hey guys, i was thinking of going to drag pipes from my slipons. i have been told so many things, i understand the back pressure issue, i also understand the loss of power at low end. after hours on the pc searching, i havent had any one tell me how much power loss, i mean is it going to just be a pig or is just a little bit of loss. i just started with harley, i cam from the sport bike area and am done with the speed thing but i dont want something i can injoy riding. any help would be great, maybe something from some one that has made the change, the good thing is i have only had the bike 2 weeks so i dont really even know what power i have and dont have. its a 2001 sportster custom. thanks guys

 

If you are an experienced rider, you'll notice the torque dip. Most people barely or don't notice it as they just roll on throttle to compensate. With a little work you can get rid of most of the dip. Install lollipops and torque cones.
https://www.hdforums.com/m_79533/tm.htm

 

skip is right on, i hardly notice when i changed to drags.

 

astro929...why is it you want drag pipes so bad? Apparently it isn't because for performance, so it must be the sound factor. Most bikes I have heard with straight/drag pipes are just loud.....obnoxiously loud, especially ridin behind em. With all the good sounding exhaust sytems out there that perform much better than drag pipes, IMHO the only reason to put em on is to **** off your neighbors.

.....you aint one of them guys that likes to sit in front of the bar and jack off on the throttle just to see how much noise you can make, are ya?

 

no im not one of those, this is actualy my 1st harley, i have already decided that im not going to go fast, i just traded in my ducati 999 becaue i have had enough of the go fast thing. for the longest time i have been with a group of my sport bike friends when a group of harleys would go by and all the ****** would say man who would ever have fun just riding a harley, i was always the one who thought man i love that loud nast harley sound, so im sure this is just a newbe thing, if i cant be fast i want to be loud, i know it sounds a bit dumb. i will say this though, we went on a ride last weekend, my 1st weekend with the harley and i dont think i have ever had that much fun on a bike, i have always seen things go by at 90 mph and my face pointing down, its nice to be able to kick back and smell the roses.

 

Why not spend a little more money and get some Vance & Hines Straighshots? Great sound, not obnoxious, and they won't turn 'blue' on your bike.

I got mine at www.mawonline.com. They had the best price I found on them, and I lucked out by getting them on one of their 'free shipping' days!

 

Welcome to the brotherhood bro and enjoy your ride. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to slam you, it's just that the Harley sound is more than just loudness. Just like theres more to ridin' than going fast. Again, there are a lot of sweet sounding exhaust sysrems out there that are almost as loud, but not nearly as harsh as straight pipes. Again this(for what it's worth) is only my opinion.

Ride safe, Buck.

 

astro929,
IMHO a good drag pipe sounds awesome!! You can go with a lolli pop to improve mid range or after talking with several HP shops I ended up with the Santee Jim Nasi 2-1/4" drag pipes with AR power cones and HP Plus drag pipe baffles for the perfect amount of back pressure. The sound and performance improvement over my SEII's was well worth the time and trouble, and besides they look and sound great!!!

 

i can tell you this....when i was getting my baffles refabbed. i was running my bike with staight pipes. no baffles no back pressure. i didnt feel a loss of power except between 1800 and 1900 rpm...she didnt want to even run at that rpm..it bucked terribly. i had to ride over that or under that. now my bike does have the 103 ci so i dont know if that had something to do with it or not. since i put my baffles back in, the bike runs great.

 

i want drag pipes cause they are affordable and my 30 year old exhaust isn't much to look at so thanks for bringing this up astro