Operation: Fatcat
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From: 'Noke, VA
Operation: Fatcat
My Fatcat's wrapped perforated baffle has gotten noticeably louder since this summer when I installed it. After a trip up to Philly last month, my ears were ringing, even with earplugs in. After searching around, I settled on re-wrapping the baffle with something different. I came across Bristol Core, and liked what I saw on the website. After talking with Morgan (the owner) we realized that the pillow he sells wouldn't fit, so he worked on a custom wrap.
Meanwhile, I set out disassembling the pipe.
I'd nearly ground the head off of the screw holding the baffle in. Vice grips and WD-40 solved that problem. I used two pieces of 2x2 with a bevel cut on the ends to serve as a wedge to drive the baffle out of the muffler. It was still a bastard to get out, and of course then I had two chunks of wood wedged inside the baffle.....Hello fire.
I've had the pipe on and off the bike so many times, I've beat the crap out of the black finish. I also had quite a bit of surface rust on the pipe. I took everything to my local powdercoater (Technical Finishers) to have the header, the muffler, and the heat shields high-temp ceramic coated. It's basically the same process as Jet Hot, without the proprietary name and the price tag.
Meanwhile, I set out disassembling the pipe.
I'd nearly ground the head off of the screw holding the baffle in. Vice grips and WD-40 solved that problem. I used two pieces of 2x2 with a bevel cut on the ends to serve as a wedge to drive the baffle out of the muffler. It was still a bastard to get out, and of course then I had two chunks of wood wedged inside the baffle.....Hello fire.
I've had the pipe on and off the bike so many times, I've beat the crap out of the black finish. I also had quite a bit of surface rust on the pipe. I took everything to my local powdercoater (Technical Finishers) to have the header, the muffler, and the heat shields high-temp ceramic coated. It's basically the same process as Jet Hot, without the proprietary name and the price tag.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
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From: 'Noke, VA
Morgan came up with a 4-layer baffle wrap. The innermost is steel wool, then there's a woven layer like a housewrap, then the fiberglass mat, then a woven outer layer with tape on it. On the wrapped perforated baffle, there's only about 3/8" worth of space for the wrapping. There's just no way to really make the thing quiet.
I also sanded and painted the baffle to remove the charring from the fire.
I also sanded and painted the baffle to remove the charring from the fire.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
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From: 'Noke, VA
I got the pipe and heat shields back, and the finish is freaking awesome. I could seriously run the pipe without heat shields it looks so good. I wrapped the baffle up, using some blue painter's tape to help hold everything together. I used what was left of the 2x2s to drive the baffle back into the muffler, and replaced the ground-up screw with a new stainless steel one.
With the pipe back on the bike, I tightened everything down, wiped the pipe with Windex, and fired it up.....
It sounds good at idle. It seems about as quiet as it was when it was new, though it's still not as quiet as I'd like. I'll take her out tomorrow to see how it is while riding, and I'll do a few V-Tune runs to see if there's any changes necessary to the AFRs with the coated pipe and different packing material.
With the pipe back on the bike, I tightened everything down, wiped the pipe with Windex, and fired it up.....
It sounds good at idle. It seems about as quiet as it was when it was new, though it's still not as quiet as I'd like. I'll take her out tomorrow to see how it is while riding, and I'll do a few V-Tune runs to see if there's any changes necessary to the AFRs with the coated pipe and different packing material.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
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From: 'Noke, VA
OK, now I've got around 200 miles on the thing, here are my thoughts....
- It's quieter than it was before I did all this. It's probably pretty close to how loud it was when it was new. The sound quality is better though. It's a deeper tone though, and the sound quality is better.
- The V-Tune was surprising. Very good air today (low 40's, low humidity), but the general trend was lower VEs, especially in the rear cylinder. With that said, the bike runs great, and there's virtually no decel pop.
- Hard to say for certain on a 40 degree day, but it sure feels like there's a lot less heat coming off the pipe.
- The annoying resonance that the exhaust made with my Shark helmet is gone.
But.....I still think I want it quieter. It's definitely an improvement, and I think I can live with it as-is, but it's not perfect yet. I still say that the D&D Fatcat is the finest Harley exhaust you can buy, and the ceramic coating makes it that much better. If the baffle wrap lasts more than 6 months (which, to be fair, was around 15,000 miles) then it's done its job. I'll see if Morgan can build some more quiet into Version 2.0.
- It's quieter than it was before I did all this. It's probably pretty close to how loud it was when it was new. The sound quality is better though. It's a deeper tone though, and the sound quality is better.
- The V-Tune was surprising. Very good air today (low 40's, low humidity), but the general trend was lower VEs, especially in the rear cylinder. With that said, the bike runs great, and there's virtually no decel pop.
- Hard to say for certain on a 40 degree day, but it sure feels like there's a lot less heat coming off the pipe.
- The annoying resonance that the exhaust made with my Shark helmet is gone.
But.....I still think I want it quieter. It's definitely an improvement, and I think I can live with it as-is, but it's not perfect yet. I still say that the D&D Fatcat is the finest Harley exhaust you can buy, and the ceramic coating makes it that much better. If the baffle wrap lasts more than 6 months (which, to be fair, was around 15,000 miles) then it's done its job. I'll see if Morgan can build some more quiet into Version 2.0.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,960
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From: Miami, FL
OK, now I've got around 200 miles on the thing, here are my thoughts....
- It's quieter than it was before I did all this. It's probably pretty close to how loud it was when it was new. The sound quality is better though. It's a deeper tone though, and the sound quality is better.
- The V-Tune was surprising. Very good air today (low 40's, low humidity), but the general trend was lower VEs, especially in the rear cylinder. With that said, the bike runs great, and there's virtually no decel pop.
- Hard to say for certain on a 40 degree day, but it sure feels like there's a lot less heat coming off the pipe.
- The annoying resonance that the exhaust made with my Shark helmet is gone.
But.....I still think I want it quieter. It's definitely an improvement, and I think I can live with it as-is, but it's not perfect yet. I still say that the D&D Fatcat is the finest Harley exhaust you can buy, and the ceramic coating makes it that much better. If the baffle wrap lasts more than 6 months (which, to be fair, was around 15,000 miles) then it's done its job. I'll see if Morgan can build some more quiet into Version 2.0.
- It's quieter than it was before I did all this. It's probably pretty close to how loud it was when it was new. The sound quality is better though. It's a deeper tone though, and the sound quality is better.
- The V-Tune was surprising. Very good air today (low 40's, low humidity), but the general trend was lower VEs, especially in the rear cylinder. With that said, the bike runs great, and there's virtually no decel pop.
- Hard to say for certain on a 40 degree day, but it sure feels like there's a lot less heat coming off the pipe.
- The annoying resonance that the exhaust made with my Shark helmet is gone.
But.....I still think I want it quieter. It's definitely an improvement, and I think I can live with it as-is, but it's not perfect yet. I still say that the D&D Fatcat is the finest Harley exhaust you can buy, and the ceramic coating makes it that much better. If the baffle wrap lasts more than 6 months (which, to be fair, was around 15,000 miles) then it's done its job. I'll see if Morgan can build some more quiet into Version 2.0.
I will keep my eye on this, good work and nice write up. I am still trying to decide on exhaust, and I'm starting to "maybe" wrap my head around the idea of a bagger with one pipe. I have been looking at the D&D and Rush 2-1 systems a lot as of late. I too want a deep sound that won't resonate and drone, or drown out the tunes and the old lady.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
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From: 'Noke, VA
The concentric baffle is too restrictive for the 103. I actually started with that one when I bought the pipe, but (according to Leonard at D&D) was causing the black finish on my pipe to chalk and turn white as it retained too much heat. The wrapped perforated also makes quite a bit more power.
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