stock exhaust

I have a 2004 fxd super glide with a carb. After looking into the mufflers I see one plate that stands between the bike running straight through exhaust. I don't want to do alot of fooling around with the carb if I don't have to. If I drill this plate out will it effect the running of the bike? Will it be to loud? Has anybody tried such a thing?

I did this to my 04 fatboy while I was trying to decide on some pipes. It will sound louder, not too loud, but IMHO it is too high pitched and tinny sounding.
Rejetting the carb is also recommended by most if your gonna do this.

loud pipes save lives

i did this to my 84 sporty....it sounds awesome...you will definately have to rejet the carb...this would be a good time to update your aircleaner too...that way you only have to rejet once! i took a 1/2 inch bar,sharpened it to a point,got out the "B.F.H." and knocked every trace of baffle out of the pipe...i think the sound is awesome!!

plate is gone!

Hi everyone,
I just took the plate out of my muffler this last weekend. It did turn out to be quite a bit louder than we expected. But it is a much improvement over the stock ( super quiet ) mufflers. Tonight ( Wednesday ) I drop it off to the bike shop (we call it the chopper shop ) to have the carb rejetted tomorrow. It should be done tomorrow night and I can't wait to see how it runs. After taking out the plates, the coughing, hiccupping, and backfiring through the carb stopped!!! I rode it over 100 miles checking the plugs every 50. They started to turn white. So my appointment is made. I made the mechanic promise that the coughing, hiccupping, and backfiring wouldn't come back. He said that it should be gone forever after this kit is put in. There is a ray of hope that this bike might finally be what we expected it to be afterall.
Again, thanks for the comebacks. All has been appreciated!
Larry

I did the same thing to my 01 FXDL. Too quiet, so I knocked out the center plug in the muffler. Sounded better, but was burping through the carb. I believe that happens if the engine is running lean. Jetting the carb should take care of the problem because you'll have a mixture screw to adjust at the bottom of your carb once you get it back. Mine runs strong through low and higher rpm's .... kinda flat in the middle. I'm lucky to get 135 miles out of a tank of gas. Good luck.

totally different bike!!!!

Hi everyone,
I got my bike back from the shop. If I didn't know better I'd say that they gave me a different bike! The starting is pull the enrichener on, hit the switch, and after a minute or two shut it off. It idles, runs fantastic, and has no apparent problems at all. I rode it for two days to see if it was just my imagination that it ran so good. Saturday, I rode it for two hundred miles. It truely is like owning a whole different bike. That's all I can say at this time. Even when I left it set for a couple of hours, it started right up without the enrichener and ran fine. Anyone out there that has had the coughing, hicupping, and backfiring through the carb should let a qualified shop rejet it. I am overwhelmed at the way it runs now. It now is the bike that I expected it to be. Thank you all for your input.
larry

Tinsin,
Hi, I can't believe that you are getting such bad gas milage. I just finished off the second tank on my bike. I rode 183 miles before hitting reserve. Some of that was on the thru-way too! You should have the jetting checked again. Before I did the mufflers and jetting, I usually ran 197 miles before going on reserve. The wind, high speed, and temperature can all be factors, including riding habits. Mine very with the day. Still I haven't had terrible gas milage with this bike.
Take care,
Larry

If you're really happy with the work that shop did for you, spread the word around. The problem is there are so many shops with poorly trained "technicians " that not everyone is happy with their carb jetting. I had the dealer do a thunderslide jet kit on my bike and while I didn't know any better, it sneezed back through the carb and air cleaner regularly...sometimes killing it at a stoplight. I know lots of people with the same problem to one degree or another so I just assumed it was a characteristic of a Harley. Last winter I did some motor work and didn't want the carb holding me back so I sent it off to Dakota Kid Carbs to get reworked into a 42mm CV. It wasn't until that came back and I ran it that I knew that my carb tuning was far off the mark. It now has smoother transitioning, more power, better gas mileage and never hiccups, sputter, or coughs. I'm glad you found someone who knew their way around performance work. I think too many of the guys working the dealerships, only know how to swap out the parts and not really understanding the theory can't tune them for optimal operation.