Yes, it is a California bike. I changed the pipe out, so I know for a fact that it did have the cat in the pipe.

 

Guess it's just the Cali bikes have one in the pipe, rest had them in the mufflers. I purposely bought 2009 takeoff head pipe(no cat) before I went with duals.

 

Yeah, had no welder or experience welding so to this company. Picture is from their site, they have a jig to weld it back together perfectly and it fit like OEM when I installed it. Did I like it? NO. Lost lots of low end but ran like it was on fire from 5000 - 6200 RPM. But seeing how I don't run like that often enough I re-installed the OEM pipe. It's a cruiser, right?

 

Softail cat's are in the muffler, at least mine was. 2013 Heritage.

 

Did you do anything tuner wise after opening up the exhaust flow? That would explain why it ran bad.

Batman

 

Funny, I'm on the fence about doing the same. I'm trying the DK thunder torque inserts just in case they work as advertised and bring that low end back because I love the sound and the fact that it runs cooler, but if they don't work I'll likely do the same as you. The thing used to be a stump puller at 2000+ rpm, but not so much anymore.

 

I pulled the header off my '14 SGS and drilled out the cat. Took a lot of time and work to make sure all the shavings were out of the header but it's all good now. Big reduction in heat on the right side now. Bike runs great with no tuning and the sound is a little better. The main improvement was the reduction in heat.

 

Not sure what he did, but I added adjustable xieds to give it more fuel. Mine doesn't run bad. It seems to have a very even power curve it has just shifted to the right. Pretty much what I expected to happen. Over all it has more power, it just moved the curve.

 

I know someone with a set of de-catted pipes off a 2012 that he is willing to give me. Will they fit my 2015 SGS?

 

Yup...and all the wales will die.

The general concensus is that remapping is not required just due to exhaust changes. It should be done with cam and /or AC changes. As well, every bike can benefit from a retune to richen the mixture. But, you won't damage anything if you don't retune.