I am so confused the more people I talk to about my issue about exhaust, so I wanted to ask the group. I have a 2007 Softail Custom, FXSTC. I have factory pipes, engine, etc. I want to upgrade my system some without having to mortgage the house. I want a deeper, richer sound, but not too loud and definitely not obnoxious. I've heard the Screamin' Eagle exhaust have changed for the worse due to EPA. What options are out there for me? Full system vs slip-ons. Stock air cleaner vs heavy. Download or not. Which brand will give me the sound I want? Vance & Hines, Python, Screamin' Eagle, what? Please help. Thanks.

 

I am personally very happy with the sound of the "new" SE exhaust. Deeper but not a lot louder unless you grab a handful then they seem to bark real well. I had them on my RG as a just a slip on with no other mods and was very happy with the set up. I wanted the SE Heavy Breather so broke down and had that installed later with the HD Stage 1 Download. If I were to do it all over again I would do the same thing. Love the looks, sound and performance. The real plus is I didn't break the bank for this set up either. At the end of the day though, if I wasn't looking for that Heavy Breather look I would have been perfectly happy with just the SE pipes.

Good luck with your choice.

T

 

My suggestion is ride with others, listen to their sound and find out which you like and then ask what exhaust they run.

Then everything depends on your budget

Slip ons work great and offer a good way to enhance sound, look and performance, with the limitation that you still have the original cylinder outtake. You can go SE or third party, there it depends on sound and look really. The less baffle the loader and the bigger the performance change is. And this is cheaper than full set (usually)

Full set will cost more than slips but will offer you great choice in design and performance gains. again it is all about sound, look and your budget.

Slip ons you can keep the rest as is on your bike without any problem. Full set you can as well, but the "free-er" you make your exhaust (less baffle) the more it becomes better if you change the breather (air cleaner). If you change the AC then you will need to change the ECM map.

ECM: here you can either get a new download, if you are ok with a general setting, or you can get a module TT, PC, etc... those then allow you either to get the AutoTune module, or download a map made by someone else with a similar set up or you can have the bike dyno tuned by a pro. all again depends on what you want to spend and the type of performance changes you want.

 

<b>My suggestion is ride with others, listen to their sound and find out which you like and then ask what exhaust they run.<b> That is the best suggestion there is. Exhaust can get expensive, especially if you change your mind after you get one set and want another.

 

check out the used bike at the local shops and then decide. rush slip ons give you a few choices for baffles that can get the sound you like and are not expensive to change.

 

Go to your local dealer on Saturday and wait for all the RUBs to start showing up. That is another good way to hear a lot of different exhausts. If you want a deeper sound, but not obnoxiously loud, listen to a few 2 into 1 systems. My Bassani has a low rumble and isn't stupid loud until you twist the wick......

 

I put a set of Sampson street sweepers on my 07. I also put a Ness big sucker with the Harley tuner. Couldn't have asked for a better set up. A noticeable quicker throttle response and low end torque.

 

so much a matter of opinion this one,nice non obnoxius good performance!how about a propipe??

 

This is a question that will have a different answer each posting ha ha. All my friends who started with slip-ons ended up with full systems. But the best advice I've seen is go hang out at your local shop and listen to all the bikes coming in, if ya talk to guys in service sometimes they'll take ya in the shop and crank up customers bikes with diff pipes too.

 

Ditto to what everyone else is telling you... get out there and look/listen to some other bikes... I asked the same question a while back and someone mentioned what my vision for the bike was. Once you know what you want it to look like, start researching, once you find the ones you like, go look/listen again. It's a decision you don't want to rush! Psst... I went with the V&H... love'em!