Can I punch out stock pipes for a better sound? I am just not happy with stock and the pipes I have don't sound much better? Knock offs, I was given. I suspect I wont be happy until I take out Cat? Any Stock 2014 pipes out there at a deal? As always you guys inputs are the best...
Hap

 

Do the knock offs have removable baffels? And the CAT has to go to get a decent sound imop

 

No on removable baffles. Who has good sound with cat still in?
I don't care about performance increase just sound more like a harley from 6 years ago.
Need your inputs
Thanks
Hap

 

Personally, I've NEVER heard a stock muffler punched out that sounds worth a damn. I did that do my Heritage late one night at my friend's shop...opened up a laceration on my left hand that took several stitches...fortunately, a black and white made a traffic stop across the street, so I went over and rummaged around in the trunk, found his first aid kit, and dressed my wound while the deputy went about his business...

Maybe that incident gave me a bad taste for punching out mufflers, but honestly, they just don't sound good...louder, oh yeah but better tone? Oh hell no. Just bite the bullet and get a set of slip ons, and DON'T ASK which ones...there is like 3 or 4 active exhaust threads going at any one time.

 

I've only heard two bikes (one an '08 TC96 and the other a '12 103) will baffles removed and, IMHO, they sounded horrible.

They were loud with a sick "tinny" sound...sort of like a very large duck farting through a soup can. I think a better sound could have been had from just cloths pinning a playing card to the spokes.

But hey, to each their own...

 

A six year old Harley sounds different than a new Harley? Really? Now, if you told me that a Twinkie sounds different than an Evo...or a shovel...or a pan, I'd agree. I would challenge anyone to tell me how one Twinkie with similar tuning and equipment sounds different from one year to another. They certainly sound different than the earlier designs because they no long have that potato potato idle because of the advent of single fire as opposed to the wasted spark of the old ones...but different from year to year? Naw. Maybe somebody can tell the difference between a cat and non-cat exhaust, I sure can't!

 

This 2014sounds nothing like my 2009 road king with knock off pipes???night and day. I gotta think the cat is making the difference ?
Trying to decide
Thanks
Hap

 

Yeah, there is that but I swear that substantially, the Twinkies all sound similar. The obvious thing to do would be to install an earlier exhaust that didn't have a cat.