I'm a new HD owner and was looking to upgrade my stock exhaust on my 09 Fatboy. I was thinking about V&H Straightshot slip ons. They are about 1/2 the price of the V&H Big shot staggered, but are they any good. Has anyone used these pipes before, especially on a Fatboy? Do you recommend them? Also, if I just add the slip ons do I need to change the air cleaner and upgrade the PCM? Your advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

Supposedly with slipsons the upgrade is not needed. I put D&D's on mine. It seemed to run ok, but went ahead with the upgrade. Have to say I like the way it runs now a little better. Bit snappier

 

I've got the StraightShots on my Sportster and I really like them. I'd have put them on the Deluxe as well if it didn't already come with other V&H pipes (that I also like).

You don't have to do anything else with the slip ons, but you will eventually want to do the Air and FuelPak or download just to cool the engine down a bit and get some more power.

 

Thanks jbg. Did the straight shots also come with quiet baffles? If not, do you recommend them?

 

I ran the regular baffles for a few days and didn't like the sound. They had a higher pitch to them than I feel a Harley should have. I was able to pick up the quiet baffles at my local dealer and I installed them myself. They're easy to install. But I'd recommend doing it before you install the pipes if possible. They lower the tone of the sound to a nicer rumble.

 

I put 'em on my '08 Heritage and really like them. Don't worry about the upgrade until you decide you want a little more "guts". This year I went ahead and did the Stage 1 upgrade, which you'll probably do at some point. I'm still running the standard baffle that came with them. Sounds good!

 

Do you really need to have the ECU flashed and a new breather when you put on V&H pipes?

 

No. As stated above, it helps bring the temp down and give you more power, but it's not necessary.

 

don't be afraid to do a search in other areas, because there are hundreds of post on this topic...

 

hundreds in the last month...

lol

is the search function scary? I've never been afraid of it, but it could explain some things...