Harley mufflers back to stock?

[B.E. Coyote]

Is there any perceived performance gain in the Harley mufflers?

 

My bike came with them on. Not sure if they have been modified. When they are off I can see straight through them but I don't see evidence of them being hacked up.

 

They are not obnoxious but I might prefer stock if I don't lose any performance.

[Freebird]

I don't think there are any performance gains. Some people just like the sound better. Harley uses a lot of different designs but it's not unusual to be able to see straight through them.

[grubsie]

I have run both Harley and stock. I haven't noticed any difference in performance or mpg, just sound.

[B.E. Coyote]

Thanks guys, I think I have my hands on a set of stock mufflers from the pay it forward thread. If that works out and I like them better I will have a set of road king (I think) mufflers and brackets that I will let go of for the cost of shipping.

 

Or maybe just the brackets. The shipping on the mufflers might be more than what they are worth.

[djh3]

My mileage went down. LOL Cause I just liked to hear it cackle on the throttle. But when driven normal no difference. I shipped a pair to a fellow in NM I think it was and it ran me about $40 from here in Fla. When I was looking for them I could find them for that or less sometimes. If you found someone local or not to far just work out a swap. I did that with the last pair I had. I liked the sound around town, but long trips for me just had to much drone.

[B.E. Coyote]

Put stock mufflers back on last night. Using a sound meter app on my phone and laying the phone at the rear of my bike the HD mufflers were 81 db and the OEm Yammy mufflers were 75db at idle.

 

That is significant. Not sure if the gap would widen at higher rpm.

 

I'll probably stay with quiet but the HD pipes do sound deeper and subjectively better.

[grubsie]

Not sure if the gap would widen at higher rpm.

 

but the HD pipes do sound deeper and subjectively better.

 

The gap would definitely widen.

 

The HD pipes sound better at idle, but when you are on the throttle, the noise gets quite loud. That's OK for around town driving, but there's a resonance from the V4 motor out the HD mufflers that gets annoying on long rides. My wife and I were actually getting headaches from the noise.

 

I put Smartpartz baffles in my HD Monster Ovals to tame the sound and now they are perfect. Great rumble at idle and an easy low rumble on the throttle. I'm sure the baffles would work in the stock HD mufflers also. When just cruising along with the Ovals, they are not much louder than the stock RSV mufflers. Since I put the baffles in, it seems like I have more torque throughout the rpm range.

 

You will be glad you switched back to stock vs the HD's when you take day long rides.

[B.E. Coyote]

The gap would definitely widen.

 

You will be glad you switched back to stock vs the HD's when you take day long rides.

 

Yep, just came back from an hour ride. Mixed highway and around town. Stock pipes for me

[99silver]

I put HD's on mine and drilled out the baffles so you could see straight thru, the wife said no way, so I put the stock HD's on and it gave it a great tone not to loud but just a little rumble. Happy wife happy life!!!