Cat / exhaust dilemma

[ThreeChiefs]

2 years ago I heard the Vance & Hines slip-ons at Sturgis and as soon as I got back installed them on my 2014 Chieftain. I love the sound. Deep and mellow with no cackle. Loud enough but not obnoxious. What I'm not fan of is the heat off the right side. I ride PGR quite a bit and we wind up sitting or go very slow a lot and my right leg heats up.

Fast forward to last month. I picked up a 2016 Vintage to put a hack on for the wife and grandson to ride in. It's been 2 years so maybe my memory is fuzzy but I swear this stock exhaust sounds better than the stock exhaust on the "14 Chieftain. Certainly quieter than the Chieftain with V&H but it has a nice deep mellow sound. Wife made me promise to not change the exhaust on this one as she is not a fan loud exhaust.

I finally went to a dealer last week to get the reflash on the Chieftain and the service mgr mentioned to me that they were putting on a lot of after market header pipes with good results. I mentioned i was considering gutting the cat to cut the heat but didn't want the louder exhaust that would come along with it. The header pipes would do the same thing but are smaller so you don't lose the back pressure and therefore the torque. He said the stock exhaust pipes were bigger than the headers they were using exactly for that reason.

I'm reminded of my days of building street cars. We would go 2" exhaust on a mild motor to keep some back pressure and not lose the torque. These days I'm not into trying to get to the next red light before the other guy but I a) don't want to lose what I got torque wise and b) don't want the bike any louder. I'm considering the header pipe and putting the stock slip-ons back on. Anyone have experience with replacement header pipes with stock slip-ons?   

[TOMCENTRAL]

I heard the stock mufflers with the Freedom Performance True Dual headers.The True Duals are louder for sure but the heat issue is solved.Gutting the cat does little for the heat.Hope that helps.

Regards,Tom

[Mbridger]

I have the VH turn downs and was thinking of putting on the freedom performance headers, has anyone on the forum done that?  I'm curious if they fit together well in regards to the heat shields.

[ndncowboy]

I heard the stock mufflers with the Freedom Performance True Dual headers.The True Duals are louder for sure but the heat issue is solved.Gutting the cat does little for the heat. Hope that helps.

Regards,Tom

What? I thought the whole idea of removing the cat was to solve the heat issue. I'm totally confused now.

[133]

I heard the stock mufflers with the Freedom Performance True Dual headers.The True Duals are louder for sure but the heat issue is solved.Gutting the cat does little for the heat.Hope that helps.

Regards,Tom

What little I know about the cat (and it is, indeed, very little) was that it is a source of great heat.  I am keeping my cat in because I will be moving around some and I may need if I move to an inspection state.  But, there is no denying that the spot around the cat is HOT.  Here is a picture of the plastic panel on my bike where it sits next to the cat - BURNED and MELTED!  I wrapped my pipes after that event and everything is much cooler now, but, there is a lot of heat coming off these pipes and engines, with or without the cat.

[TOMCENTRAL]

I heard the stock mufflers with the Freedom Performance True Dual headers.The True Duals are louder for sure but the heat issue is solved.Gutting the cat does little for the heat. Hope that helps.

Regards,Tom

What? I thought the whole idea of removing the cat was to solve the heat issue. I'm totally confused now.

Yes,the collector does just that.Collects exhaust gas & HEAT.If you want a cooler running bike,the True Duals really cut it down.My buddy has a laser heat/temp gauge & claims 30 degrees cooler on his rear cylinder of his Chieftain.
I installed a set of FP/TDs & I can testify,cooler foe show!!

Regards,Tom

[zork52]

I heard the stock mufflers with the Freedom Performance True Dual headers.The True Duals are louder for sure but the heat issue is solved.Gutting the cat does little for the heat.Hope that helps.

Regards,Tom

What little I know about the cat (and it is, indeed, very little) was that it is a source of great heat.  I am keeping my cat in because I will be moving around some and I may need if I move to an inspection state.  But, there is no denying that the spot around the cat is HOT.  Here is a picture of the plastic panel on my bike where it sits next to the cat - BURNED and MELTED!  I wrapped my pipes after that event and everything is much cooler now, but, there is a lot of heat coming off these pipes and engines, with or without the cat.

Holy.......................!!!!!!!

[New User Name]

I'm considering the Freedom Performance True Dual headers but it hasn't been easy to find them for a 2015 Vintage even though many websites show them mounted on a matching Vintage.  I also have a question for the forum, and I don't mean to distract from this thread.  I'm asking here because I also want to get rid of the catalytic converter.

Would the Indian Stage 1 slip-ons with fishtails that I currently have fit on the Freedom Performance True Dual headers, or would I need to buy the FP slip-ons?  The Indian Stage 1 pipes sound OK to me (not great, but better than stock).  The Freedom Performance sharktail slip-ons look good and I'm sure they sound better than my Stage 1 set, but it's just added expense.  I guess I could sell the Stage 1.  Any suggestions?  Thanks.

[Indn]

 New User Name, I installed the FP headers on my 2014 Chieftain with the Stage 1's.  Yes they sound great.  I did have a small mod that I had to do to the right heat shield as it was under the cone shape heat shield transition.  I had to cut it 1/2" off the covered portion so it was not under tension.  This was very easy to do.  I also modified the stage 1's earlier for a much better low sound.  You could look it up on this forum.  Sargent, Red Cloud and Harbour Blu all made this modification.  Good Luck  Indn...

[New User Name]

Thanks a lot!  Great response.