Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 A quiet Harley Davidson is a thing of beauty.

Those little fishtails are OEM.

In praise of OEM mufflers.

Say Whaaattttt?

It seems that the first thing that the new owner of any HD will do is to jettison the OEM factory exhaust system. This is done in favor of a system that will rattle the windows of the cars that the rider rockets past.

There is no shortage of aftermarket exhaust that the owner can choose from. Slip on replacement mufflers, baffled or unbaffled long or shorty drag pipes, two into one headers, dresser style true duals with straight fishtail pipes, or any combination of pipe and muffler guaranteed to produce a ringing in the ears of said rider. Not to mention the ears of any unfortunate pedestrians in the area. 

Since Harley engines feature two large displacement cylinders, it doesn't break up the combustion energy in the same way that a four cylinder would. To achieve a reasonable reduction in decibels, It requires a large amount of expansion volume. In other words, it requires a set of big silencers. 

This '26 Street Bob has a loooonnng muffler as part of 
its 2 into 1 exhaust. I would never change that out!

The latest models Harleys come equipped with some fearsomely large exhaust canisters. These allow the bike to pass the sound level requirements, as well as provide for adequate performance. And these new, big 117 inch V twins produce one hundred horsepower, a level that could only be dreamed about by the owner of an old Panhead, Shovel, or even Evo, for that matter.

My Wife once asked me why it seems that Harleys are all so loud. I told her that all motorcycles produced since the early 1970's had to conform to the same noise restrictions. So all stock bikes make about the same level of noise. However the owners of the bikes often, or in the care of HDs, almost always, remove the factory exhaust in favor of an aftermarket, "performance" system. 

Note how small the mufflers are on this '22 48, not much room for expansion, this results in a much more restrictive system. Free breathing (louder) exhausts can free up hp.

To be truthful, Harley didn't always engineer the most efficient exhaust systems. Although appearance is important for every motorcycle owner, Harleys have to conform to a narrow range of styling options. The pipes and mufflers have to fit the "flow" of the design while also being quite small. This doesn't leave many options for the factory. The bikes have to pass the decibel restrictions as well as look good on the bike. That means that the factory system is often quite compromised, and was very restricted, so performance did suffer. But the important thing was to move the bike off the sales floor. The factory is well aware that new owners are not going to wait too long before they rip off the OEM system.

Unfortunately these factory exhausts seem to be tossed into a dumpster upon removal, and are lost forever! Trying to locate used OEM exhausts is very difficult. 

This also means that few older bikes have retained the factory mufflers. It is pretty rare to find older bikes without an aftermarket system. And those replacement systems are invariably loud. Too loud to my ears! 

I've seen a lot of Sportys with this type of exhaust.
Is it too loud? What do you think?

On the other hand, those drag pipes on my bike look and sound
almost demure in comparison.

I think that my Sportster is a beautiful bike, and it is nice to ride. But I find that the loud exhaust detracts from the experience. I know that I find it intrusive, and I imagine that others around me would also.

I suppose that my age has something to do with my feelings. I just don't like calling so much attention to myself. I don't feel the need to announce my passing like a barrage of artillery! All that noise is intrusive to other people around me. It really does go against my perception of myself as a "Freeway Ninja," moving through traffic unobtrusively. I just want to go about my business.

This all has come to my focus because I've been looking for another bike.

I suppose that joining the AMCA; the Antique Motorcycle Club of America, and  going to all of those antique bike activities got me infected with old bike fever. While I admire and would like to own an antique Harley or Indian, I definitely don't want to go into long term debt to fund the acquisition. 

While I would like a legitimate antique bike, I could be quite happy with an erstaz retro styled machine. 

I think that this was a very successful
retro design.

I followed this line of thought with my '06 Mustang. It was a successful retro influenced design that pays homage to classic Mustangs of the mid 1960's. My favorite Mustangs are the 1969-'70 Mach One models. I feel that my '06 channels some of that appeal along with better total performance and comfort. I added a deeper front spoiler and a honeycomb deck panel and black segmented tail lamp trim to give more of a Mach One vibe. 

I've sometimes had onlookers ask me what year my car is, which people usually do for vintage models. I'd guess that some casual viewers aren't really aware that it's a fairly "recent" model, as it has the vintage vibe. I'm satisfied with owning a more modern Mustang with classic styling elements.

This is Indian's lowest price new Chief for 2026.
I like it!

The Springer Heritage Softail
is now a sought after collectible.

In the same way, HD and Indian have produced vintage inspired models which look like bikes from the 1940's. I think that I could be pretty satisfied with a used older version of these retro models, provided that it's still equipped with the factory quiet exhaust!