Got home from work last night and decided to install the pipes that have been sitting in the box for over a week now. No problem--I think--it's not that hard, I can handle this.

Removed the heat shields, mounting bolts and other fasteners holding the mufflers to the header, separated the muffler from the crossover tube and tried to turn it. No dice. Ok, well, I'll just wiggle it a little bit... Nothing. Alright, not a problem, probably just needs some WD40 to loosen up any carbon deposits that might be gluing the two pipes together. So I soaked the joint in WD40 and waited about 10 minutes, tried to turn it again, and voila, a whopping 0.5mm of movement. Seriously, the pipe barely budged. But, hey, it was a start. Little more WD40, couple more minutes and this sucker should just come right off. Again, nothing. Now I couldn't even turn the pipe back to where it was originally. So I try a little more muscle, a different grip, different angle, lay on the floor, stand up, push from the front, pull from the rear, use the forks to brace my foot.... you get the picture. It was as close to a cartoon moment as I've ever had in my life, and the whole time all I can think of is the WD40 seeping slowly under the pipe and in one fell swoop pulling the muffler off *WHONK* right into my face. But, no matter how hard I tried, this dang muffler was stuck. Fast forward 2 hours of sweat and swears when my buddy shows up. He's all of 6'5" and 300lbs+ (rides a cool old 1978 yamaha--kinda looks like a Russian circus bear). He takes one look at the pipe, sticks a screw driver in the crossover port on the muffler, wraps his enormous paws around the back end and in about 30 seconds slides this MF'ing muffler off like it was no big deal...

Thanks...

The second muffler came off without a problem and I had the Cycle Shacks mounted up in less than 20 minutes with everything buttoned up and snugged down. Then, there was this incredible moment when I fired it up. Holy crap, I had no idea how good this bike could sound. I've heard a few other exhausts on various sportsters, all of which sounded pretty darn good, but, hot damn! this was *my* bike that sounded that good now. Finally, my Harley sounds like a Harley. Deep, rumble-y, and LOUD.

Couldn't be happier with the improvement over stock--I'm sure there are other exhausts that sound better, give better performance, etc. But for a first step, this was such an incredible leap forward that I can't say I have anything bad to say. Rode into work today, bike ran smooth, no popping, no issues. Waiting for the Xieds to arrive in the mail, so I'm taking it easy for now, but once those are in I'll have to wring out the new exhaust and see what it sounds like at WOT.

While this isn't a review, per se, I would like to mention that these pipes installed easily (once OEM were off), sound great, didn't outwardly effect the performance of the bike from what I can tell in 30 minutes of riding (is it running extra lean now? I think there's a thread on that somewhere, I'll let you hash that one out) and, most of all, they are a MASSIVE improvement over stock in sound alone. Once I fired it up, I was ashamed at what Harley put on this bike in the factory. Ride safe, and let me know if you have any thoughts or comments, thanks!

TL;DR
Installed slip-ons, difficult getting the OEM mufflers off, love the new pipes.

-Wildcat

 

I wouldn't run anything else.

If my bike was totalled tomorrow and I had a blank check to rebuild, I would buy the same damned cycle shack slipons. I love them that much.

P.s. - Your mufflers will sound even better once you put a few thousand miles through them. The tone softens a bit and the rumble comes to the front of the sound stage. Less harsh, superb sounding at idle. Slightly less loud.

 

Already there, brother. Got these used off Ebay for about $70. Nice carbon soot build up in the pipes already, although the exterior still looks almost new.

Now I see why everyone recommends these as one of a few popular options.

 

Mine runs a little rougher when cold. My bike is carbed. Once its warm the bike runs perfectly. Cycle Shacks are as loud as you want them to be. I could take the baffles out but they are deafening already