My son-in-law bought a 2014 Softail Slim. He'd like a little more sound (okay, I do for him too, it's too quiet!). My question is, can he just install slip ons onto the bike without changing the air cleaner or adding a tuner? I know it would make cheap power to do the other things, but right now he's trying to keep costs down. I know on the touring bikes this is possible because the cats are inside the header. Do the softails have cats in the mufflers, the header, or none? Will the ECM accommodate just a slip on change? Thanks!
Jerry

 

Yes. I had the Rush slip-ons 1.75 inch on my previous fatboy and did not have to re-tune. Great sound, by the way. If you go too much higher than that, you might have to tune.

 

I have slip ons on my 2014 Slim and I needed to remap the ECM but I also swapped out the air cleaner; the cats are in the mufflers, not the headers.

He is going to most likely get some decel pop and its most likely going to sound a bit harsh...I know cost is a factor, however, spending the extra bit, even for an FP3, will make all the difference. Having done it, I would do the same thing.

 

My GF has a 2011 Heritage Softtail which was bone stock. I bought her some Cycleshack mufflers slash downs and she ran it that way for 6 months before going full stage 1. They sound awesome! and they're fairly inexpensive. I called the HD dealer (Longview, Tx) and asked if there would be any waranty issues with slip-ons only and he said no.

 

Slip ons alone do not require re-tune. You can verify this on the Harley site. Look up any of their slip on mufflers and see the requirement notes. You'll see that it does not mention ECM retune being necessary. Now look up something like a heavy breather air cleaner and notice that it states specifically that a re-tune is necessary.

I did a full exhaust system swap from stock pipes to 2:1. I left my air cleaner stock and ran the bike for two years without a single issue. Not even decel pop or any such things.

 

Like others have said. It should be fine. But for $100 you can buy a set of XiED's. I know some people bad mouth them, usually people who have never owned them, but I have run them on several bikes and they work as advertised. Heck, you can probably find a used set for $50

 

The Harley Shop in Longview is a nice dealership, really good people to work with. Its not a big shop but its ran very well.

 

I agree on the Xieds. Been running them and have been very pleased..I'll most likely be doing some cams so they will have to go but for now I think they do just fine.

 

Congrats to your son on his New Ride!

The cats are in the mufflers, and yes, the ECM will accommodate just a slip-on change.

As has been mentioned by others, it has a factory lean tune, and can benefit from something like the XiED's, but it is not necessary.

When the time comes that he wants to do something to richen up the tune a bit, the following thread has a good overview of the popular options with the pros and cons.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/ignit...uning-etc.html

 

Thanks guys for all of the info. I'll let him know. I appreciate your help!
Jerry