Deciding on an Exhaust

 

How the fuck should I know what kind of exhaust you want on your bike? I can't believe that people ask me this! I couldn't recommend an exhaust system for you, any more than I could tell you what to paint on the gas tank. This is completely an area of personal preference, although I will recommend some type of free flowing exhaust. Only the Evolutions need the anti-reversion (AR) cones installed at the head end of the pipes to provide backpressure when running straight pipes,
smaller diameter straight pipes will be louder than larger pipes but they will have more of a sharp crackle than the low rumble of the larger pipes.

There are many different components and configurations that can greatly increase horsepower/torque on a Harley, the one component that ties it all up and either makes it all work very well or not work well at all is EXHAUST!

Because many people are on a Harley for many different reasons, exhaust choice always causes problems. Most (in general) good performance exhausts look and sound terrible - and most good looking, good sounding exhausts don't perform worth a shit! Rinehart Exhausts are a perfect example.
Rinehart True Duals are probably one of the nicest looking exhaust systems out there for the late model Baggers, They open up the transmission area and give the bike a very clean look. They also sound great. They do not perform well on the dyno, quite often there will be a rear cylinder air/fuel spike around 2000-2800 RPM. I have many customers that have invested thousands of dollars in motor work but can't part with the True Duals, it hurt their performance and they could feel it on the street and see it on the dyno sheet.
Rinehart also makes a 2-into-1 system that performs very well on the dyno and it looks and sounds horrible!

I (personally) like the results of the V&H ProPipe, it's a 2-into-1 system that performs very well on the dyno, and doesn't look nearly as hidious as most 2-into-1 systems and doesn't sound to bad either, although on the baggers you do have to deal with the look of only one muffler, on the right side.
I do not recommend Cycle Shack pipes, they are cheap and you get what you pay for.

Remember: Altering your exhaust will change the air/fuel mixture requirements for your engine and you should make these adjustments accordingly. 
If you have a Delphi system it will compensate enough for just an exhaust change, but if you also change the air cleaner you will have to change the fuel supply.

Remember, no matter what the Sheriff tells you . . . . .

 

Please don't ask me to suggest an exhaust system for your bike. There are just too many to choose from, pick one that you like.

Baffle Removal

There is no recommended way of knocking-out, bending, burning, freezing, cutting or in any way, removing the baffles from your exhaust pipes. If your motor is an Evolution it will eliminate much of your back pressure giving you poor performance and will probably end up burning your valves.

About 50% of the times I have had customers remove their own baffles, they have not only experienced the above problems, but have also discovered a very annoying whistle at low RPMs and at idle, in which case they were then forced to buy new mufflers anyway because they destroyed the originals. 
Although I do believe it is easier for the cagers out there to notice us on the road with loud pipes, Its not a necessity. Not liking the sound of your bike is pretty trivial, you can still ride. If having your bike sound cool is that important to you then it should be worth it to you to just dish out the cash for new mufflers or pipes and keep your old ones. You can always put the old ones back on if you trade or sell the bike or you can sell them at a swap meet or to someone that has gone down and scraped theirs up.
Image is nothing, riding is what matters.