Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Two baffles out - drill or remove #3

I removed the first two baffles from my stock America mufflers over the weekend. I like the sound but it needs to be a little louder. Will removing #3 make it a lot louder? Should I just drill some holes in it?

I vote for remove.I had a set with 3 1/2" holes drilled in the last baffle and it wasn't much louder. but it was once the last baffle was gone and even more so with the cross over pipe gone. Be sure not to remove the reducer cone if you loose the last baffle. Without the reducer you will loose bottom end torque.

I went from two baffles out, and two baffles whole like yours, then drilled a 3/4" hole in baffle 2, and four 1/4 holes in baffle one, figuring I could plug the 1/4 holes with self tapping screws if I changed my mind later. It got louder, but sound controllable around town. There was definitely a noticeable gain in performance.

So are there 3 or 4 baffles in there? I may try drilling the third one. The only problem there is if I want it louder it may be hard to beat it out with holes drilled in it.

By the way, thanks for the help Ian. I wound up buying a hole saw to remove the end baffle and beat out the next one.

3 and go ahead and drill it. It make no difference when getting them out.

My 05 Speedmaster had four baffles.

Your bike could well have three. Apparently three isn't unusual, depending upon the year of manufacture.

If you decide to remove the third or final baffle, all baffles gone will indeed be very loud.

It never hurts to go in steps. Like cowboy (Guitar Ted ) said If you drill the last baffle you can always knock it out if you are not happy but you can't put it back in if it's too loud.

nologic take them all out and put samson baffel in them they realy sound good they will give you real low and deep
sound their web site is gomotorcycle.com

I didn't notice much performance increase til I knocked out 3rd baffle.

You have to put one of those drill extensions on it unless you want to spend quite a bit on a long bit for drilling walls and even then not sure it would be long enough. True Value carries them here.

Update: After removing the two end baffles I went out today and bought a 1 1/8" hole saw (they were out of 1") and a 18" extension and drilled one hole in the third baffle in. The sound is perfect. Not too ungodly loud yet still makes some noise. And the sound is nice and deep. I am content to stop there. Just wanted to share. And thanks to those that gave helpful advice and guidance.

Cool. Glad you are happy and were able to sort it out.

Thanks Ian. Sure beats spending $400 or more on new ones. Plus I like the look of the stockers better anyway.

Nologic
Did you leave the tube in the third baffle as well as drill a 1 1/8" hole beside it or is it just the one hole in the third baffle. I am in the same scenario as you. Love the sound with 2 baffles out just need it a wee bit louder.
Thanks
Derek

Are there any other adjustments that need to be done, like rejetting the carbs if you remove all the baffles? I have an 06 America. Does anyone know how many baffles?

some have 3 some have 4 you will definately need to rejet. If you remove baffles be sure to leave the reducer cone in at the header end or you will lose all your bottom end torque because you won't have any back pressure.

Derek: I left the tube in and drilled the hole right next to it. That left room for another hole if needed. But the one hole made it loud enough for me.