Quiet Baffle for Big Shots Exhausts 21301

First off, I purchased these, (you need to order two, they are priced ‘per each’), to replace the stock baffles in the set of Straightshot HS Slip-ons (V&H model #16863) that I installed on my 2014, 1200t. Second thing, as the mufflers were already installed I removed them for the install, it was just easier. I have a fairly high mechanical knowledge and figure that on a scale of 1 – 5 (1 = easy, 5 = hard) these were a 3, as was the initial installation of the mufflers. Unlike the mufflers the baffles didn’t come with any instructions. This is a ‘fiddly’ job that takes a bit of patience. The most difficult part of the installation was getting the original baffles out and dealing with the fiberglass. If you are still interested read on. As I said above the first thing I did was remove the Straightshots by reversing the install instructions. Next I removed the retaining screw for the baffles and set them aside for later as the new ones didn’t come with any. I then installed a ¼-20 x ¾” screw in the retaining nut welded to the inside of the baffle. This is done from the inside; be sure to leave clearance between the end of the screw and the inside of muffler. At this point I used a dent puller with a hook to pop out the original baffles. It doesn’t take a lot of effort but they are in pretty tight and knocking them out from the other end seemed ill-advised. When installing the new baffles be sure to line up the retaining nut with the hole in the muffler, it’s a pain if you have to rotate it after it is installed. The new baffles come wrapped in fiberglass and there is a piece of tape holding it on. I left this tape in place until the edge of the fiberglass was under the edge of the muffler. I inserted the new baffles slowly and used a medium width flat bladed screw driver to push the fiberglass in as I was inserting the baffle. This worked well. Once the baffle is in place line up the retaining nut on the baffle with the hole in the muffler and use one of the screws you removed from the old baffles to secure the new ones in place. I put a small amount of blue, 242 LocTite on the threads of the retaining screw and tightened it ‘hand-tight’. After the baffles were in the mufflers I reinstalled them and fired it up. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Instead of ‘in-your-face-loud’ they now have that classic glass-pack quality and sound really good.

Wanting the Big Shot Longs to sound better, I opted to try these baffles and am happy I did. The sound is a lower tone than the standard and just a "little" quieter. I sure am grateful for all the helpful info from all the ones that wrote a review of how to install these baffles, it really gave me a heads up on what to expect. Thank You! So I grabbed the Scotch tape for taping the ends of the fiberglass and headed out to the garage to install the baffles. With the tape by my side on the garage floor I decided to try to put the baffles in without wrapping tape on the end and found out it to be relatively easy to install them without the tape if I just took my time and kept my hand wrapped around the fiberglass close to the pipes as I turned the baffles counterclockwise (with the roll of the fiberglass wrap) and checking often for bunching of the fiberglass as it was entering the pipes, pushing the bunched-up fiberglass in as needed. When getting to the end of the baffle, I pushed the fiberglass in with my fingers and sometimes with a straight screwdriver so to be down as much as possible behind the flare of the baffle end and then pushed it in the rest of the way by always turning it counterclockwise until getting close to lining it up to the mounting hole for the fasting screw then pushed it straight in. And that was it. I'm not a fast mover, (some people just call me dam slow) but I had both baffles installed in about fifteen minutes, not counting the prep time like removing the heat shields and old baffles and such. I elected not to remove the pipes from the bike, but instead took out two bolts that hold the footboard and "loosened" up the bolt that is for the crash bar and then could swing the footboard just enough to get the lower heat shield off. Pay attention when doing this because you will also be moving the rear brake line a little. When putting the bolts back in for the footboard, I put a drop of Permatex Threadlocker Blue on them and all was good to go. Took my Fat Boy Lo to the dealer and had it professionally tuned and it runs awesome!