kinda new at this. but i just bought a 05 883 with stock exhaust. my buddy poked holes in the baffles to make it louder for me. will this damage the engine? i think my fuel milage has gone down.

 

I OWN AN 883C 2006 SOME SAY YOU CAN POP OUT THE BAFFLES NO PROBLEM AND OTHERS SAY YOU WILL LOSE BACK PRESSURE I DON'T HAVE THE ***** TO DRILL MINE OUT DUE TO THE FACT THE DEALER TOLD ME IT WOULD VOID THE WARANTY ON THE BIKE SO I'M AT THE CROSS ROAD BUY PIPES OR KEEP'EM STOCK THIS YEAR. A FRIEND OF MINE HAS A 2004 883L PUNCHED THE BAFFLES NOW A SLIGHT OIL TRACE FROM THE PIPES. GOOD LUCK LET ME KNOW HOW YOU MAKE OUT.

 

I just did mine about 2 weeks ago! I love the way it sounds! It is loud if you ask me but, I am getting old. I have a 06 883 custom and I will let you know what you need and for future reference do a search on baffle removal and you will see all kinds of info on it.

Here is what I used thanks to other posters and you know who you are!

1 1/4 hole saw

12' extension

Electric drill if you have on otherwise make sure the cordless batteries are charged.

Drill out baffle and that is pretty much about it.

I left the rear muffler on and pulled the front off because it was hard to get at.

Oh yeah paitence and choose a day when it is not 100 flipping degrees like I did!

Good luck!

Oh yeah! I hold no responsiblility for any of this!

Have a nice day!

 

Or instead of just drilling out holes you can take out the baffles all together. I did it and they sound better, have more of a low rumble.

 

my dealer put holes in my baffels and it sounds good. you may have to adjust the carb.

 

On my '05 1200C we used a 'hole saw' and completely removed the baffles/restrictors from the mufflers.

More or less running "open pipes" now, but the crossover pipe was left in place to help balance out the exhaust from each cylinder.

The bike sounds great, with none of that tinny sound you get with many of the aftermarket exhaust systems.

We also increased the intake flow, and installed SE "E" cams. After that the bike was taken to a well known local Harley "Carb Guru", and he optimized the air fuel ratio throughout the operating range.

The '05 always ran very well, but now is a real "Hot Rod"... Excellent performance.....

 

Drıll everythıng thats ın there tıll the top wıll not damage the engıne for sue , maybe ull need a lıttle fıne tunıng thats all .
Not sure about gas mılage and to tell the truth ı dont care about ıt .
Sounds nıce but not as a paır of slıp on mufflers . I dont thınk performance gets hıgher by doınng that , just more sound.
My 2 cents

 

My exhaust tone is much deeper and somewhat louder than the Sportsters a couple friends have with the 'slip on aftermarket mufflers'.

And why shouldn't it be, as their aftermarket mufflers have internal baffles/restrictions and mine don't.

There isn't anything "magical" about slip on mufflers. Usually they use less restrictive baffles to increase the exhaust tone and slightly increase the exhaust flow rate.

Why spend $150+ for aftermarket mufflers when you can modify the stock mufflers to give as good (or better) performance for free?

I get enough 'backpressure' from the crossover pipe which was left in place, and even with the "E" cams I don't experience any loss of low end torque/horsepower.

But you can't expect an automatic increase in power by just increasing intake or exhaust flow. You need to have someone that knows what they are doing throw some gauges on the bike and dial in the correct air fuel mixture that will allow an increase in horsepower. The carb isn't smart enough to adjust itself, that's up to the person making the modifications.

I don't want to say this in the wrong way, but the number of questions posted dealing with incorrect adjusted carb's just amazes me... Lean conditions, rich conditions, etc.....

I have NO IDEA how anyone can optimize the correct air fuel mixture on a specific bike (either in stock condition or modified) without doing one of two things. Putting the bike on a dyno or hooking up some gauges to check the A/F ratio throughout the entire operating range.

There are too many factors to assume installing a certain jet combination or whatever will work for every bike in every conditions. People drive in different conditions, live at various elevations, and use fuel that might be blended differently in different parts of the Country.

Okay, rant over. LoL

 

thanks everyone for the input.