[SmokeyFatboy]

I'm trying to remove the baffles from my big shot shorts. Is there any way to remove the baffle from the rear pipe without removing the entire pipe? The screw which holds the baffle is behind the heat shield and I cannot remove the heat shield without removing the pipe. There is not enough clearance. I picked up some new exhaust port gaskets and was planning on removing the pipe and drilling an access hole through the heat shield to make future removal easier unless someone has a better idea.
Suggestions will be appreciated.
TIA

[ffflhtcui]

I'm curious to know why you are wanting to remove the baffles. Unless you are running a really hot engine built for racing, won't you lose considerable performance by removing the baffles?

Thanks!

[hotroadking]

A) Leave the baffles in they are what keep the low end power in the motor, without them the low end will be a dog.

b) If you are taking them out to see how loud it is going to be, fine but see item a)

c) It will be loud, obnoxious and everyone you ride with will hate to ride next to you or behind you.

Other than that, if the screws hidden then no you'll have to take it apart.

[SmokeyFatboy]

The reason I was taking out the baffles was to measure them for some replacement baffles.
No, I do not plan on leaving them completely out, only replacing them, but Yes I was curious to see what these pipes sounded like without baffles.
I'm not trying to make the pipes louder. I think they are loud enough already, but I do want to make them deeper sounding.
Since it sounds like I am going to have to remove the entire pipe, I will just drill the access holes to make future removal easier unless someone has a better idea.
I just don't understand why they made the pipes this way. Don't they usually make the baffle screws accessable? A friend of mine has the same pipes exept mine are the softail version and his are the dyna version. They made a slot in the rear of his heat shield to access the screw, but mine are solid.
Thanks

[SmokeyFatboy]

Here is an update in case anyone else has this problem. I removed the rear pipe and heat shield as well as the front heat shield. I drilled the holes on the back side of the heat shields app. 1/2" to access the baffle screws. It is somewhat of a b*tch to get the baffle lined up to get the screw back in, especially if the baffle is tight fitting like one of mine are, but at least now I don't have to remove the entire pipe to change baffles.
I did remove the baffles completely just to see what it sounded like. After 10 minutes of that I ended up putting the stock baffles back in (thunder monster baffles are still on order). The pipes made a very loud and very obnoxious raspy sound every time I backed of the throttle even a little. It was much louder than the sound of the pipes when on the throttle and very annoying. Hopefully the new baffles will not cause this.
The loss of power was also significantly greater than I expected, but you have to experiment sometimes.
Thanks for the replies to this post.
Later,
SFB