Best Mufflers for Road King?
I have a 2001 Harley Davidson Road King that has factory dual exhaust on it and I am not happy with it. I want it to be louder and to sound better. It does have aftermarket mufflers on it now but I am not sure what they are exactly as I cannot find any markings on them. Whatever they are, they don't sound the way I want it to sound. All of the bikes that I have heard so far that I like, are 2 into 2 style rather than dual exhaust.....are these types of exhaust systems louder than a dual exhaust type setup or am I imagining that?
So I guess my question is this.....can I get the dual exhaust system to sound louder than it does and do you have any recommendations for Harley Dual exhaust mufflers that will be louder than what I have now?
Our Answer
George....great question but a tough one. Asking someone about what their favorite exhaust system is similar to asking them what their favorite color is. What I mean is that if you ask 10 people, you will get 10 different answers.
I will keep my answer pretty short and succinct as I am a bigger fan of video and audio when it comes to recommending a certain muffler. In my own opinion, the muffler that I am most comfortable recommending to someone is the Rinehart Slip On Muffler.
I really like the way this muffler performs and sounds....it is definitely a fair amount louder than stock but it isn't obnoxiously loud. It's a very good middle of the road muffler that does everything well. It looks good, sounds good and is reasonably priced so you really can't lose.
If I had to recommend a slip on for your motorcycle....I'd check out the Rineharts. They work great.
 RINEHART EXHAUST 4 SLIP ON MUFFLERS 4 HARLEY TOURING  US $549.95
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 RINEHART EXHAUST 4 HARLEY TOURING MUFFLERS SLIP ONS US $449.95
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 HARLEY TOURING RINEHART MUFFLER EXHAUST END CAPS BLACK US $89.00
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 HARLEY DAVIDSON RINEHART SPORTSTER SLIP ON MUFFLERS US $100.00
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 RINEHART SLIP ON EXHAUST HARLEY TOURING MUFFLERS 95 10 US $499.00
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 95 10 RINEHART 35 EAGLE BEAK MUFFLERS HARLEY TOURING US $99.99
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December 6th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Check out Vance and Hins they sound great and will do both sides or on one side.
December 7th, 2008 at 5:40 am
I have a former friend that purchased a brand new HD Fat Boy
That bike sounded so nice and smooth with the stock exhaust
then he ruined it by running drag pipes on it
now its sounds like crap, it misses, surges, backfires!
I hate loud pipes cause I want to hear the sound of my engine!
I want to hear the sound of the engine in case anything sounds wrong
December 7th, 2008 at 7:03 am
X wife says, don’t you ever answer your cell phone while riding that Harley? I said it’s a little difficult to hear it ring while running strait pipes. now I have a constant ring in inner ears. The wild life around here are deaf too. you can change the sound with pipes or cams or both, but it takes a lawyer to change a wife. silence is golden in both cases
December 8th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
First off, anyone in their right mind would focus on performance first.
Throatier or louder is often a by-product of high performance exhaust, but when a bike is really loud it usually means the pipes have no baffles at all.
While some consider a deafeningly loud exhaust “cool” the loss of back pressure that comes with running “uncorked” robs power at the most important parts of the range , low and mid.
No one but you knows the sound you are after,but I recommend Vance and Hines or Hooker Headers for performance.
Neither true duals or a 2 into 1 are inherently louder than the other.
If sound is the issue most important to you, I’d suggest keeping an ear open for the sound you like and asking what type of exhaust it comes from.
When changing an exhaust ,it’s wise to change out the air intake and adjust fuel/air ratio to make the most of your new exhaust.
December 11th, 2008 at 6:23 am
All Harley Davidson Road Kings come with an exhaust that appears to be dual but in fact is NOT
Check into Vince and Hines True Duel system (better than Rinehart) I use this with Sampson Rolled Ovals and get a very sweet sound that only gets obnoxious when I’m really into the throttle. All of these parts can be bought rather reasonably through J P Cycles call their 800 # for free catalog
December 12th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
One thing that you can do is take a long piece of rebar and shove it up in your pipes to break some of the baffles loose. This will definitely get you more sound. Loud pipes save lives!
December 13th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Try a set of Thrush mufflers, made by the same guy that made the old SE II mufflers.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:58 am
What ever you do, do not buy Screamin Eagle pipes. Screramin Eagle works well with everything else but the pipes sound terrible. I suggest either Rhienharts or better Vance and Hinse. I have the shorties on my 1200 and they wake up the whole neighborhood.