How To Make Your Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Louder

Do you own a Harley-Davidson bike and want it to sound louder than it is currently? If yes, then you’re in the right place at the right time. 

To make your Harley louder, you can install aftermarket slip-on exhausts, remove or modify the baffles, or upgrade to a full performance exhaust system. Be mindful of local noise regulations.

In this article, you’ll get to know all about loudness in your Harley-Davidson bike, how to make my Harley louder, making the most of your Harley-Davidson bike’s exhaust, precautions to consider when making your bike louder, and more. Continue reading to get all the answers that you’re looking for.

Making your Harley-Davidson bike louder

There are multiple reasons why a biker might want their motorcycle to sound louder. Maybe you want your bike to be recognizable to others on the road with its loud uproar. Perhaps you want the exhaust of your bike to be heard as you’re parading across the street on your masterpiece. Often, Harley-Davidson bikers think that making their bike sound louder requires them to spend large sums of money. However, that is far from the truth.

The key to overcoming this mindset is to have better understanding of the wide range of options at your disposal. Moreover, you need to have a better communication with your exhaust system and know exactly how it operates. Once that is done, it’ll become much easier to make your Harley-Davidson bike louder. You’ll be in a prime position to not just get your own bike to sound louder, but you’ll be able to give advice to other beginners.

How to make my Harley louder

Essentially, there are four different routes you can take to make your Harley-Davidson bike sound louder. One of them requires you to retune your bike’s engine. The second one will ask you to get rid of the baffles. The third one will see you swapping out the baffles, while the fourth one will require you to purchase aftermarket parts. Some of the methods will depend on the model of the Harley-Davidson bike that you’re riding. 

Before starting, there are certain tools that you’ll need to gather to modify your bike on your own and make it sound louder. These tools include a screwdriver, cutting oil, a 1-inch dimension hole saw, drill extension, power drill, needle-nose pliers, and an Allen wrench. Once you’ve arranged these tools, here are the methods on how to make my Harley louder.

1. Re-tune your Harley-Davidson bike’s engine

If you’re ever doubtful of this situation, you can rest assured that this method is safe. You can consider re-tuning your bike’s engine to its peak performance. This will greatly help in making your Harley-Davidson bike’s exhaust or pipes much louder. Ultimately, it’ll give you three major results –

• It’ll make your Harley-Davidson bike’s exhaust louder
• It’ll enhance the overall performance of your motorcycle
• It’ll add more power to the bike’s engine 

Aside from these benefits, you should also look forward to improving the overall functionality of your bike’s engine. When making the bike’s exhaust louder, it isn’t implied that you’re creating a lot of noise or not abiding by respective emission standards. Therefore, you need to aim at ensuring that you’re reducing the overall noise while also following the emission standards laid down by the government.

To achieve the same, you’ll have to reorganize your motorcycle’s engine such that it meets the standard out-of-factory specifications. Before you do so, it is important to make sure that the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of the engine remains active for the necessary purpose. The ECU should be aiming to enhance the intake of fuel and air into the engine’s motor. You can assist with this process by utilizing a computer-guided control unit. This will help in altering the fuel-air flow into the engine.

2. Drill out the baffles

When you’re looking to increase the airflow across the pipes or exhaust of your bike, you should look to do away with the baffles of the engine by using a power drill. Additionally, you can even consider making holes within the exhaust system of the bike. Once you’ve implemented either of these processes, you can be assured that the exhaust system and pipes in your bike will instantly become louder.

You can also consider twisting and pulling out a long cylinder towards the middle of the motorcycle’s muffler. You should make use of a pair of needle-nose pliers to check the pipes for the presence of any metal shavings. You should remove the bike’s muffler and pump air into it to ensure that there aren’t any metal shavings left.

When you’re removing the baffles or creating holes in the exhaust system or the pipes, there will be a caveat. Over time, the performance of your bike will gradually decrease. It implies that the process of removing the baffles to increase the overall sound capacity of your bike isn’t going to enhance the performance of the bike’s engine.

3. Replace the baffles

If you want to make the pipes or exhaust system of your bike louder, you can even opt for an alternative method. This method involves installing new pipes and removing baffles from the bike. 

Toward the end of the header pipes in your bike, you’ll see slip-on pashminas that are joined. The presence of slip-on mufflers in your mike will make the exhaust louder while also improving the overall performance of your bike. All this without having to get rid of the entire exhaust system.

You can easily make use of cutting oil and coat the rear end of the muffler’s interior in your motorcycle. The coating will help prevent any sparks or smoke as you’re removing the baffle of the muffler. At the same time, this coating will also help in minimizing the debris to fly around or get into your bike’s headers. 

4. Aftermarket accessories to make the bike’s exhaust louder

Big growler exhausts

The Big Growler exhaust will make the heads turn on the road, even when the passer-by is inside a noise-insulted car. Moreover, the growling sound created will make others crave the opportunity to ride a big-time beast like your Harley. The presence of longer, straighter-shaped pipes in the exhaust system will help make the same “un-muffled”. It’ll help in amplifying every hum and grind of the motorcycle’s engine when cruising and accelerating.

Yost Power Tube

Another outstanding way of obtaining ample sound and power with a customized motorcycle part for an affordable price is by using the advanced Yost Power Tube. As the combustion efficiency of your bike’s engine increases, so does the power and roar of the bike. 

The Yost Power Tube is incredibly helpful in achieving this power. This kit is known for coming with a spacer to deliver increased power and throttle. It’ll work with all the Harley-Davidson Series bikes. It’s also one of the customized parts that most beginners can look forward to installing in their motorcycle by themselves.

Aftermarket carburetors

In most situations, aftermarket carburetors happen to be one of the best aftermarket products. Most Harley-Davidson bike owners love modifying these carburetors on their bikes. The primary job of a Harley carburetor is to make sure of the mixing of the right amount of gas with air to produce the torque needed for fueling the bike. The absence of enough air in the carburetor can make the engine lean. At the same time, having too much gas in the chamber can make the engine flood. When more air is flowing through the carburetor, it implies that the engine can deliver more power to the bike.

Precautions to consider when making your Harley-Davidson bike louder

Many professionals and technicians advise that instead of wasting a lot of time, energy, and resources looking to remove the baffles, it’ll be better to get an aftermarket slip-on. Remember, drilling out the baffles is significantly important, especially if the pipes are lacking the O2 sensor. It’s important to keep in mind that the compression ratio for your bike can change once you’ve replaced or removed the baffles. It can greatly affect the power levels that your bike is delivering while working.

You should also be familiar with the aphorism that the right ignition is the point where the bike’s sound starts, and you shouldn’t forget about the source. Reducing the strain and kickback will also help in improving the dyno-driven power gains. Hence, it’ll give more power and throttle to the ignition timing and make your Harley-Davidson bike roar. 

Conclusion

Thank you for reading. Hopefully, now you know a lot more about loudness in your Harley-Davidson bike, how to make my Harley louder, making the most of your Harley-Davidson bike’s exhaust, important things to know, and more. Making your Harley-Davidson bike louder is something that every Harley-Davidson biker wants to know the answer to. There are multiple ways you can make your Harley-Davidson bike sound louder, such as by re-tuning the bike’s engine, drilling out the baffles, or replacing the baffles. You can even get aftermarket accessories like big growler exhausts and Yost power tubes.