Rode my new-to-me Heritage Softail home today. It has Vance & Hines Big Shots on it. It has a great sound, but too loud for my taste. I'm thinking of getting the V&H Quiet Baffles. The questions I have are:

Will the bike need to be re-tuned? It currently has the HD Stage 1 tune.
How hard are the baffles to replace?
Any other options on baffles that might quiet it more? I've heard the QBs don't quiet it down that much, just mainly take the edge off.

 

The QBs work pretty well & change the tone to a deeper note. Install isn't too bad.

 

You won't need a retune. The only hard part may be getting the stock baffles out.
I think V&H says to expect a 3-4 db decrease in volume. Not very much, but it will make a deeper sound. Rush makes baffles in different sizes that affect the loudness, check with them. If you need to quiet it down more, the SE slipons are not as quiet as stock and have a good rumble.

 

Had vh bss and tried the q baffles. They do make the note lower and take a bit of the rasp sound out. Not much quieter though. To be honest, the q baffles were a waste of money. If you want a quieter pipe, get rid of those 2n2 straight pipes. Also, the q baffles choke the motor above 3,500-4,000 rpms and you can feel it a bit. VH will also admit to this if you call and ask them.

 

+1
The quiet baffle only deepens the tone & removes a bit of bark. If I didn't steal them from my father's Heritage, I would have been pissed for waisting money on them...

I wound up putting the standard baffles back in.

 

When I bought my V-H slip-ons I also bought the quiet baffles. Like you, the "standard" baffles seemed a bit too loud. I put in the Q baffles and there was very little change: down a note or two but the same volume. I since took the quiet ones out and put the originals back in.

As far as removing the originals and installing the Q's, here's what I did:
I took the slip-on off the pipes. Then I removed the outer skin by removing the two muffler clamps. The clamp at the exhaust-end does not need to be fully removed; it just needs to be loosened so it will slip off. The other clamp (toward the pipe end) needs to come off since it will not slip past the hanger brackets. Unscrew it all the way and pull the clamp out. Now slide the outer skin off of the inner cylinder. In the top of the inner cylinder you will see an allen screw that holds the baffle. Remove it and the baffle will just slide out. Of course mine were only two weeks old when I did this and they did not stick. I would think that over time the baffle may become "frozen". If so, try taking a wire hanger; bend it into a "U" shape about 12 inches long. Then bend the tips of the U outward. Insert the bent tips into the baffle and use a hammer against the curved part of the U. Think of it like inserting a handle that you can pull against. The new baffle should just slip in, align the hole in the cylinder with the kept nut of the baffle, and insert the set screw. Re-install the outer decretive skin in the reverse order and tighten. Re-tighten the slip-on's mounting brackets. Fire it up and go for a ride!


Hope this helps,
Breezybob