new exhaust

[Tarheelrider]

I'm am replacing the exhaust on my Wide Glide. I have narrowed the search down to the V&H Short Shot Staggered and the V&H Big Shot Staggered. I am looking for owner experiences and opinions on the two systems.

Would also like any recommendations on other companies that have similar products to the V&H systems.

This is a relatively large purchase for me and I want to get it right the first time.

Thanks.

 

[HDDon]

I have a friend that put a set of short shots on his softail. They are loud. He changed them out for a set of Bubs staggered.

 

[ckhismine]

Bubs are awesome pipes. I have a set on my Dyna

 

[TripleJ]

As HDDon mentioned, the Short Shots will be loud and if you are planning on riding 2 up it might be a consideration for your passenger especially on longer rides.

If so, I would suggest the Big Shots or look at the Bubs or possibly the Rinehart options also. I had a set of Rinehart Crossbacks and loved the quality and sound but changed them out for the V&H True Duals (better fit for the Heritage IMO).

 

[Nevada Dave]

I just put a set of Short-Shots Staggered on my 2010 FXDWG and not only do they sound absolutely awesome, I also picked up a noticeable amount of low-end torque. Off the line is much more aggressive. I changed nothing else - stock air cleaner and ECM.

If you do the install yourself you can omit one of the most tedious steps - removing the O2 sensors COMPLETELY from the bike. They tell you to remove the sensors and the wires because they don't want you unscrewing the sensors and having the wires all twisted. On my bike there was plenty of wire so it didn't even come close to the breaking point. When I screwed them back in, I gave each one several turns in the opposite direction first, so that the wires would be slack once they were tight in the bungs.

The entire install took about 2 hours. The bracket that comes with the pipes is very well engineered. It fit perfectly, and the pipes lined up without a problem. I did not need new exhaust gaskets as there are only 700 miles on the bike as of the time I did the install.

I would highly recommend these pipes if you want a nice, loud growl to that Wide Glide. The extra low-end is a nice bonus.

As usual, your mileage may vary. Some people hate the sound. Personally, I love it - it reminds me of my old Shovelhead chopper.

 

[Ishmael]

My 2000 Fatboy came to me lowered and with a set of V/H Longshots. They were prone to dragging when encountering a deep dip in the road so I bought a ceramic coated set of V/H staggered shortshots. They went on easy, fit nicely and look good in my opinion. I mostly ride solo so I can't say just how loud they are. I know I like to listen to them from the drivers seat. I try to be respectful and only twist the throttle hard when I'm in more isolated areas, fortunately not too difficult to find where I live. The baffles are in place but I think I'll do as some have suggested and wrap some sheet fiberglass around them to make "quiet" baffles. I only do this to see if it changes the tone just for a change of pace. Good luck in your quest.
Ishmael
PS The roads in NC aren't really that bad. The dips I encountered a few times were side streets in the city coming into another street at right angle and having to go over the gutter dip.

 

[ngjandm]

The baffles are in place but I think I'll do as some have suggested and wrap some sheet fiberglass around them to make "quiet" baffles. I only do this to see if it changes the tone just for a change of pace.

I'm not sure what the baffles look like on the short shot, but when I put quiet baffles on my big shot staggered, the stock baffles in the pipes did not look like wrapping would make a difference, since they were basically just a hollowed out pipe/baffle, where as the quiet baffles actually had a piece of metal blocking direct exit of exhaust, so it had to go around it, and was further muffled by the fiberglass. I couldn't see if I wrapped the stock baffles with fiberglass that it would do much.

Anyway, I do have the BSS with quiet baffles and they are still quite loud. I really wonder how loud they would have been, I'll have to find someone with them and hear the difference.

 

[Ishmael]

I wondered about that myself since the stock baffles are nothing more than a smaller, louvered pipe which fits inside the exhaust pipe. Near as I can tell the quiet baffles from V/H cost $40 each and I can't find a photo of them. Hate to waste that much not knowing whether or not I'll like the end result(sound).
Ishmael

 

[ngjandm]

I bought mine at Phat Performance Parts, I found their customer service to be impeccable, compared with some other online vendors I have dealt with. They answer queries pretty much asap. Here is the link, I paid $27 each.

Vance & Hines Quiet Baffle for Big Shots Staggered / Straightshots HS / Fishtail Slipons / Big Shot Duals *(Each) - 21869

as far as sound....for me they are still very loud......I did not want super loud, so for me they work compared with the stock pipes.

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TarheelRider: from what I heard the short-shots ,since they are shorter, will definitely make a passenger over time "Deaf". Also I thought I read somewhere that the short-shot does not have a quiet baffle available.

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[Ishmael]

Quiet baffles for the shortshots, according to the V/H website, are $36.95 each. I couldn't find a photo of them though.
Ishmael