Harley Davidson Forums

Harley Davidson Dyna Glide: How to Remove Stock Exhaust Baffles

One way to dramatically increase the sound of your pipes without replacing them is to knock out the baffles.

By Jeffrey Smith - March 14, 2016

This article applies to the Harley Davidson Dyna Glide (2000-2016).

Many of us are out there riding on new or new to us bikes with stock pipes wishing we had a little more sound. What we sometimes don't expect is the sticker shock we get when pricing new pipes. There are some seriously expensive pipes, and unless you know someone who owns them, you just can't ever really tell how they sound. Sound clips and videos on the Internet just do not do them justice. For those of us who are on a tight budget, but can't stand the quiet, there is a solution. On stock pipes, the baffles at the end of the pipe can be removed or drilled out. There are some things to consider before ripping apart your pipes, though. You will lose some mid to low range torque, and you may run afoul of EPA and local noise ordinances to contend with. But if you are determined to have the kind of bike that wakes the neighbors, read on.

Harley Davidson Dyna Glide: How to Remove Stock Exhaust Baffles

Materials Needed

  • Drill
  • Hammer

There are two options for low cost loud pipes and both will be covered here.

Step 1 – Drill holes in your baffles

If you don't want to completely remove your baffles, you can still get more sound by taking a long drill bit to the baffles themselves. The more holes you drill, the louder the sound. This is an option if you want to take baby steps rather than the all or nothing approach that comes with removing the baffles entirely. You do need an extra long drill bit, though, because the obstruction you want to put a hole in is several inches inside the pipe. Or, you could remove the baffle, as described below, and drill it from the other end.

Typical Harley Dyna muffler.
Figure 1. Typical Harley Dyna muffler.

Step 2 – Drill out three rivets and pull the baffles

There are three rivets at the end of your pipe that hold the baffles in place. Drill out these rivets and pull out the baffles. You can keep them like that and have an insanely loud pipe, or you can cut the smooth end off, or drill holes in it. You do want some sort of obstruction in your pipe to help maintain some back pressure as well as keep the sound not so insanely loud. There are inexpensive aftermarket baffle that can be slipped in place of the quiet factory ones. Keep in mind when completely removing the baffles, you may have to talk to the local police when they hear you ride by, and your performance will suffer unless you have a tuner.

These 3 rivets hold the baffle in the muffler
Figure 2. These three rivets hold the baffle in the muffler.

Step 3 – Take her out for a test ride

As if you need an excuse to ride, but if you do need one, here it is. Fire that baby up and listen to the notes. If you drilled some holes and it's not quite loud enough, you can drill a few more. If you have removed them and it is just too loud, you can reinstall the baffles, or aftermarket ones. Just use bolts or pop rivets where you previously cut out the rivets. Enjoy your new sound.

Related Discussions

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.