ErikB
04-04-2017, 03:24 PM
Just figured I would pay it forward and share my recent experience trying to fit an aftermarket slip-on exhaust to my Vaquero. I bought the Cobra pipes with the billet tips, and they were just too loud for me. There are very few options out there as you guys know, so after about 50 miles I pulled them off and went back to stock. I know the Vance & Hines are no quieter. After 50 more miles I went back to the Cobras, then... back to stock. Still too loud! :lol:
I have Cobra Triovals on my Vic Cross Country, and Bassanis on my Indian, and I generally always run aftermarket exhaust on all my bikes. I've had at least a dozen different pipes on various bikes. The Cobra pipes on this VN1700 however, just weren't acceptable. I want it to sound nice and authoritative, but not overly loud so I can't hear the radio. I am also a long distance guy (3600 mile trip planned this summer), so I can't accept anything that is going to give me a headache after 4 hours, let alone 10 days on the road. I want to hear the bike, but I don't want my ears to bleed.
Exhaustive searches came up with very little, so finally I decided to just try and do an aftermarket baffle on the Cobras. I've done the SmartPartz ones on Cobra pipes in the past, with reasonable results. Upon nearly purchasing a set of $25 generic baffles off ebay, my eye caught these "Quiet Riot" baffles from Rocky Mountain Performance listed there as well. At $169 I had to see how they could possibly think baffles were worth that?!
Turns out they are very well made and contain a spring-activated system that basically opens the baffle up under heavy throttle and leaves it more closed at low throttle. This has the effect of making it loud when you want it to be loud, and quiet when you want it quiet(er) -- such as, when rolling out of the neighborhood at 8am on a Saturday or just leisurely cruising down the road.
They are local guys as well, so I figured what the heck, I was intrigued... I am happy to report, that these things absolutely rock! They made the tone ever so slightly deeper, which is a good thing as the Cobras on these bikes are a little higher pitch and raspy than I think most people want. Sound levels while cruising were brought to a very nice "hum", and the bike still screams fairly well at full throttle. In short, it is loud when I want it loud. I'm 100% impressed with these, and they were well worth the money. They didn't make the pipes "quiet" per se, but I'd guess about a 15% reduction in overall sound, and a better tone. Just enough...
After trying to pull the stock baffles out to install these, with zero luck -- suckers wouldn't budge... I took the easy way out installing them, and bought 1" stainless screws to match the threads, and just drilled a hole right into the side of the Cobra pipes underneath the saddle bag. It took a little finagling to get the hole to line up, but just needed some patience. Each takes only 1 screw. They are mounted about 5.5" inches into the pipes, so you have to get fairly far back from the bike to see them up in there. They look like cylinders on a revolver.
One more side note, I had the unique chance to flip back and forth from stock pipes to the Cobras TWICE on a bike with an Ivanized ECU that is otherwise mechanically stock. The pipes make a surprising performance difference. Much stronger in the mid range especially. The perceived loss of drive-ability and performance with the stock pipes, is what made me not give up and sell the Cobras. With the baffles, the improvement is still there, just less sound, so best of both worlds for me.
Anyway, so there you go... hopefully that helps anyone facing a similar dilemma with the relative lack of aftermarket slip-on options for us. :tup:
I have Cobra Triovals on my Vic Cross Country, and Bassanis on my Indian, and I generally always run aftermarket exhaust on all my bikes. I've had at least a dozen different pipes on various bikes. The Cobra pipes on this VN1700 however, just weren't acceptable. I want it to sound nice and authoritative, but not overly loud so I can't hear the radio. I am also a long distance guy (3600 mile trip planned this summer), so I can't accept anything that is going to give me a headache after 4 hours, let alone 10 days on the road. I want to hear the bike, but I don't want my ears to bleed.
Exhaustive searches came up with very little, so finally I decided to just try and do an aftermarket baffle on the Cobras. I've done the SmartPartz ones on Cobra pipes in the past, with reasonable results. Upon nearly purchasing a set of $25 generic baffles off ebay, my eye caught these "Quiet Riot" baffles from Rocky Mountain Performance listed there as well. At $169 I had to see how they could possibly think baffles were worth that?!
Turns out they are very well made and contain a spring-activated system that basically opens the baffle up under heavy throttle and leaves it more closed at low throttle. This has the effect of making it loud when you want it to be loud, and quiet when you want it quiet(er) -- such as, when rolling out of the neighborhood at 8am on a Saturday or just leisurely cruising down the road.
They are local guys as well, so I figured what the heck, I was intrigued... I am happy to report, that these things absolutely rock! They made the tone ever so slightly deeper, which is a good thing as the Cobras on these bikes are a little higher pitch and raspy than I think most people want. Sound levels while cruising were brought to a very nice "hum", and the bike still screams fairly well at full throttle. In short, it is loud when I want it loud. I'm 100% impressed with these, and they were well worth the money. They didn't make the pipes "quiet" per se, but I'd guess about a 15% reduction in overall sound, and a better tone. Just enough...
After trying to pull the stock baffles out to install these, with zero luck -- suckers wouldn't budge... I took the easy way out installing them, and bought 1" stainless screws to match the threads, and just drilled a hole right into the side of the Cobra pipes underneath the saddle bag. It took a little finagling to get the hole to line up, but just needed some patience. Each takes only 1 screw. They are mounted about 5.5" inches into the pipes, so you have to get fairly far back from the bike to see them up in there. They look like cylinders on a revolver.
One more side note, I had the unique chance to flip back and forth from stock pipes to the Cobras TWICE on a bike with an Ivanized ECU that is otherwise mechanically stock. The pipes make a surprising performance difference. Much stronger in the mid range especially. The perceived loss of drive-ability and performance with the stock pipes, is what made me not give up and sell the Cobras. With the baffles, the improvement is still there, just less sound, so best of both worlds for me.
Anyway, so there you go... hopefully that helps anyone facing a similar dilemma with the relative lack of aftermarket slip-on options for us. :tup: