Are the V-Mod'ed VRSCR mufflers?

Do you lose much low-end?

My wife told me last night that she thinks my bike's too quiet...

but I like the fact that I can redline it and not feel like every cop in the world can hear me.

Maybe a little more volume? 50% or so?

Or should I wait for the S/E offering (hopefully) this summer/fall?

Discuss.

If there is an SE offering I doubt it will be much louder that stock, stock R pipes are already in the volume region of the V-Rod SE offerings ..
From what I have been told H-D are trying to play down the "loud" factor..

REALLY?!?!?!?!

Well then - I'd REALLY like to know where the V-Mod's stand on the dB scale. I know that a water-cooled engine is going to be quieter than the others, but I'd like to be legal still - just louder...

And what about this solution - will it work with VRSCR ?

See this one (http://www.v-rodforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4923&highlight=holes+loud)

I suppose drilling out the pipes would be a way to go - but what if I screw something up? At least if there were S/E pipes on the market - there would be stock mufflers available to replace - otherwise, I'll have to pay full-price for them...

My dream would be a Huge Supertrapp exhaust system - something ridiculously big - like the Yamaha Road Star Warrior. Obscene. Then I could add/remove disks to get where I want to be sound-wise.

Loud, but not abnoxious, very nice, bassy, and throaty.

Can you compare it for me to a Big Twin or Sportster (either with Stock/SE/Drag) at a given RPM?

Or what about a Buell with a Race Kit?

I don't really have a way to compare this before I take the plunge...

Thanks

... but I'd like to be legal still - just louder...
This is a problem, SE pipes are specifically marked "NOT FOR ROAD USE" I don't know what the laws are in the US but in the UK that makes them illegal no matter how loud or quiet they are..

If fact in the UK its even worse its not based of the loudness, an exhaust has to be stamped with an aproval stamp otherwise its automatically illegal which means that custom exhausts are ALL illegal.. :hmm:

Yeah - my Sportster had S/E with that stamping on them too. WIth the new emissions requirements in 2006 here - all aftermarket's are illegal too.

However - the S/E's were still under the 93 db noise limitation (albeit - REALLY close). Local patrols really don't bother anyone unless you're REALLY obnoxious (open drags).

Just want to know how loud I'd be without the inner baffles.

MoCo is spreading message of "silent gray fellows" to dealers. They have concern of the illegal noise of Harleys out there. As you've seen already the new P&A catalog no longer include the S/E pipes. S/E's are still listed in pro-race catalog for race use ONLY. I won't be surprised if there don't come any pipes for new models OR those may be self-adjusting models like for the new touring bikes.

Yea, thats pretty much what I heard... Probably why the R comes with louder pipes as stock than the A or B come with stock..
I am all for the loud pipes on bikes but some guys just take it too far and it them who have brought on this crack down on ALL bikes with "not quiet" pipes.. I mean I have seen Harley's going around with pipes that are probably not more than about 12" long and extremely loud..

The issue of noise is getting bigger all the time. The stamping on stock pipes may one day soon be the difference between legal and illegal for street use.

Our HOG chapter had someone from the AMA come to a meeting and talk about the noise issue as they have seen it around the country and it is coming closer all the time.

There is one other consideration. The stock pipes on the R were supposed to be a large part of the increase in both horsepower and torque. Is there more to be gained in modifications to those pipes or replacing them with aftermarket? And how much more can you use on the street legally?

I would say there is probably very little to be gained from modding the stock pipes, while you may be able to pick up a couple of hp you will probably loose some torque make the bike less fun to ride IMO..

The top gains on a V-Rod from an exhaust from what I have read is about 8-10 hp so with the StreetRod you are already most of the way there.. Only reasons really I can think of to change the pipes are a) the noise factor or cosmetics.. Changing it for performance will hardly be worth the money unless you are competeing..

I pulled the baffles out completely.
Bike performs exactly the same as before.
Very Loud, deep throaty roar.

this is one point of contention I have with the AMA. I perfer load pipes, as do many of my bretheren. I will not sacrifice power for noise, but every Hi-Pro pipe I have ever heard has been louder than stock. That goes for higher flowing sport bike pipes also. My D&D 2-into-1 FatCat system that I had on my B was fairly mellow at idle, but WOT wasa a whole different story. It's funny when you're told that your bike is LOUD by the other HOG members you ride with...................lol

If you think the Street Rod has plenty of power and like the stock pipes, keep them. If you are into increasing performance, wait. I am in contact with 3 manufcturers for new pipes that will have product within the next 1 to 3 months.

Sounds good TX_VRod.. will wait and see what they come up with..
I am not really looking for louder since I am quite happy with the stock sound but better performance is never a problem and something lighter would be nice too..

I pulled the baffles out completely.
Bike performs exactly the same as before.
Very Loud, deep throaty roar.


Rusty, How did you "pull" the baffles?

This a pic pf what I did to help my Street Rod Big Bore breath. Five 1/2" holes in the end caps. Sounds much better, but more importantly is the fact that before I did this, the bike was running about 20 degs. hot. The temp dropped 20 degrees after I did this.

REALLY?!?!?!?!

Well then - I'd REALLY like to know where the V-Mod's stand on the dB scale. I know that a water-cooled engine is going to be quieter than the others, but I'd like to be legal still - just louder...
Water cooling has an influence on mechanical noise, not exhaust noise.

This a pic pf what I did to help my Street Rod Big Bore breath. Five 1/2" holes in the end caps. Sounds much better, but more importantly is the fact that before I did this, the bike was running about 20 degs. hot. The temp dropped 20 degrees after I did this.

Thanks for instructions TX_VRod. Yesterday evening I finally decided to drill it and even I made five 5/16" only, it sounds great or even much better than original and it seems me that she goes better in low rpm than before, I don't know whether it's really possible but I feel more comfortable in low rotations. I didn't recognize any difference in performance, anyway she performs much better than I am able to utilize, so what. Good idea - big value for no costs !

Did you guys take off the mufflers before drilling? Or did you just take them off?

Any suggestions as to how to do it? I know this seems a stupid question, but I'd really like to do this to get a little more sound and run a little cooler - I'm thinking:

5 x 1/4" holes - see how the sound is - if it's not too loud - then increase a little at a time -

I've got to get this bike running cooler!!!

i drilled the holes on my A model and pulled out the fibre glass packing. i dont know if the R has glass packing.
an idea i like better than drilling the holes was discussed a while back. saw the end out of the muffler with a hole saw and take out the baffle like a v-mod deal. then drill the holes in the baffle larger. then reinstall the baffle and weld it back. a better sounding pipe and a happy warranty. if anyone does it, kindly post photos.

OK - here's my thought: check out this link:

http://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?pagenum=3070

Drill the holes - 5 of them in each muffler. Pop these puppies into the holes. Now I can plug these with bolts when I need to - I can safety wire the bolts to eachother to keep them from backing out (or lock-tite red them... ugh.... maybe not).

In effect, I'm able to tune some back pressure & sound for less than $25.

How am I going to get screwed on this?

Dave:

I don't think the pictures are still up - but you might e-mail the guy from here:

http://xlforum.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1775&highlight=turbota+baffle

That's what he did.

OK - here's my thought: check out this link:

http://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?pagenum=3070

Drill the holes - 5 of them in each muffler. Pop these puppies into the holes. Now I can plug these with bolts when I need to - I can safety wire the bolts to eachother to keep them from backing out (or lock-tite red them... ugh.... maybe not).

In effect, I'm able to tune some back pressure & sound for less than $25.

How am I going to get screwed on this?

Speedy, I was thinking the same thing! However, I am an idiot so I was afraid to post the question... I think my dealer would still raise warranty concerns though... Let's see what some of the experts say about this.

Did you guys take off the mufflers before drilling? Or did you just take them off?

Any suggestions as to how to do it? I know this seems a stupid question, but I'd really like to do this to get a little more sound and run a little cooler - I'm thinking:

5 x 1/4" holes - see how the sound is - if it's not too loud - then increase a little at a time -

I've got to get this bike running cooler!!!

I didn't take anything off - simply drilled five holes, first of all small ones (say 5 mm, 1/5") it was little bit louder but not so deep sound I expected, so than I increased holes to 5/16" and it's OK for me. Concerning river nuts (your next message), I simply planned to use some self-tapping screws but your idea is probably better.

Speedy, I was thinking the same thing! However, I am an idiot so I was afraid to post the question... I think my dealer would still raise warranty concerns though... Let's see what some of the experts say about this.

Hmmm - well, I'm not sure about long-term. But in my few months of experience with this bike - I've noticed that the dealerships have NO CLUE about the VRSCR's. A lot of the service guys don't even know it exists. I think if I showed up with 10 bolts in my exhaust pipes, and it looked good enough, they'd just think that's how the bike is delivered, especially if it's not louder than stock. If Scott and Jefff have done the hole mod to their mufflers and it seems to run fine, there shouldn't be any reason why the rivet mod wouldn't reverse it within 95% with all the bolts in.

Besides, I think it would look pretty trick.