[sidejam]

I'm hoping that someone else on here has some experience with drag pipes. If there weren't so few choices, I probably would have chosen a 2-1 exhaust. But, since that's not the option, I chose this one.

With the baffles in, it was more quiet that my stock exhaust with its baffles cut out with a hole saw. I was sadly disappointed with this sound. It was way too quiet.

With the baffles completely out, it sounded great at idle! A bit loud, but had a nice deep rumble. However, riding it, there was a noticeable loss of mid-range torque and it was much too loud.

I cut the baffles leaving only a few inches after the bolt and it seems better. Not as loud, and it feels like there's more power up top without a massive loss in the bottom end. It sounds ok. Not raspy or tinny, but not as deep as the baffles completely removed.

Has anyone come up with a trick to get the sound a bit deeper? I'm considering doing the "lolipop" trick or Big City Monster baffles. Has anyone experimented with mounting baffles further up the pipe? I'm considering that, but would prefer not to drill my pipes just to try something. Worse case, I may just try a few other options knowing that the way it is now, isn't all that bad.

Here's a pic with the Cobra pipes installed:

For the record, I've already made a few other changes since that pic was taken.

 

[gypsy]

Check out what's called a "lollipop." It can be a large washer welded to a threaded bolt or stud, or a large thumb screw placed near the exhaust outlet. They are adjusted by turning them to restrict or allow full exhaust passage. When restricted the will muffle the sound a bit and opened they will be louder. They also have the benefit of adding adjustable back pressure for peak top end performance. Cheers.

 

[Gnarly]

What gypsy said.
Worth a try.
My first bike, a Honda 305 Scrambler, had the 'lollipops' from the factory.

 

[sidejam]

Thanks guys. I may try the lollipop method then. Still looking at a couple of other ideas as well. Hopefully, if I mess around with it enough, I can get the sound I'm after.

Since I have the exhaust, K&N and jet kit, I may also look at a Dyna 3000 timing ECU to see if that helps squeeze out a bit more power. As annoying as it is, one of the guys I ride with has an HD Dyna with a high compression 103 motor. That thing hauls and I hate getting left behind. Thankfully, another guy has a near stock 883, so at least he's always behind me.

 

[sidejam]

Well... Not the 'lollipop' method. But, I'll need to take this for a ride and see if it's a good idea or a bad idea. I'm sure someone with a mechanical engineering background could talk about tuneable baffles. I want to explain something about fluid dynamics, Bernoulli's principle or boundary layer... But I can't remember the formulas. Has something to do with pressure drop? Either way, it's an increase in surface area for air to pass by and I can vary the number, distance and even the sizes of the washers.

Here's where I'm at:

Update:
Took it for a ride last night and it seemed to work reasonably well. Didn't notice the midrange loss from having no baffles, and I was pretty close to having the sound I want. Probably play around with it just a bit more. Debating about trying to balance between front and back pipe as well.

 

[Harryc]

If you decide to try the Dyna 3000 timing ECU module please post about it here. I have been itching to try one but they are a bit pricy.

 

[sidejam]

If you decide to try the Dyna 3000 timing ECU module please post about it here. I have been itching to try one but they are a bit pricy.

I'm in the exact same boat. But, with everything else that's done on my bike, it's the only affordable piece missing. I'm not expecting it to make a huge difference, but I'm hoping a bit of ignition timing can boost the midrange torque a bit.

And if I get it, I'll be sure to do a review on it here.

 

[jjizhere]

I drilled a dozen 3/8" holes in my muffler all around my baffles on my bike. I got a much louder sound but I'm wondering if I need some tuning myself. Seems to have lost some low end torque? or is this my imagination? I only had the bike about a week before I drilled the holes in the muffler so I can't really tell if I've lost torque or not but she seems sluggish now.

 

[balloonot]

Definitley baffle. Especially on drags. You will/could , in time develop reversion. Which simply put means you will eventually burn out the exhaust valves. Reversion is easy to check for, I could tell you how or you could just take our advise and run either torq cones or baffles....lol

I made my own lolliepop baffles but I didn't do the normal bolt and washer method. But it works just the same and is easily removed if needs be.