Hi ya'll,

I just bought myself a 883 Sportster. I'd like to put some Vance & Hines pipes on; I think they sound great. However, I'd like to start doing some roadtrips, probably under 500 miles to start. Now the V&H pipes are great for cruising around town or a short daytrip, but I concern about it being so loud over an extended period of time on longer trips.

Does anyone have experience with this? Is it not so bad once you hit high speeds or it gets worst?

 

I wear a 3/4 helmet........can barely hear my YamaHonda pipes now.

 

Foam ear plugs if it's too loud. The are comfortable and keep the wind out of your ears too.

 

My kids tell me to just use an ipod. They say that the earplugs will protect my hearing and also let me listen to music. Call me a stick-in-the-mud, however, but it seems that to hear the music over the roar of the wind and the sound of the pipes I would have to turn the darn thing up so loud that it would do my hearing more damage than the wind and pipe noise! Hmmm, maybe that's why they don't hear me when I call them to supper!

 

I agree with Terryt1955...use foam ear plugs. Been using them ever since I installed Hooker slip-ons on the Electra-Glide. Found that the ear plugs not only cut the sound from the pipes but I'm not as tired after a long run, probably because of the decrease in the wind noise.

 

I'll 3rd the earplug suggestion, much cheaper than another set of mufflers or ear drums for that matter. even with quiet mufflers the wind will do damage to your hearing.

 

I love them on my moped...works just fine!

 

So I guess the consensus is loud pipes ok for long trips as long as you use ear plugs. Thanks.

 

Use the foam ear plugs. My sporty 1200C has the V&H straight shots and I will only wear one in the right ear. More importantly, if you go with the straight shots, remove the baffles and cut the front 4 fins off and reinstall. You will get 4-5 more horses. And much louder! If you cut the back you won't be able to reinstall them!

 

I've had the same result as others -- the earplugs make the ride much less tiring, and will save your ears in the long run. I had some of the custom molded ones made at a recent motorcycle show, but I think I like the foam ones better. There is a wide difference in comfort and fit -- see this string:

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/earplugs/

There's some good info and I recommend you try a sampler pack.