Vance and Hines Quiet Baffles, Yes or No

I love the performance of my 07 Street Bob with Vance and Hines Big Shots, partnered with the V&H Fuel Pack and an Arlen Ness Big Sucker air filter. Except for one thing, it's really loud. Now, I don't mind a bit of volume, but it's just a bit over the top for riding comfortably on city streets without every head turning to see what's coming every time I go from zero to twenty mph.

V&H make "Quiet Baffles" for these pipes that offer 2-3 db lower volume. That sounds like just enough to take the edge off without eliminating the great sound I get now. V&H said I'd gain performance in the low end and lose a little at the top with the Quiet Baffles.

I've ordered them through my dealer, but it's not too late to stop the order.

Anyone here have some experience with these, opinions, advice please, thanks.

LOUD or loud

:fight: YES!

I have python 3's on my 2000 dyna..... seems to me when I had the baffles out it was SOOOOOO loud I would SNEEK around very easily to NOT make the noise it put out with NORMAL increases in speed and gears....

I remember a "splitting head throb" after just a short ride when i decided to re-installing them BACK into the mufflers....way too LOUD and attention getting especially now with a crack down in some areas on NOISE POLLUTION......

I have a friend that wants to put v&h monster ovals slip-ons on his street glide..... Those should be TAME compaired to the straight shots you use.......

I would say YES to the baffles.... you can always remove them for a lively run once and a while....

ARE the straight-shots just that STRAIGHT THROUGH ???

signed....REDHEAD

I have the same pipes as you...Big Shots Staggered. I had the standard baffles when I first put them on and could not take the loudness. They sounded good but way too loud. I ordered the quiet baffles and they are almost as loud. Sound good but ear plugs do help. I had it dynoed again after the quiet baffles and picked up a couple pounds of torque on the low end but not enough to notice. Bike runs good and sounds good but sometimes I wish I had left it with the mufflers I had before. Good luck!

Thanks guys. A friend has the Quiet Baffles in his 07 Dyna Wide Glide on his V&H Long Shots. It's still plenty loud and he likes the slight improvement on the low end, but then, he doesn't do much highway riding. I live in the city, but do plenty of 70 mph rides within 100-300 miles. I sure don't want any drag when it comes to acceleration at higher speeds. When there's 16 wheels nearby, I want to blast right past that thing.

Slim Jim, when you said "sometimes I wish I had left the mufflers I had before", can you say more about that? I want the same riding experience, just 10-15% less volume. I don't know if that's possible. I guess I can always switch back..

Redhead, to be clear, my V&H Big Shots (staggered) DO have baffles, The quiet baffles are similar, just adding more noise reduction.

Not to mention that NY LE's frown on loud bikes-guns and a host of other things that the rest of the country accepts as normal. They do have a host of politicans that want the rest of the country to "do it their way tho"

Well Sarge, NYC is a unique environment and requires different approaches to some things. Unfortunately, sometimes politicians overreach. Recently they began to enact a loud pipes law, but it's on hold temporarily. Don't forget, a lot of good ideas get first traction here. Up through Teddy Roosevelt's administration, additives in food were considered poison and punishable by hanging! So our better food initiatives are a good idea.

Still concerned about the Quiet baffles and if I'll lose much of what I love about my ride.

I had the stock mufflers with the baffles drilled out. It really had a good sound......not too loud but plenty loud enough. I had the high flow air cleaner and a stage one download. It was still pretty lean and had a some decel popping.
The dealership had a special deal one winter with a good price on V&H staggered, SERT and dyno. I like the looks of the pipes and I listened to one with the standard baffles before I switched. I asked that they install the quiet baffles but that's another story. It didn't happen. When I started mine after the new pipes were installed, I knew I had to tone it down some so I order the quiets and installed them myself. The quiet baffles won't affect your performance that much. It's measurable on the dyno but not noticeable in actual use. Considering what you have, I would try the quiet baffles.....you don't have much to lose but don't expect much reduction of the sound. Good luck.
Slim

I have V&H quiet baffles fitted with my LS Slip-ons. The pipes sound great,way less harsh than without, and in my view with a better Harley rumble.

Hellboy, I actually bought these for my bike and I too was worried about losing some of the sound or it being quieter than I wanted but that WAS NOT the case. It was actually perfect, I still get the great sound and nice growl that I wanted and all the ear shattering noise is gone. I also didnt really have that big of a difference in performance either. I have the longshots on my warrior, they are the same except for the length.

I recommend though when you put the baffles in find some thin electrical wire to wrap around the fiberglass because the its a very tight fit and I found that when I wrapped the wire around the fiberglass it helped to ease the baffles into the pipes. Good luck with the install I think you will be very pleased. any other questions just send me a shout.

freeider8

Where have I been? When did you get a Street Bob?

I have the same pipes on mine with the original baffles. People often comment how good my bike sounds, but it is loud. I got a ticket up in Lake George during Americade one year, but they're hunting for loud pipes at that thing. They're Harley haters too. The bike has a nice rumble. It isn't a harsh sound like other loud bikes I've heard, but it's still loud.

I've thought about the quiet baffles. I have a permanent ringing in my right year and often wonder if it's from the exhaust on that side.

Let us know how you like them.

Guys, thanks so much for your suggestions and for taking the time to tell us about your experiences with these pipes and baffles. The Big Shots with the standard baffles sound so great, I hate to mess with them, but I think I will try thew Quiet Baffles and see how it goes. Yesterday, on my block there was an ambulance picking up an old man who was ill. There was a fire truck, two ambulances and perhaps 30-40 people watching the event. When I came down the street as quietly as I could, EVERYONE stopped to see what was coming, police, emergency workers, fireman, locals. I felt a little embarrassed. Hopefully the Quiet Baffles will dial it down just enough to help with situations like that.

Glad that woman on the horse wasn't hurt.

Don't know if they make them for a dyna, but Supertrap has some slip in mufflers that performs and is just a little louder than stock.
Supertrapp makes very good pipes.

The V&H Big Shots are my favorite sounding pipes, although I've heard a few Road Kings with a wonderful deep growl. The Quiet Baffles should be the right thing for my situation, so I'll stay with the Big Shots. It'll take a week or two before my bike is finished. I'll keep up with the thread as it goes. If I miss the standard baffles too much, I'll change back, but from the feedback here, it looks like it will be a good move.

HellBoy, I had the exact same problem with the V&H Straight shots on my 06 Street Bob. As far as I'm concerned, save your money! I bought the "Quiet" baffles and honestly couldn't hear much difference at all. I finally experimented with rewrapping the baffles, but could never achieve a sound I could live with. The upshot is I finally sold the straightshots, and installed older screaming eagle slip-ons.
Good luck with wharever solution you find, but the new baffles probably won't make you very happy.

policepop

I was about to cancel my order for the quiet baffles, but I just had my oil switched from dino to synthetic and now the engine sound has changed from a baritone boom, boom, boom, to a louder tenor bah, bah, bah, bah. Now I'll have to try the quiet baffles, if only to help dial it back to where it once was.

As I said before, the quiet baffels won't make it much quieter but it won't be as harsh. Much better sound IMO.

My friend had the Quiet Baffles installed in his 07 Dyna Wide Glide. It still sounds like a truck, so I'm not expecting much sound reduction, hopefully just enough to take the edge off. The guys at HD ordered baffles for me. I figured since they're looking at a shifting issue, why not have them put the baffles in for me. So, this Saturday I go there and they ordered only one, thinking one baffle order was two in a box. Now I have to wait at least another 4 days.. ugghh..

Great. One would think they'd find that out before they ordered. :gah: I was hoping for the final answer. Guess I'll have to wait.