V&H BAFFLE REMOVAL???

[dogdoc]

hope somebody answers your question colorado. I thought I read earlier in this thread that you need about 11 1/2 inches of flashing, you said 8 inches so not sure.

[VulcanE]

I sent colorado a PM. It appears that his baffles may have been modified since they are only 8" long. Going from baffles with no packing to wrapping them with flashing will quieten it down some, but may give back some low end torque since you are creating a little more back pressure.

[redeye]

Originally Posted by Redeye

Question, Has anybody tried both the fiberglass wrap & then flashing over the fiberglass. I'd like to lower the exhaust TONE w/o going louder. My baggers has a sharp, raspy bark to them & are plenty loud now....-Rich

I had 4 turns of fiberglass wrap over my baffles. I first removed all of the fiberglass & replaced it w/ two wraps of flashing & hose clamps. This gave the bike a VERY TINNY, raspy sound. Not pleasant at all.

I then put back about 1/2 of the fiberglass & added the flashing to cover the fiberglass. This took most of the tinny noise out & not nearly as raspy.

What I'm trying to do is create a lower exhaust tone & recover some low end torque. Off to work now, so I'll report tomorrow on the results......-Rich

[redeye]

Originally Posted by Redeye

I had 4 turns of fiberglass wrap over my baffles. I first removed all of the fiberglass & replaced it w/ two wraps of flashing & hose clamps. This gave the bike a VERY TINNY, raspy sound. Not pleasant at all.

I then put back about 1/2 of the fiberglass & added the flashing to cover the fiberglass. This took most of the tinny noise out & not nearly as raspy.

What I'm trying to do is create a lower exhaust tone & recover some low end torque. Off to work now, so I'll report tomorrow on the results......-Rich

SUCCESS....I rode the bike to work last night, 57 miles round trip. First impression, at idle is not much louder than the stock baggers. Starting from a stop & the volume from exhaust is a little louder. Opening the throttle & these mufflers really bark. Let off the throttle & the loud pipes go away. On the freeway at 70 mph, the exhaust is about 25% louder than stock. I also noticed a lower exhaust note, not nearly as a raspy sound either. Not a Harley by any means, just not as a sharp note coming from the bike.

But, what really surprised me was the increase of the low end torque. Going by the by the seat of my pants feeling, the bike really pulls now away from a stop. Before I had to really slip the clutch to get the bike rolling, now not nearly as much.

On the freeway rolling on the throttle from 55 to 70 there is a noticeable sharpness in the throttle response. The bike really jumps ahead & pushes you down into the seat as it accelerates.

I think I will keep the mufflers this way until my annual winter tear down for maintenance, then I may put the rest of the packing back in to try & lower the loudness of the pipes.

The bottom line is, adding the flashing to the outside of the packing REALLY increases the overall performance of the bike. I am one happy camper........-Rich

[coloradontexas]

I wish i had the ability to provide pictures because from what ive read there has been some serious modification done to my baffles. However, i resized my flashing and it did change the sound a bit. Sounds kinda hollow/echo sounding, and i like it. Did provide some more torque. Sorry taken so long to reply, work has been crazy. Thanks for everyones input.

[redeye]

Colorado,
Your baffles should be 12" long overall w/ the center 6" open to allow the sound be absorbed by the fiberglass. It sounds like the PO cut the center section out of your baffles & re welded the ends together.

I have noticed in addition to my prior post, my MPG has gone up from 40 to 44mpg on the past three tanks of gas. I think this may be due the recovered low end torque thus not needing to ride the clutch as much & the increased throttle response at freeway speeds....-Rich

[nomad]

i have to say...that is a sharp looking bike.

[spirello]

Anybody here ever ride there nad with V&H with the baffels out. I did AFTER I tryed the mod putting the half cut washers in the baffles. did this at work so at lunch I rode my scoot to the bike shop to buy some more packing. let me tell ya sounds cool as hell at a idle but get on the gas and you better have some ear plugs in. The bike shop is only three miles from my work and i got stopped by the cops. aparantly it was a little to loud. No ticket lucky me. Anyways long story short I rode it with the washer in for about 1 day and took them out it made the bike vibrate way to much and it took alot away from the top end.

[VulcanE]

I took my baffles out once, just to see what it was like. As you say, it sounds really good idling, but it is loud as hell as you wind the gears. I noticed that it lost almost all it's torque too. I couldn't wait to get home and put the baffles back in.

[dogdoc]

+1, I just pulled both my V&H baffles out, just to see if that were stuck after 3 yrs, Both slid right out. Sounds awesome at idle BUT when you give it some gas, forget it, wayyyyyyyy too loud for humans, or dogs, etc. least I know i can get them out to repack or do whatever method I chose once they burn out. there was lots of fiberglass still present.