Drilling Baffles???? PLease HELP!

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Mar 28, 2007 | 02:41 AM

08FXDC

Thread Starter

Road Master

Joined: Mar 2007

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Drilling Baffles???? PLease HELP!

Just bought a 2005 Harley Davidson sportster 883 custom this week and i am looking to get a little more of that "harley" sound out of it. Unfornuitly I dont have the money to spend on slip ons. I am looking to drill out the baffles on the pipes but I have a few questions. Will this affect the way the bikes runs at all?? (will I have to jet the carbs?) Will this give me that harley sound Im looking for or do nothing more then make my bike sound like crap? Last how many holes should I drill and what size should the be?
THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP AND INPUT!

Mar 28, 2007 | 03:11 AM

128auto

Extreme HDF Member

Joined: Sep 2006

Posts: 10,114

Likes: 29

From: Vancouver B.C. Canada

RE: Drilling Baffles???? PLease HELP!

You should talk to the expert.
Dallastx, where are you?

OR
Try this

Mar 28, 2007 | 04:52 AM

GothMetalGuitarist

Road Warrior

Joined: Jul 2006

Posts: 1,351

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From:

RE: Drilling Baffles???? PLease HELP!

You should look at the underside of you muffler for a small screw. If there is one, no need to drill. Just take out the screw and use a hook or coathanger to pull those bad boys out. If there is no screw, use a holesaw and not a drill. You have to get all the metal out for them to sound killer.

Mar 28, 2007 | 12:59 PM

KSims1868

Cruiser

Joined: Mar 2007

Posts: 152

Likes: 2

RE: Drilling Baffles???? PLease HELP!

My advice is to save your money until you can buy slip-ons or a full exhaust set. Check eBay...there are some GREAT deals there...many for under $200.

Mar 28, 2007 | 05:46 PM

dsuppa

Road Captain

Joined: Jul 2006

Posts: 651

Likes: 1

From: South Plainfield, NJ

RE: Drilling Baffles???? PLease HELP!

I just got my cycle shack slipons off of ebay for 180 shipped and it was worth the wait. I wanted to drill out my baffles onmy stocks for a long time and always decided against it. I think waiting made me appreciate the slip-ons that much more (plus they look a lot better than the stock muffs)

Mar 28, 2007 | 06:58 PM

markdt

Road Captain

Joined: Feb 2007

Posts: 666

Likes: 1

From: Cavendish, Pei

RE: Drilling Baffles???? PLease HELP!

I can tell you what I did that made a huge improvement. Take the bafles out, remove 1/2 of the tab deflecting the gasses around the outside. If you notice there willl be three sets of holes at the exhaust end all around the circumfrence of the pipe. Take a cut off wheel and remove 3 sections of 3 holes by1 wide . It will sound better , you will get better mid range and it will set off car alarms . ..Mark...

Mar 28, 2007 | 10:41 PM

More_Beer

Intermediate

Joined: May 2006

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From:

RE: Drilling Baffles???? PLease HELP!

no you shouldnt have to rejet or anything, I did it to my 05 883c and I didnt notice any performance loss like some people say. I used a 1 3/4" bi-metal hole saw to drill them out. just make sure you hold the drill firm and steady as you cut the weld and then pull the guts out. Being an '05 you dont have to worry about catalytic converters.

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Mar 29, 2007 | 12:02 AM

Dallastx

Ultimate HDF Member

Joined: Nov 2006

Posts: 5,289

Likes: 3

From: Rowlett, Texas

RE: Drilling Baffles???? PLease HELP!

Here I am! I have done 4 bikes now. The Street Bob was a pain in the butt and didn't work right. They have inner baffles with welds that rattle. Oh well! You need a good drill. We used an air drill putting out 200 lbs of pressure to get the speed up. You need a 1-3/4 metal hole saw bit. Home Depot sells them. The 883 was pretty simple. The 1200's for some reason required to loosen the forward pipe at the muffler joint. You lift the bike about three feet on a bike lift with someone in front holding the bike to keep it stabile. When you start drilling make shure to spray a lube on the bit while drilling. This whole thing takes about 15 minutes. You next need some needle nose piers and some times needle nose vice grips to pull them out after the weld has been broken through. I haven't noticed any loss of h/p with the baffles removed. Only a lean pop on the 1200's we have done. A s/e a/c and a remap/rejet should fix that issue depending on the bike.