I've got a lot of info from this message board over the years, so I thought I'd give some back.

Installed: Arlen Ness Big Sucker, V&H Slip-ons w/quiet baffles, FP3 tuner. Very basic setup.

I did a ton of research on these items before purchase, so here's my take on each. Remember, this is only one man's opinion. Yours may differ entirely, if so, take it easy on me!

Big Sucker: I've had one of these on each of my newer bikes (I've had 3 EFI bikes now). Because this seems to be a multi-fit item, it comes with many extra parts and the instructions are bit vague. It was a bit confusing and took a lot longer to install than I thought.

V&H 3" Twin Slash slip-ons: Easy-peasy. Bike is new, stock mufflers came right off. I've reused clamps in the past, but not this time, the old clamps simply would not bite. Had to redo with new clamps. Also, per usual, Lemon Pledge is your friend. It took the finger prints right off. Always clean new pipes before firing the bike up the first time!

These things are very loud for slip-on "mufflers". They don't muffle a damn thing. The baffles that these come with aren't much baffle at all. I have a dB level app on my phone and was getting 96 dB plus! Therefore...

Quiet Baffles: Much online about what a pain in the royal *** these are to install. Too much to get into here. Basically, there is almost always too much batting or fiberglass on these and some needs to be removed. Of which, I did. I cut about 5" off and rewrapped. One baffle fit perfect, but the other one had a bit of a high spot on it from the weld, and had to be ball peened out. So, yeah, installation of these was a pain in the *** for me as well.

However, after these were installed, I feel like the bike both sounds way better (less "high" notes) and runs better. My handy dB app reads 87 dB now.

FP3: Here's where I had some issues. As noted, I did a very basic setup, using their pipes, etc. Downloaded the canned map for this setup and had a very bad stutter problem in first gear when letting out the clutch and taking off. It would almost stall.
Contacted V&H and they immediately told me to autotune. Even though I've read they've told countless others not too. So I did as instructed, using my canned map as a base. After that I still had the issue, just not as bad. Ended up sending the map to V&H to tweek. They added more fuel at lower rpms. It worked for the most part. Still not 100% imho.

A little disappointed with this, as everything I read and researched, and with a such a simple and common setup, I didn't thing there would be a problem at all - plug and play. Nope. The whole process turned out to be a pain in the ***, as I went back and forth with V&H many times in course of two weeks.

Verdict: I'm too damned old to be laying on the floor of my garage anymore!!! I have a J&S jack, but didn't want to be yanking on the pipes with the bike in the air. I'll gladly pay someone to do it next time.

The FP3 ordeal was a disappointment. Quiet frankly, it's hard to find a bad review of this product online - if there are any at all. Seems like I got unlucky or something, or some people aren't telling the whole story.

So, that's my take on all of that.

 

I read all the stories of cutting off the fiberglass to. I was prepared to have to do the same thing.mine came with the fiberglass fully wrapped in shrink wrap plastic not wrapped with tape like the pics all show.. I sprayed a little silicone on the plastic, one slide right in and the other I had to tap with a block of wood the last 3 inches, didn't end up having to cut anything.

 

Interestingly enough (and disappointing), of the two, one came with the batting wrapped almost perfect and it would have fit. However, this is the one with the imperfection on one end that had to be reshaped to fit. The other one, the batting was not wrapped tightly and would not have fit as-is without cutting.

In short, they were both messed up in different ways. V&H should really re-check their source for these things, given ALL of the negative feedback online.

 

Deja Vu....

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/sport...st-mortem.html

Two Quiet Baffles, made two years apart, one welded well and one cheaply made. Two different countries of origin.
Junk.

 

Hope the fp3 gets sorted. Now I have Jack straw stuck in my head... We can share, the women we can share the wine!

 

It's interesting to hear another prospective as I also just finished wrapping up similar mods on my Roadster. I went a different route on every part, but essentially accomplished the same goals: equifinality (one of my favorite words).

Powercommander 5
Custom Dyno Tune
Hammer Performance Crush Intake
Bassani 2-1 Road Rage 3


Essentially the same outcome, just 2 different paths. I looked at the FP3 and held out for a pc5 and tune because I was sure the experience would be just how you described. I'm not sure if it's me being really picky, or demanding, but I was sure the fp3 wouldn't meet my expectations. Admittedly, I feel a bit vindicated hearing your experience.

Post some pics man!!

 

As you should be. Dyno is always the way to go. To be honest, I wasn't trying to cut corners, or even save money. It just seemed easy and bulletproof from all the reviews and comments I found online. I don't necessarily regret it, first time for everything as my other bikes were powercommander/dynoed. But all an all the bike is running well now and I'm happy.

If I change pipes in the future, I'll get it dynoed for sure. As originally was looking for high 2-1 pipes and may do that still someday.

 

gone.

 

Auto tune takes a while. This is one of the best threads I read before doing mine. It explains it way better than vance and hines.
https://streetglide.com/showthread.p...xplained/page1