When mine were new they had pop-rivets holding the baffles in.Before installing them I drilled out the rivets and replaced with a 1/4 20 bolts(if memory serves me correctly)...:>)

 

I have the BCT's and they sound great, I also picked up a set of Samson cannons that I have installed now and I am going to put the SEII w/BCT's back on, I like the sound and performance better then the 500.00 dollar pipes, go figure...

 

I appreciate the replies Jersey Devil and Ocoee Joe, bit it's a moot point for me now as I just got home from a ride across town and noticed that the loose baffle is no longer with me. I hope no one was behind me when it flew out! I guess I'll try the BCTs now and make sure they're installed securely.

 

So if I remove the baffels in my screaming eagle slip ons do i need to remap or not, and how much do the BCT baffels cost and if I install them do I need to remap??? Dont want to hurt the motor on my brand new bike but I want LOUDER....

 

I gently smacked mine out , the holes in the baffles come from the factory about 3/16 in. I doubled the size of the holes to 3/8 in. on a drill press . Baffles went back in real easy , had it re-mapped - $50.00 . Performance still there and they sound real nice.

 

Oh crap Redbeard, that must have been interesting loosing that baffle! Was it loud when it happened? Reminds me when I was younger and lost my exhaust up the header in an old subaru. Didn't fix it for months cause I thought it sounded cool.

 

Well I'm surprised it's not much louder now, but I still have the other baffle in. I didn't notice when it came out. I remember at one point when I was getting off the hiway it popped on decel, so maybe that was it. Anyway, I ordered some Big City Thunder baffles last night. Hopefully they'll be here in time to install for the weekend, and of course I'll post a quick review.

 

You might have a pop rivet but on mine, there was one bolt at about the 8 o'clock position (looking at it from the rear of the bike). I actually removed the whole slip-on since the carbon buildup had them in there pretty snug. Once the bolt is removed, i put a 1X2 in the back side and gave it a few taps with a hammer. They popped right out.

I had them out for a day or two but got nervous about it since my dealer said it wouldn't be a good idea. Here's what they said...

"If the bike is stock and you want to remove the baffles, you will have running problems that can only be addressed by re-jetting the carb. You should also add the high flow air cleaner assembly to complete the stage 1 setup. We don’t recommend taking out the baffles because you really cannot tune a system with open pipes. You should consider some type of performance exhaust system. In the long run, your bike will run better and you won’t be pissing everyone off with open pipes."

Whether this is true or not, I don't know. I really liked the sound with the baffles removed but I just don't know enough about it to take the chance of hurting my engine. Just buying the bike was financially hard enough... I definately can't afford any expensive repairs.

Does anyone know for SURE if open pipes will hurt an engine?

 

I have pop rivets on mine, iirc. I thought about drilling them out and removing the baffles at one time, but with 20K miles on 'em now (in less than one year ... I've been glued to the damn thing since day one ) they are sounding better and better. And the performance is pretty awesome, too. Scared to mess with it.

As far as running straights on a twin cam ... you know how these things go ... but a local indy wrench told me that the twin cam was the first HD engine for which he actually believed the factory when they said it need a certain amount of back-pressure to run properly. I don't remember the technical details, but I do know mine ran like crap when I tried straights for a very short time.

Also, I'd be willing to bet removing the baffles would necessitate a fuel control unit (SERT, PCIII, etc.). I'm a big proponent of the Stage 1 download and I believe it is sufficient for more open pipes and air cleaners. But I think running pure straights it wouldn't be able to compensate. I'd kinda' like to know, too.

Maybe one of the local wrenches can say for sure? Anyone?

 

While its too technical for me to absorb 100% its a good read and comes from a very reputable source,IMPO...



http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/exhaust.htm