exhaust on 01 Harley Road King?
i have a 01 road king. it has the factory dual exhaust. i am trying get the bike to sound louder. it has aftermarket mufflers now that are louder than stock but do not give the sound i would like. it seems that the bikes that do not have the dual exhaust are louder and actually sound better. of course the exact type of mufflers make a big difference, but i am refering to aftermarket stuff not stock. so is there any recommendations on a muffler type that would really boost my sound. also what if i was to change my pipes to both exit on the right side instead of duals. would that help or is it just my imagination that those systems are louder.
First off, anyone in their right mind would focus on performance first.
Throatier or louder is often a by-product of high performance exhaust, but when a bike is really loud it usually means the pipes have no baffles at all.
While some consider a deafeningly loud exhaust "cool" the loss of back pressure that comes with running "uncorked" robs power at the most important parts of the range , low and mid.
No one but you knows the sound you are after,but I recommend Vance and Hines or Hooker Headers for performance.
Neither true duals or a 2 into 1 are inherently louder than the other.
If sound is the issue most important to you, I’d suggest keeping an ear open for the sound you like and asking what type of exhaust it comes from.
When changing an exhaust ,it’s wise to change out the air intake and adjust fuel/air ratio to make the most of your new exhaust.
One thing that you can do is take a long piece of rebar and shove it up in your pipes to break some of the baffles loose. This will definitely get you more sound. Loud pipes save lives!
Try a set of Thrush mufflers, made by the same guy that made the old SE II mufflers.
Check out Vance and Hins they sound great and will do both sides or on one side.
I have a former friend that purchased a brand new HD Fat Boy
That bike sounded so nice and smooth with the stock exhaust
then he ruined it by running drag pipes on it
now its sounds like crap, it misses, surges, backfires!
I hate loud pipes cause I want to hear the sound of my engine!
I want to hear the sound of the engine in case anything sounds wrong
X wife says, don’t you ever answer your cell phone while riding that Harley? I said it’s a little difficult to hear it ring while running strait pipes. now I have a constant ring in inner ears. The wild life around here are deaf too. you can change the sound with pipes or cams or both, but it takes a lawyer to change a wife. silence is golden in both cases
All Harley Davidson Road Kings come with an exhaust that appears to be dual but in fact is NOT
Check into Vince and Hines True Duel system (better than Rinehart) I use this with Sampson Rolled Ovals and get a very sweet sound that only gets obnoxious when I’m really into the throttle. All of these parts can be bought rather reasonably through J P Cycles call their 800 # for free catalog
What ever you do, do not buy Screamin Eagle pipes. Screramin Eagle works well with everything else but the pipes sound terrible. I suggest either Rhienharts or better Vance and Hinse. I have the shorties on my 1200 and they wake up the whole neighborhood.