I know this topic has been beat to death, but after reading a zillion posts. I'm still as confused as ever. When readers post "I've got fill_in_the_blank slipons on my Sportster and I think they sound great", I appreciate their opinion, but "great" is a pretty subjective term, and I'm not able to use that to make my decision. I'm not feeling safe in traffic with the stock mufflers on my 03 Sporty Custom, so I need to do something ASAP.

I'd love to hear from someone who has had personal experience with a variety of slip ons, and was wondering if there is a general consensus regarding the loudness of some of the more common offerings.

What, in your opinion which is the quietest, next quietest, loudest, etc between the Cycle Shacks, SEs, SEIIs, and V&Hs. Just figure with stock baffles...I understand all bets are off when the baffles are removed. Also, I'd love to see the ratings of the deepness of tone for the above mentioned mufflers, from deepest to err...non deepest?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can shed on the topic, and thanks to all who have posted regarding this topic in other areas of this board. What an awesome resource this board is! Great bunch of people!!!

eyemac

 

The V&H slip ons are pretty loud, almost like drags. I never had any of the others but they are bigger in diameter so are probably deeper sounding. I went with mine because of the look. I have heard the Rush slip ons and they were kinda quiet.

 

heres the scoop...........
grab a cup of coffee and sit and read......

Different dealers has different opinions, and gets confusing...

If you want a safe set up, with more interested with power.... and dont want to worry and warrenty issues....Go with HarleySE mufflers and SE air kit.....these mufflers arent that loud though..... thats what i hear...

i just put on V&H slipons , with an Arlen Ness billet stage 2 air kit...the stage 2 air kit only means that it allows 20% more air...... NOW...... the dealer that did my work,, said that all i will need is a Harley download,,,,, because this is basically a stage one upgrade...... some dealers say go with the Harley Race Tuner, some say PC III, some say V&H fuel pak...... my dealer said for a stage one, we really dont need these ...unless you really want to tweak it for every last Horsepower.... which i dont care about.... this setup i have,gave me a boost as is..... and no back fires, no sudders or anything..... and NO DYNO TIME>>>>>>>>>$$$$$$$sav e save save......

so are some dealers full of crap...i say yes.....to a point....this is a business ya know.....lol

as far as pipes and stuff goes........

Vance & Hines makes a good quality product..... the chrome is good quality..... some pipes out there, i hear stories about bad chrome ,,,,,rusting,,,,,things of that nature...... you get the point.....but these are stories.... so who really knows for sure......

but at some point,,,,,,you do get what you pay for.....

mine are slipons..... but,
you can always go with full set of pipes ....right up to the headers..... this gives you the best performace, and i think even a deeper sound......also 400 bucks more i think.....

if this is what you may want.... i hear that the Rienhart, bubhug juggers are sweet..... look great and supposedly sound great......but sell for around 650 or so....mine were 259......

BTW.... my slipons are pretty loud,,,,, but they do sell a quiet baffle for this also......


another pipe that i hear good things about.....especially for power and performance is a 2 into 1 set up pipe...... they sound a little different though....


I WILL SAY THIS.... THE ONE GOOD THING ABOUT A MODULE IS THIS...... IF YOU DOWN THE ROAD WANT A DIFFERENT PIPE OR AIR KIT .....THE TUNERS CAN BE USED TO CHANGE THE SETTING, AND AS FOR ME I MAY HAVE TO PAY HARLEYANOTHER 149.00

BUT I DONT PLAN ON CHANGING ANYTHING.... WHY WOULD I....SEE MY POINT.....


like i said....i just had a Harley Download,and the bike runs great.....

hope this helps

jim D
here is my bike...below

 

Yea, I figured the V&H mufflers were going to be pretty loud. That's probably louder than I'm looking for. Maybe I'll go to one of our local dealers and see if they have CS or SEII's on a used Sporty that I can listen to.

 

Here's a plan. Go to the dealership and have them crank some used Sporties with the add ons. I like loud pipes.

 

It will be hard for you to find any SE IIs as they don't make them anymore. Here's what my SE IIs sound like though. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...r1250sound.flv

It's hard to judge from online sound files as different people have different recording equipment and places that they are recording are not the same (some indoors some outdoors)The best bet is to go to a rally or meet or something and listen to different bikes.

 

your very welcome for the info....people help me....i help other.... its a sportster team......

 

just ordered my SE II to-day for $ 339.00 CDN they told me there are only 5 sets left in the warehouse at HD in Canada. The newer ones will be much quieter because of tough new noise laws. I heard the V & H and they are much noisier then the SE II that is why I choose the SE II

 

I have an 05/883C that came with a set of BuB s/o on it. The BuB's are nowlaying onthe floor of the garge. Way to obnoxious for me.
I heard a set of SEII on an 1200, nice but quiet, my wifes stock 07/883 quiet. Heard a set of V&H with quiet baffles on a 1200, sounded just about right.
I bought the V&H slip ons with quiet baffles and will have them on in a couple of weeks if you are interested in a sound report.
Ya want to try the BuB's I'll send them to you.
Sound chart: stock a #1, SEII a #4, V&H W/Q Baffles a #6-7, BuB's a # 10. Bub,s ear plugs all the time.

 

Cycle Shacks on my '07 1200C and they are loud. Very deep and throaty. Ear plugs for the long rides....