OK, I want to powe up my bike. I don't need crazy power (yet) and my thought was get a power comander, an air filter upgrade and some pipes. Now, I want the pipes to sound nice (ie. loud) BUT that is a second concideration to performance. All I seem to hear is Screaming Eagle this and Sreaming Eagle that: it's like no one else makes a pipe and air kit for the damn bike! What I'm looking for is a little more responsiveness in the mid range (and up) without being "That ******* who wakes the baby up every time he rides past the house". Are there better pipes than the SEs? Educate me about back-preasure and stuff please. Oh, and if ONE guy tels me that X-brnad pipes look cool or are "nice and loud" I'm going to vomit.

 

Well IMHO Doherty Machine makes the BEST air filter replacement there is. I went with the Power Pack with vents. My SE POS gave out on a bolt hole and was useless at that point. Waste of money.

Pipes are subjective for sure. All out power 2-1 ThunderHeader, V&H Pro Pipe, LSR-2 is supposed to be the king now, but no experience with it YET.

2-2 or Duels, you will loose low end torque and gain top end, but depending on compression and cam can be compensated for, but still will not achieve numbers of a 2-1. That said I have V&H Duels/Ovals and love them. Fit and finish second to none. Great sound. I also am running 10.5:1 compression and Woods TW-6HG cams so what is missing at the bottom I don't miss a bit, when the cams hit the front forks stretch, period.

Again subjective. If you want to wring out every last drop then a good 2-1 is the way, again style of bike and what looks and works good are you compromise.

 

all your asking for are opinions and then you wanna vomit when they are given?????

To get the best you will need to do some research and find dyno sheets with the proof of what each pipe does in the Hp & Tq. Then you have to take that with a grain of salt unless they use the same bike, same dyno and the same weather conditions which is NEVER the same.

G'Luck in your research...

 

Before you get to vomiting, you should furnish a few facts about what you ride, ie. bagger/fx etc..2 up / 1 up. Not every bike responds the same to the same parts and for the same application. It would be helpfull to get a more acurate response too Mr Grumpy.

 

Vance and Hines 2in1 exhaust with jetting and air filter kit is about $550.00 dynoed best of the exhausts. Very good customer service.

 

this might help
http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/exhaust_test_02.htm

 

I ride an FXDI (that's a Dyna Superglide with fuel injection...)

MY suggestion:

1. Mufflers= S&S mufflers, this will give you ALOT of performance! They're loud though

2. Air cleaner kit= Arlen Ness "Big sucka"; this is the same as the Screamin' Eagle one, but with the re-usable K&N filter!!!!!

3. Get a Stage I download

4. Get a Power Commander

5. Get it dyno tuned.

I got 74 HP and 74 torque out of this

6. Get the Screamin' Eagle Gear down kit and the Screamin' Eagle Pressure plate

HOLD ON!!!! this is the formula for a quick Superglide!!!!

Then later, if you're crazy like me, you can get a S&S 510G gear drive cam and the S&S gear drive cam kit and...

****** Racing Stage I CNC porting on your heads ($550), Screamin' Eagle Adjustable Chromoly pushrods and of course....

A re-tune on the dyno. (this is currently in the works, so no #'s yet, stay tuned!!!!!)

joe

 

To add on about this....


I'm going to assume you have an 88 incher.....

Your stock pipes are fine.....they just need good mufflers.....the front pipes are great because they have the crossover pipe that is essential as it makes use of the cylinders helping each other out with scavenging the exaust gases out! The S&S mufflers are outstanding! This is becuase they add just enough backpressure to make the engine function at optimum!!! All I can tell you is that if they weren't the best mufflers I've seen I would NEVER endorse them they way I am!!! Now, if you're going to go bigger than an 88, then you need to get a 2 into 1 full exhaust system, me....I like 88's!!!

Why do I like 88's so much? Because I like thick cylinder walls..... and I like the challenge of making the power of the bigger cube engines......it's so easy! Alot of folks do the "95 inch kit" and put the stock heads back on. Why? For the same amount of money you can have the heads CNC ported, and power is in the heads!!!!


The idea is to build a fun engine that is as reliable as a stocker. What good is an engine that can't go on a poker run without giving problems?[&:]

When I'm done (about 3-4 weeks!) my 88 will be more than able to smoke a 95 incher with stock heads and a 203 cam (a Stage II kit).

But it's not about being able to smoke the next guy, and it's not about dyno numbers....it's about having lots of power available on the road.

Am I full of it? Probably, but I know that what I'vew done to date WORKS, and if I can help somebody get what I've got then it's worth it!

Any questions, PM me.....

P.S. I have nothing against 95 inchers, as long as your happy, that's all that matters!


joe

 

Only in the circumstances outlined above. Looks and sound are great things AFTER the right amount of the right kind of power is dished out. I've seen more than a few guys who think the other way while I was lurking here for a bit.

So it's just as complicated or moreso than I had feared! Cool.

 

Point well taken. I have (what I assume to be) a bone stock 2004 FXDX. I can't seem to get over my sportbike "thing" and seem to ride up in the RPM band a lot, so midrange and up is more important to me that lugging it around town. I'm not against loud, but too loud is too loud and I don't want that. It seems that whenever pipes are getting talked about the ones that look the coolest are the ones that actually perform the worst, or perform well only at WFO. I have read a lot about collectors and 2 into 1 pipes. It looks like pipes with the cross over also get the same benifits but still look like cruiser pipes.
Thanks for the nice "intor to pipes and tuning" and the link guys. I was looking at the V&H 2 inot 1 pipe and another similar pipe that's ceramic coated to keep the inside temperature up (and the outside emperature down) which is apparently important.

Thanks guys. All good stuff so far ana NO VOMITTING!