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Vance and hines slip ons too loud

12K views 23 replies 11 participants last post by  psyclone 
#1 ·
Hello, just bought a 2012 nomad yesterday, and it has the vance and hines twin slash round slip on mufflers. They sound great at highway speed/lower rpm, but at lower speeds and higher rpm(before shifting) they are too loud. I know it has some sort of baffle in it, but is there some other type of baffle I can put in it to quiet it down some? Thanks.
 
#3 ·
the V&H slash cuts I put on my 14 vaquero were loud as well, so I thought I would remove the baffles and wrap them

bought muffler packing material, and got the baffles out (after a bit of work), and found out that the baffles are already wrapped.....

so.... put them back in.

any other thoughts?
 
#6 ·
This may sound crazy but I want mine louder at low speed. ��. I’d rather they sound like my old Ironhorse or my sons HD but really only get that at high rpm like accelerating onto freeway, passing, etc. I do a lot of “in town” riding and need the db’s to ward off lane jumpers. Any thread with a how to video on removing the baffles and making them louder? I’ve been Ivanized so wondering what this would do to the flash they did on my ECU?
 
#9 ·
I have the 4" slash-cut Classic II's on my 2008 Nomad and am preparing to re-pack them (I hope). I have purchased the large V&H fiberglass packing kits online from Cycle Gear, and invested in a slide hammer to reach inside and bump out the baffles. There are no V&h tools available.

I just talked to V&H a minute ago. There has never been a Quiet Baffle for the 4" OD slash cut system. "Spray the end cap with WD40 to dissolve/loosen some of the carbon, wait a few minutes, then tap and pull it out" they say.
 
#11 ·
Loud pipes and re-packing

I pulled the V&H baffles from my recently acquired 2008 Nomad (with only 28,000 miles) to re-pack them a quieter ride. Needed a slide hammer to remove the baffles. There was nothing wrong with the packing, so I put it all back. Supposedly, there is no FuelPak adjustment that will affect the noise.
Anybody want to buy some official V&H packing kits, along with some extra fiberglass packing? Invested $3.00 in a pack of ear plugs instead.
 
#12 ·
There was a trick on the Gadget page about toning down the V&H baggers on the 1500 and 1600 Nomads with a cut washer welded into the baffles. I pulled the baffles to do the same, but the baffle is significantly different on the slip ons for the 1700's. I have an idea I'm going to with bigger washers, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Our last 1000 mile trip a few weeks ago cemented in our minds though that they NEED to be toned down.
 
#16 ·
Slide Hammer

Anyone have a tutorial or video instructions for removing slash cut V & H baffles?? There have been a couple of posts on this thread referencing using a slide hammer but I can't find anything on YouTube other than straight shot which is SUPER easy apparently. :) Thanks
 
#17 ·
I pulled the baffles out on my 1600 Nomad after buying a slide hammer and hook attachment on Amazon (didn't need one quite as big as I got - Harbor Freight next time). I thought they needed repacking, but there's such a small baffle that it wouldn't have mattered. They didn't need re-packing anyway. The baffles aren't that hard to pull out, just tricky to hook in back so you can do it, but the slide-hammer helps - a lot.

I'm replacing the loud V&H Classic II slip-ons with stock H-D take-offs that I found on ebay for $20 (see Vulcan Gadgets Fixit Page For Kawasaki Nomad & Classic Modification Maintenance & Repair) to reduce the noise - which means that I also have to re-set the FuelPak - or in your case re-Ivanize the CPU.
 
#18 ·
Other than the original Kawasaki exhaust slip-ons, if you want quiet - then the stock HD slip-ons will sound good...if they will fit. They weigh more than Vance & Hines, but give a great sound, for those who like quiet power. I had V&H on a couple of my Vulcans, but had to find a stock exhaust system (take-offs) for my wife's 1600 Classic. It had Big Shot, Long Shots on it when we got it - sounded like it was idling in a barrel! The stock exhaust was much better sounding, but I had to go back to stock mapping on it ( took off the Fuel Pack).
I always used (or converted back to) stock on my HDs. Most Harley folks thought I was weird, but I love the look and sound of all of the stock HD mufflers. If they will fit, I think you'll like your HD take-offs...Just a thought.
 
#23 ·
I bought the screw-on extension along with the slide hammer, to ensure that I could reach the back of the baffle. The hook isn't very big, barely enough to grab an edge, and screws onto the end or the extension. but it worked. Imagine my surprise to see such a short baffle in a 4" pipe. No wonder it's so loud. Too bad they never made a "quiet baffle" for the Classic II's. I'm having the H-D take-off put on my Nomad to replace the V&H next week. I will remove the FuelPak too.
 
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