I went to my local dealer and asked about V&H / SE/ cycle shack slipons..

They said I need to do the A/C upgrade and thunderslide/jet upgrade if I do the exhaust.
They gave me a quote of $485 for CC slip ons, A/C and thunderslide (all uninstalled)..

Do I need the AC and thunderslide or are they trying to milk me?

 

It's best to rejet the carb and change the a/c when you open up the exhaust. The combination makes for better breathing. Better breathing = better performance, better performance = bigger sh*t-eating grins.

 

The dealer must see a fat wallet in your pocket. There is no need to rejet or change the AC if you are just installing new pipes. However, if you upgrade the A/C and rejet after installing the new pipes you will have a faster, better running bike. There is no need though to do it all at once.

 

Don't NEED to do those, but I would and that price seems very low for dealer with installation, so I would jump on it

 

Charley is one of the best people to listen to on the forum. He's got years of experience.

Now then, not to disagree, but when the previous owner of my bike changed the exhaust on it, the bike leaned out. The blued pipes said it all. After I had the a/c and jet kit installed, it seemed like the bluing slowed down. Pipes without heat shields turn blue. That's just the way it is, but the degree of bluing on mine was pretty significant. Maybe it was just running lean to begin with. Just my 2 cents.

 

I installed Cycle Shack Slip on Mufflers on my bike and did nothing to the air cleaner or carb for about another 6,000 miles. There was no problem. Bike ran pretty much the same, the pipes didn't blue. No problems. It was considerably louder.

Then I did the air cleaner upgrade and carb re-jet. That made it a bit louder, and a LOT more fun to ride.

 

The $485 is without installation.

The slip on's are cycle shack baloney mufflers p/n 1801-0009 for $189.17

I'm really torn between slip ons or full pipes... I like the look of both pipes ending next to eachother.. decisions decisions.. (or $ and more $)

 

I did the pipes first.I put on punched out stock Harley mufflers for about 1000 miles.Then switched to V&H straightshots.They were on for about 500 miles before I did the re-jet and SE air cleaner.I had no problem with just the pipes.It was louder but lacked performance untill I did the re-jet and air cleaner.Now with it all done it runs much better.Faster,more power,and VERY VERY few carb farts.It only does it now when not warmed up.

 

I guess, along the same lines as the message in883Sporty's reply...I have the H-D SE11 mufflers, K&N Air Filter in the stock airbox and the carb has hadthe slow jet changed (by the dealer) from stockto a 45 or 46 size, I'm not exactlysure which. Anyway, in my casewould I expect a boost in performance from this?

 

Not quite sure what "in my case would I expect a boost in performance from this" refers to. It sounds like you're almost there (stage 1) but you would need to replace the "air can" if it is still stock and then possibly rejet again to get to stage 1.

Stage 1 is: pipes, high flow AC (filer & can)& rejet.