A while back a buddy of mine with a 2006 Softail replaced his Screaming Eagle slip-on exhaust system with Vance & Hines. Since he didn't need the SE exhaust he gave it to me. I didn't have a use for it at the time so I shelved it. Now I have an 04 1200 Custom with stock exhaust. I looked at the SE slip-ons and they have the exact setup and measurements as the stock exhaust.

Can I use the SE slip-ons from an 06 Softail on my 04 1200 without any problems?

 

I just put the SE slip ons from one of my old Sportsters on a friend's 07 Night Train. No problems at all. The mounting was a bit off but I made a little bracket for each one. Looks perfectly normal. I don't see why you would have any issues (other than maybe mounting) going the other way.

 

I know the 07 and up Softtail slip on's will not line up with the stock cross over pipe on the sportsters at least they will not on my 07 1200. A buddy has a set of Rhinehart slip on's and they did not line up at all. I'm sure with the modding you can get them to work on your bike and I would try since you have then just sitting there.

 

The mounting tab on the Softail muffler is a little shorter than the Sportster muffler. All you'll need is a small spacer between the bracket and muffler. Most hardware stores have assortments of chrome spacers.

 

The mounting issues were one of my concerns, I measured several times and it looked like the pipes might be off by a hair with the crossover pipe but like you guys said I can mod it.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Crossover pipe will probably be your only concern. I've always been told that its pretty important.

 

I was going to put a stock '05 sportster xlc muffler set on an '04 softail standard..the mounting bolts on the softail were smaller in diameter...would have had to drill out the crossover mounting slots for the larger bolts to fit....also I didn't check the shimming...may need shims under muffler mounts like someone else said. I didn't do it. Left the screaming eagle softail mufflers on it. Thought they were too tarnished to look good, but got 'em cleaned up nice.
Good Luck.......Pete

 

what good does the crossover pipe do? will it hurt to run without it?

 

I've looked at it several ways and measured the bolt holes on the bike and on the pipes from the Softail and I still cant tell for sure if it will fit. I'm just gonna take it apart and do what I can to make it work.

In addition to the opening that slides on the header pipes the SE slip-ons have a "porthole" on the back side of each pipe that connects to the crossover pipe. The slip-ons also bolt to the crossover pipe to hold them in place. Without the crossover pipe the slip-ons would have an open hole at the junction with the header pipe and there wouldn't be anything to bolt them to without further modification. Also I suspect the crossover pipe has an affect on back pressure and without it there may be a power loss, I don't know that for sure and someone else may be able to comment further.

 

Most of the aftermarket slip ons I've seen dont't have the "port" for the balance tube. Just like most aftermarket pipes don't have a balance tube.