Stage 1 Kit, yes or no

You're not kidding Sportsterboy, I could finance a late model Hharley in thre years for what it costs to park! Uggghhh..

Thanks, FLN, I'll try that. One thing, 60-75 is getting better and better now, my friend said the baffles are breaking in.

I never herd of baffles "breaking in" who told you that???The baffles only change if you remove them and install a diffent baffle.Don't mean to sound negative but never herd of that before.But the right set up like you have just done, changes all to the good if dialed in properly.Glad it all worked out for you.

Not to change directions,but can some one tell me exactly what the stage 2 consist of on the new FI Streetglides and what kind of $$?

HDtractor, AFN, I'm of the mind that everything matters and can make a difference. Baffles are being blasted at by the exhaust and I imaging they settle in slightly or something to that effect. I could be wrong, but it would be interesting if one of the experienced riders here dropped some science on us.
The difference I've noticed is subtle, but definite. I'm a lifetime professional musician and music teacher and very sensitive to pitch and volume. My pipes really sound great now, totally appropriate to a Sporty. Deep, plenty loud and growly, but not silly loud. The improvement in sound seems to correspond with a slight, but important gain in performance in 5th gear.

Almost forgot, I'd like to know more about what Stage Two does also. Still, I need a windshield and a new jacket first

Let me see if I can shed a little light. At the end of the power stroke the gasses in the cylinder are under very high pressure. When the valve opens two things come out, spent gasses and at a much higher rate of speed, compression waves. Picture if you will the way waves radiate out when you throw a pebble in a pond. On drag pipes the gasses and the waves just blow straight on through into the atmosphere, which is why drag pipes are, as their name implies suitable for drag racing type application, balls out wide open for a short distance. Although there is no denying they make wonderful, beautiful music to the ears!
Now then, on a set of pipes that have baffles, or are step tuned like the Hooker pipes I have on my FatBoy, these compression waves act differently, they go bouncing off the pipe walls headed for the outlet until they meet resistance, then they become expansion waves and actually start back up the pipe and also help draw out the spent gasses traveling with the compression wave, but.... thats not all they do. If the pipe is properly tuned they actually have a scavenging effect and start pulling more gas and air into the cylinder and this is where you get your horsepower boost. Racers refer to this as being "on the pipe". Pipe manufactures like V&H Cycle Shack Rhinehart etc;etc; put an awful lot of time and research into studying the wave dynamics to come up with these tuned exhaust systems and these along with air flow (air cleaner, head porting, valve size etc can give you a significant boost in horse power and for my money is the best bag for the buck because the better breathing motor is also going to run cooler and if anything last longer as opposed to to modifications like high lift cams for example that will make the engine wear out faster. I hope Im not to far off the track here Im no expert but this is the way it was explained to me buy a cat that was into building race bikes. AL

The only way I can imagine a baffle "breaking in" is on a computerized bike. With all the sensors and gizmos, it might build a memory from that. On my carb'd bike, baffles breaking in would be total BS. The only break-in would be me getting used to the new sound. My 2cts........let's RIDE!

As I mentioned Red Rider it could be my simply getting used to the sound, so you could be right, but as I also mentioned, I'm an expert at the subtleties of sound, and something definitely got a little better from when I first got my bike back. Whatever the cause, I'm a happy rider now.

It's possible that the change in gas helped with the sound. It's a long story, but I was told by the previous owner to only use regular gas, he was adamant about it, so I used regular a couple of times. There was evidently a mention of this in the owners manual. I just ordered one, so I can't say for sure until I get it. I triple checked with HD and they all said they'd never heard of such a thing. This recent tank of gas is the first completely high octane drink she's ever had!

I called my dealer's sales and service guys, as well as my mechanic to thank them for doing a great job and walking me through the process of baffling and the Stage 1 upgrade. The baffles are Vance & Hines and they cut them down until it was right.

It's raining for two days now...ugggh...

I only run the 91+ octane ran reg in the older carb bikes, but the book say hi so I put in high, now i have ran a few tanks of reg. but less milage from it, which brings me to this, if 91 improves milage and power a little would it get better yet adding some nos octane boost?

boost

we use boost all the time... matter of what you say,,,or someone,,, i think my bike makes a different sound on reg,,, than hi octane,,,also believe garys 95 inch sounds different when he does not add boost,,,, or one other bike that has been coast to coast with me,,, could be just imagination,,, i use it if station is not too busy,,,and yes do get little better mileage,,, 1 or 2 mpg more,,, that is a lot in 30 days of 400 plus miles a day,,, with the prices now,,, pops jeez i would not want to argue the baffle breakin,,,,

Ultra...nice explanation I have had it explaned many times,but your explanation is easy to understand and makes perfect sense....

Red...I agree with ya big time...lol...I have rode for over 35 years and never herd of breaking in baffles.....only breaking in going on is my ears!!!.I do remember the Fiberglass packings wrapped around the baffles burining away after somany miles allowing the pipes to get louder and pop & crack more years ago,but now days like Ultra explaned there really is no packings wrappred around baffles anymore with the way they design the baffles now.I just thought the stealers may be telling new riders that the baffles have to break in before you know if you like them or not!!

If they don't sound the way you want them when you first hear them fire up,they will not change after time unless you modify the baffle,which would defeat your purpose of performance in most cases.

The baffles sounded good from the start, I just thought I noticed a little improvement the second day. They've been the same since. The dealer didn't make any claims about break in. A friend with more than 30 years serious HD experience simply said the baffles break in. He could be completely wrong, but there's no argument here, just good ridin'. For anyone with drag pipes who want to improve performance and bring the volume down just a touch, I highly recommend trying small baffles, Vance & Hines baffles, cut down, are working well on mine. The Stage 1 kit did do exactly what was promised, so I recommend that too.

I think even brand new Harley owners get something done to the pipes to improve performance because of emission regulations. Am I wrong?

Yes you are right Hellboy new owners do get new pipes or modify what they have got I have v&h propipe on my 2008 softy std and im going to experiment with washers to try and calm down the decel pop . Ihave heard of baffles burning in fibreglass packing settleing in paint burning out may give you a different sound TERRY

Good luck with that Terry. My friend has a new 2007 Dyna and he's getting the V&H slip-ons next month. I'll post about it when it's done.