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I traded in a 2012 Fatboy Lo for my 16 RGU and one thing I was sad to see go was my V&H big radius exhaust. I loved the way those pipes sounded. The dealer told me I wouldn't be able to replicate that sound on a touring bike.
I first bought a cheaper set of 3.5" slip-on's from TAB Performance. They weren't much louder than stock to me. TAB is local to me so I talked to them and went over to their shop and got a deal on some nice BAM sticks with Zombie Baffles. These things are really loud and sound great on the M8. I heard them on a bike that the dealer built up. I, however, have a Twin Cam.
I put on the BAM sticks right before Winter and I've ridden a few hundred miles with them now. I rode yesterday and they were just really annoying me, not just the loud noise, just how they sound or maybe the frequency. TAB sells different baffles for the BAM sticks for (loud aka zombie baffles, quieter, quietest which is just above stock) but I just decided to put the stockers back on. I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoy the resonance of the stock after a second chance. Deep and not overbearing.
It's not so much that I don't like loud. The big radius are the loudest pipes I've heard but they sounded awesome too rather than just this really loud annoying (to me) noise. I think it's like playing a song you like really loud versus a song you don't like really loud.
I've heard the stockers get a bit better sounding after some long miles on them. I'm hoping for that. Has anyone had a similar experience? I'm inclined to agree with the dealer at this point. Maybe I just picked the wrong slip-ons or baffles? I don't want to spend more money as this has become an expensive experiment!
Lastly, I want to do stage one soon. I'm probably going to have to go back to slip-ons again for that?
Last edited by tkuligowski; Apr 14, 2018 at 03:30 PM.
Kind of off topic but I've been reading about "cross talk" between the O2 sensors on a de-cattted stock head pipe. Was originally dead set on de-catting but that has me re-thinking that as well.
Removed the cats, V&H high output slip-ons. Remove the baffle sock, but re-install the baffles. That way you keep your backpressure and the tone is fantastic. Deep throaty rumble without being obnoxious or 'tinny' sounding. They're installed on my 2013 FLHTCU and absolutely love them.
Your not the only one that has gone thru this. Check out the classifieds frequently. There are always mufflers on there for sale.
Get a good head pipe when you do your stage 1. Lose the heat and it might wake up those stock mufflers some, not sure.
Look at Fullsac mufflers and pipe. Their mufflers are cheaper than the others and they perform very well number wise
This is not in the rushmore or exhaust section so you will get less responses. Buttt since I read both I will give my opinion since I have the same motor just on a SG. I had vance and hines round 4in twin slash slipons on my bike and they sounded great. Nice and throaty. But i get bored and saw some cool ones in the classifieds here that were RSD carbon fiber ones. Now these ones sound bad ***. They are deep and when you get on it has a nice loud bark to it. I also have it decatted on my bike and dont have any issues that i can tell really. My buddy has the m8 with reinharts on it with his cat still in and my bike sounds a lot better. His still sounds kinda muffled. Doesn't sound bad just not as good as mine.
Removed the cats, V&H high output slip-ons. Remove the baffle sock, but re-install the baffles. That way you keep your backpressure and the tone is fantastic. Deep throaty rumble without being obnoxious or 'tinny' sounding.
This is interesting. I have an 07 Road King with stock header (no cat). I run Rush Big Louie 4" slip ons that sound great when packed. Nice roar on acceleration. Nice rumble cruising. When the packing burns off, however, they still roar but it's an annoying, hollow sound. (Tinny, perhaps). Interesting that the Rush pipes sound better packed and the VH sound better unpacked.
I swap back and forth between the Rinehart slip-ons, and the SE Harley pipes
on my 05 King. Having had Rineharts on my Eglide, maybe I got tired of that sound.
Now, I do prefer the SE pipes, and with the rocket tails, they look better to me.
I was behind two riders yesterday observing the vast difference of their sounds. The one had a very deep sound, rather like an old Corvette with side pipes. The other was high and tinny, reminiscent of an old air cooled VW. Very "pew-pew-pew". Loud is not always inherently nice sounding.
This is interesting. I have an 07 Road King with stock header (no cat). I run Rush Big Louie 4" slip ons that sound great when packed. Nice roar on acceleration. Nice rumble cruising. When the packing burns off, however, they still roar but it's an annoying, hollow sound. (Tinny, perhaps). Interesting that the Rush pipes sound better packed and the VH sound better unpacked.
Some of that has to do with the diameter of the outer tube, shape of the inner baffle skeleton as well as the hole count/diameter in the baffle. After my buddy bought the pair of the 4.5" high outputs, he was complaining that they sounded seriously muffled (even after 500 miles on them). So I took them apart just to see what was inside. The inner sock covers the entire length of the baffle, narrowing down to a 2" open center. So even though they were 4.5" outs, really more than half of the soundwave was being absorbed by the sock. Remove the sock and you still have backpressure through deflection, but more of that rumble is allowed through. The best thing about them is they aren't the stamped slits that most pipes seem to have. The cones are actually punched holes about 1/4" diameter. So get a nice full rich tone, without sounding over the top. Liked it so much I bought a pair for myself and removed the socks before ever installing them lol I would imagine not all V&H sound good like that though. Would imagine that it depends greatly upon the baffle design from pipe to pipe.
Last edited by soulpatch; Apr 15, 2018 at 12:13 PM.
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Two sets of slip-ons and back to stock
