What I did was decided if I wanted chrome or black pipes. I wanted black for my black denim Night Train.

Then I decided if the brand was important. For me it was. I did not want a cheaper brand, I wanted one that had a good rep.

Then I decided on length, long or short. I knew short would make more noise, so I went with longer, but not so long it went to the back of the bike.

From there I decided that power and sound were important for me. I decided on a 2-1 pipe.

So I looked at all the black 2-1 pipes (and a few chrome ones).

I found about 6 that I liked the looks of. I posted those on this site to get feed back.

I narrowed it down to two, that had what I felt was good looks, good sound, and good power.

I kicked the idea for a few months and then bought the one I liked best.

Now the one I bought, I always though had a great sound, be it 2-2 or 2-1's. The other brands seemed neat, but when I heard a Harley with a good sound to it, they had that brand of pipes and they also made good numbers on dyno's, and the owners liked them.

Take your time and find what you like. There is no one pipe fits all, but many buy for looks at first and then learn that the sound and power is the down fall.

 

If you want the best lookin and best sounding, Samson Fishtails hands down. No power gains, but you didnt buy the bike for power, did you?
All the other pipes sound like a monkey spanking a watermelon

 

Im partial to the samsons but if you want a 2-1 the fat cat looks and sounds bad ****

 

I agree, Cav Cop has a very methodical approach that will save money and a round robin of pipe installs.

 

I also think looks and sound are the main points. Power is not what we're after or we'd be riding 600cc sport bikes.

 

I like pipes that are different from everyone elses I was tired of seeing the big radius and all that stuff I wanted somethin differnt but went with the style of my bike. I payed a little more money but got something different and they sound wicked

 

take a look at RB Racings' site, they have alot of good info there

 

Those pipes look awesome on your bike Bluedemon what are they?

 

Take your time and find the right pipes for you. As we all know exhaust are not cheap. I looked around for a couple months before I decided on the Sampson tru duals. I like the look of the duals but I didn't want the fishtails,so I went for the 4" mufflers. Really like the pipes, I also pulled the baffles and wrapped about half the baffles with muffler packing. It made them just a little more quiet, plus the back pressure made it run better. Also give a deeper sound which I really like. By the way other than the pipes she's pure stock.

 

Its all personal preference, What little power gain you get from 2 into 1 pipes on a stock engine is not noticable. Therefore I like the looks of 2 into 2 pipes. On a Heritage these are my favorite pipes. http://www.vanceandhines.com/product...shotslong.html
On a Deluxe Samsons Fishtail Cholo's rule, on a Rocker I like VH Big shot Radius 2 into 2 pipes. On a Fatboy I like VH Short shot Staggards.
I don't run the Cholos on my Deluxe only because I would tear them up with my form of driving. What ever you get, study it long and hard and look at other bikes and what ever you like the looks of is all that matters.
The only thing I do suggest is don't waste your money on slip on mufflers, because I see it too many times people getting them only to take them off and buy header pipes.