I am seriously considering getting these pipes on my 48. From the pictures, they look a bit too long. One of my concerns is heat. Does is it get really hot? I have read some people have had issues. Also is this a really loud exhaust? I was only able to find a couple of videos out there.

 

The two thumb screws I added to the end of the standard baffle helped with the noise and eliminated the very slight bog that happened with this pipe installed. The bike had a very linear pull all the way up the rev's as well. More torque, that's for sure. I did like the exhaust terminating farther back so between the longer length, wrapped baffles and the 2 thumb screws it was a much quieter ride.

As far as the heat goes, yes your leg is more exposed with these pipes and unwrapped you will feel it. I also needed to be mindful of keeping the heal of my boot off the pipe.

Of course, these problems have all gone away as today I delivered the bike to a new owner and my dealer ordered me up an '11 XR1200X.

 

**newbie questions here so please dont flame!**

my pipes came in yesterday and im going to pick them up after work today. im going to install them either today or tomorrow. i just wanna know how hard it is to install these yourself and if anyone has a DIY guide it would help me so much. thanks guys!

 

It is a pretty straight-forward install. It will take longer getting all the OEM stuff than installing the new pipes. Be sure to use new exhaust port gaskets and apply anti-seize on the O2 sensor threads when you swap them over. I would also highly recommend applying some blue masking tape to the heads around the exhaust ports and maybe the pipes themselves as they are easily scratched during the install if your not careful. Other than that, just follow the included directions and you'll be golden.

 

I have a set of these on order for my new 48, but unfortunately, I've never heard them in person. Are they pretty loud or really loud? Do they have a nice deep rumble?

I bought them by looks only. Kinda sucks you can't hear some pipes before you order and install them.

 

I had ShortShot's on my Iron before installing the Blackout. The ShortShot's were about the same (with a completely different note/tone) but the SS's had the quiet baffles in them and the Blackout had the standard issue baffle. The quiet baffles was not available when I ordered the Blackout so I ended up wrapping the baffle with ceramic blanket (from McMaster-Carr) and also 2 thumb screws 2" in from the end of the pipe. This made it very tolerable combined with the further back termination of the Blackout. I hope that made sense........

 

Thanks. So I'm taking it they're fairly loud in their stock form? Do they have a real deep tone when compared to the Short Shots? I had Short Shots on a Dyna a while back and those pipes were nice and loud, but not all the deep in the lows. I don't think my Short Shots had any baffles in them, though.

 

Not necessarily a deeper tone but a "tighter" note to the exhaust pulses due to the 2-1 design, which I prefer. The ceramic blanket I added mellowed the tone even further as I do not like overly loud exhausts.

The torque curve flattened out quite a bit and pulled very linear and smooth compared to the "peaky" power curve I experienced with the SS's. At first I thought I had lost some low end torque but a glance at the 'ol speedo told me otherwise.

 

Good choice Sgt. They won't be as high pitched/choppy as the short shots as its a longer pipe. It should be nice and deep. I'm going for the Competition Series mainly because it will give best performance (according to V&H). The sound will be very sporty but I don't mind...for the power.

 

I put them on my wifes 883L . I wasn't able to get exhaust port gaskets on from HD on so there are little " farts" happening all the time . We also did not buy the tuner/AC but will at a later date. Hopefully this will not wreck the motor. Heat is an issue on her leg and V&H said they will be coming out with heat sheilds at the end of the year. The pipes do sound great! I'm running D&D fatcats on my streetglide and they are quite a bit louder.