Hey!

I have V&H Straight Shots on my 02 883C. They didn't come with baffles when I bought the bike and recently put the BCT Original Baffles. I wasn't quiet impressed with the sound improvement, more by the fact that the bike is more responsive. It's not a huge difference but still noticed a positive change.

I flipped the baffles so that the little ring is more towards the engine, sounds the same and performs a tad better. But I still want to improve the sound of my bike so I'm wondering if I should simply buy the V&H quiet baffles (I saw videos on YouTube and it does sound better) or change of exhaust.

If I change of exhaust I'd go for either Rush slip-ons with 2" baffles or even something very different like Bassani Sweepers.

I've read on this very forum that full-system exhaust will make the bike perform better than slip-ons mufflers.

What's your take on this? Should I swap baffles for now or change exhaust? Will I need to rejet the bike? I have a stage 1 with ForceWinder air intake (about to be replaced as well).

Thanks a lot for your future input!

Vincent

 

Just buy the standard baffles not the quiet ones.

 

You mean the BCT ones? I already have the standard ones.

 

What type of sound improvement are you looking for? I have V&H Short Shots on my FXD and I've used the V&H standard as well as the V&H "quiet" baffles. A lot of people (myself included) find the V&H quiet baffles really do not quiet the exhaust much but give it a bit "deeper" tone which sounds better. I've since added the Smartpartz baffles along with the quiet baffles which does quiet the exhaust but didn't kill the sound.

The quiet baffles are around 60 bucks (much cheaper than a new full exhaust). Needing to rejet all depends on how your plugs look. The baffles should effectively richen the mixture, so if your plugs still look clean you should be ok on the jetting.

J

 

BY BCT Are you meaning Big City Thunder baffles?? Those are not the standard baffle this is what you want...
These are $22.99 each
http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/produc...fCatId=&mmyId=

 

Hey 88 thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure about what you mean for the "plugs"? I want a deeper tone. Right now, with my current system, my bike sounds horrible from mid to high range...like "clak clak clak"..

I was on my way home tonight and rode behind a Nightster that had Side Shots...man those full system exhaust really make a difference in sound.

 

Yeah I meant Big City Thunder. Would you suggest I try the original baffles before I swap exhaust?

 

Hi Voony, by "plugs" I mean your spark plugs. I know on my bike the V&H "quiet" baffles (that have the fiberglass wrap around them) did indeed give the bike a deeper tone. I found the standard V&H baffles did have a somewhat annoying tone to them, but they sure were loud!

Do a youtube search for V&H baffles and you should find a few videos where some people have posted clips of the same bike with the different baffles. If I can find it, there was one guy who posted his bike with no baffles, then the standard baffles, then the quiet baffles.

Your original post said you have Straight Shots on your bike. Is that not a full system or are they slip-on mufflers? Even if they are slip-ons I wouldn't think your stock head pipes would make that much of a difference?

Try this link for a start(hope it works), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zhpib1bEuA

This is the link I was referring to earlier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ImxI...eature=related
Good Luck!

J

 

Short shots are one of the reason to get negative effect on Harley riders from the law makers... With or without quiet baffles. They are just too loud.

I ve ridden short shots with quiet baffles, and can say that my previous Rush 2" slipons custom tuned gives much better original harley sound with better performance.

There are limits with loudness of pipes, which is cool and which is ridiculous. Currently I prefer the Gronk modified OEM pipes for sound, decent performance improvement and community wise. I dont want to be the reason of other riders to suffer the ever tightening counter acts of law enforcement on street due the ridiculously loud pipes

 

Baffled Short Shots are still quieter than an open drag pipe, and on my FXD the Short Shots with the standard V&H baffle was still quieter than the Thunderheader I had on the bike previously (though the Thunderheader does have a really nice tone).

I agree with the obnoxiously loud pipes creating more legal enforcement, which is why I bought the Short Shots in the first place. They look good, were reasonably priced, and supposedly had that "quiet" baffle option. For where and when I wanted to ride, the "quiet" baffle by itself was still too loud in my opinion. I added the Smartpartz Hard Kore baffles to the end of my V&H quiet baffles and achieved the tone and sound level I was happy with. Smartpartz claims a 6-12db reduction in sound, and there was a more noticeable reduction in noise output adding the Smartpartz baffles then when I swapped the standard baffles for the quiet baffles. I also did not find much difference in performance. Works for me, what another rider wants to do with their exhaust is their business.

J