'off-road' Screamin' Eagle slipons not far behind.

But the difference between the various systems is only a couple horsepower at the most, so just get whatever you think sounds and looks good, and forget about these 'seat of the pants' evaluations that you frequently hear.

Just my opinion, but from what I've seen (and heard), sometimes the mind plays tricks and some people think that "louder means more power", no matter if we are talking about a bike, car, or truck. That isn't always the case.

 

Agreed... definitely looking for a little more sound. This bike is plenty fast for me. Hey, thanks for the feedback guys. I'm fairly certain I will go with slip ons (not completely sure). If I hit the lottery, complete stage 1 and full exhaust. I know, why not get a new bike. I kinda like this sporty.

 

Great post from old fender guy. I've been thinking about se slip ons myself. Do you need anything else if you have efi. weather sucks in Rockledge.. Iv'e never seen so much rain...

08 1200r

 

SE II slip ons sound great - loud and have that distinctive Harley sound.