[michiganfatboy]

Folks,

I can't seem to use the search tool to find prior threads on removing stock HD mufflers and installing slip-ons. Some time ago I read some tips and tricks and wonder if any of you can repeat the lessons to help a brother out.

2002 Fat Boy with stock mufflers and replacing with Hard Krome 3.5" slash cut slip ons.

It isn't clear from the materials in the box whether or not new clamps are required and I am suspcious of "gently twist and remove" muffler. That seems like a bunch of hooey, those buggers are on there tight. I don't want to wreck the stock ones just taking them off.

Any other parts I should replace when doing the job? The install diagram is hand written and doesn't match the mounting bracket, but sizing it up everything looks like it will line up.

Thanks in advance for the info.

I am not a wrench, but have some and the patience to get it done.

Later.

 

[ratt]

There may be a rivet you need to drill out .... be sure to put a rivit back in ,,, or you may blow your new pipes off in the street ,,,, rat

 

[71baldboy]

Hi MFB. Are the like the ones they sell on ebaby....nevermind.

I seem to remember some guys give it a decent squirt of wd40 and walk away for a while, then come back and they come off much easier with some gentle twisting.
When i changed mine I gave it a good soak overnight with wd40 and in the morning i used an oil filter strap to give it a little twist and they slid right off.
Goodluck.

 

[michiganfatboy]

thanks, that would indeed suck. :yikes:

any clues as to where any such rivet(s) might be? I haven't seen anything and if I missed it so far that means a difficult drill job if one is needed.

 

[michiganfatboy]

71bald, thanks.

for your info, I did buy them from eBay. they were new in the box and the merchant was Dennis Kirk ('dktrader' is the handle). they look great, quality seems great, just the funny installation diagram. I paid $75 for the pair. I thought it might have been the deal of the century. now you have me worried. did I get ripped off? is there something y'all know I don't know?

I checked this forum before buying and found the Hard Krome name didn't have any complaints but folks do favor other pipes and slip-ons for sound and performance reasons. I like the tapered look of the stock mufflers and wanted to keep that while increasing performance and noise somewhat (next purchase will be the power commander to get the EFI right).

 

[20538]

here's a link to their site with the info you need on installion. just click on the pipe you have, it's in the FLST area already.

http://www.hardkrome.com/hd/HDInstallCategories.asp?BrandID=5&Model=FLST+Softail&Submit=Go

 

[michiganfatboy]

hey brownjams,

thank you, I had that already. I found it myself before purchasing and printed it out. nothing like that comes with the product, btw. so that is a valuable site. however, the bracket drawing is low grade and doesn't match the shape of the actual part sent, and that is not what I would expect.

anyway, thanks for the tips and the effort.

off to put the WD40 on the old ones. +SMSH+

later,
MFB

 

[michiganfatboy]

for future reference for you folks out there, from www.hardkrome.com regarding their tech support:

"For any questions on your new Hard-Krome pipes, call our sales line at 1(800) 854-9134. We are open 8-5 West Coast Time. Monday – Friday."

why did I put that here? to try to be helpful and cuz now I am stuck and I was hoping somebody would be there on a Sunday.

so, now I am trying to get the old exhaust off, but twisting is not an option. taking off the heat shields made it obvious there is another challenge.

the cross-over on the stock mufflers don't allow a single twist to either one individually, though each is loosened. the two are basically a single unit because of the mating at the cross over and will have to come off pulling both straight back toward the rear. and they don't want to....

any additional tips out there?

 

[ViennaHog]

for future reference for you folks out there, from www.hardkrome.com regarding their tech support:

"For any questions on your new Hard-Krome pipes, call our sales line at 1(800) 854-9134. We are open 8-5 West Coast Time. Monday – Friday."

why did I put that here? to try to be helpful and cuz now I am stuck and I was hoping somebody would be there on a Sunday.

so, now I am trying to get the old exhaust off, but twisting is not an option. taking off the heat shields made it obvious there is another challenge.

the cross-over on the stock mufflers don't allow a single twist to either one individually, though each is loosened. the two are basically a single unit because of the mating at the cross over and will have to come off pulling both straight back toward the rear. and they don't want to....

any additional tips out there?

Yes, get a HD service manual and check the exhaust section. If you have TC Fat Boy, soak everything with WD40 the night before, open the clamps, pull each muffler away from the cross over and then twist and turn the muffler while pulling it away from the headpipe. Get new exhaust gaskets for the cross-over and bolt it on in reverse order. Don't forget to tighten the head bolts carefully......
If this doesn't work, well find yourself a mechanic to help you.

 

[wyodude]

It isn't clear from the materials in the box whether or not new clamps are required and I am suspcious of "gently twist and remove" muffler. That seems like a bunch of hooey, those buggers are on there tight. I don't want to wreck the stock ones just taking them off.

Duno about fatboys but the flt manual says to replace the clamps each and every time. Some have reused the clamps without obvious peril.

How "stuck" on they are seems to be a function of how long they've been on there.

WD40 is good advice. Liquid Wrench gets you the same.

They will come off....eventually.

 

[michiganfatboy]

wyodude and viennahog, thanks. MFB

 

[michiganfatboy]

so the recipe for stock muffler removal is this...

2 parts WD40, 1 part NFL playoff football, 1 part WD40, 1 part muscle, 3 parts patience, followed by 1 - 6 parts beer. in that order.

if the beer part comes before any of the other ingredients, :beer: no way to predict what the outcome will be.

so the mufflers are off!:thumbsup:

thanks for the help, guys.

off to Sears tomorrow for a star-shaped socket head to get the stock bracket off the frame.

 

[trooper113]

Congrat, MFB! I just saw the PM you sent or I would have tried to assist earlier. All the advice you got was great and obviously worked.

Re: the clamps....I reused mine when I put on SEIIs before my current ProPipe, but I was told that was bad practice.

T113

 

[OMoffat]

soak with WD or MOVIT loosen clamps completely off twist and pull.Should come off no problem. I would reuse the stock clamps as they are better quality than aftermarket.

 

[71baldboy]

71bald, thanks.

for your info, I did buy them from eBay. they were new in the box and the merchant was Dennis Kirk ('dktrader' is the handle). they look great, quality seems great, just the funny installation diagram. I paid $75 for the pair. I thought it might have been the deal of the century. now you have me worried. did I get ripped off? is there something y'all know I don't know?

I checked this forum before buying and found the Hard Krome name didn't have any complaints but folks do favor other pipes and slip-ons for sound and performance reasons. I like the tapered look of the stock mufflers and wanted to keep that while increasing performance and noise somewhat (next purchase will be the power commander to get the EFI right).

Sorry to have worried you. I just thought i was going off topic. I have seen them on ebay and they look nice. Have seen them go cheaper but still a good deal. They are good pipes.
Ange.

 

[LeavenworthJeff]

WD-40 is a must. How do I know, will I installed SE slip on this weekend. Removed brackets loosened clamps took my time. Now gently twist and remove right? The top one eventually came off, but the bottom one. No dice. Hammer to the lower bracket on it still wouldn't budge! Pissed at the world I tried and tried and I am a pretty fair sized guy. Still nothing. I went in grabbed a can of WD-40 one little squirt and off the bottom pipe comes.

The SE slip ons had rivots in the kit as well, but the dealer said didn't need to use them on my model and year of bike. I wish I had thought of the WD-40 at the beginning!

Leavenworth Jeff
05 FXDI Silver

 

[michiganfatboy]

so the only bummer is that the heat shield will still have a cross-over though there isn't one any longer on the exhaust. but I have OCD, so I will have to learn to cope. until then... anybody know where I can get a universal which mates up nicely on both ends for my straight (no cross-over) front pipe?

for the PCIII, the guys at HardKrome say there is a map, but going to the site for www.dynojet.com I don't see any. would it be under a different name?

I am sure there is something close with another map for other slip-ons, any recommendations out there?

MFB

 

[michiganfatboy]

WD-40 is a must. How do I know, will I installed SE slip on this weekend. Removed brackets loosened clamps took my time. Now gently twist and remove right? The top one eventually came off, but the bottom one. No dice. Hammer to the lower bracket on it still wouldn't budge! Pissed at the world I tried and tried and I am a pretty fair sized guy. Still nothing. I went in grabbed a can of WD-40 one little squirt and off the bottom pipe comes.

The SE slip ons had rivots in the kit as well, but the dealer said didn't need to use them on my model and year of bike. I wish I had thought of the WD-40 at the beginning!

Leavenworth Jeff
05 FXDI Silver

Jeff, thanks. No rivets on mine -- the bracket to the frame is substantial and then four bolts from the slip-ons to the bracket (just above, and on either side of the back wheel hub). the bracket itself is meaty, I was surprised.

 

[michiganfatboy]

hey everybody, thanks very much for the tips, the patience and the input. I really appreciate it. old exhaust is off (as documented in the saga last weekend) and the new slip-ons are installed.

sounds kick-ass now. my wife may not ride it -- being much louder -- but she is very happy that I am not riding a quiet one any longer. would have to describe the sound as raspy and throaty at idle. when you jump on it, it roars.

to wrap up the thread and allow folks to search the forum sucessfully....

for everybody's guide:

1) the Hard Krome quality seems good, and I am very happy with how it looks. the installation brackets on the back of each slip-on are slightly too large to hold the nuts snugly and the real trick for installation is to find a way to get the bolts (coming through the back of the bracket into the nuts resting in the slip-on bracket) to line up and get threaded. you need to be an octopus if you have saddle bags (like I do) to get things lined up. in addition, the lock washers provided were too thick and that decreases the chance that you get that first crucial thread set to spin.

2) the passenger foot peg (stock) has has to be removed to do this job. it has a Torx T50 sized bolt keeping it on the frame, but I could not find a T50 socket or handled tool which would fit within the clevis of the foot peg bracket. this sucked, and eventually after checking Sears, Home Depot, Lowe's and the local Ace hardware store, I used a large slotted screw driver and was happy to get it off easily. caught a break there....

3) the new slip-ons make the exhaust true duals, there is no longer a cross-over (was on the stock system, but that came off with the old mufflers). the cosmetic issue here is the H-D stock heat shields need to be reused. however, there is a portion of the front heat shield which was covering the stock cross-over which now has nothing to cover! but you have to use it because it mates perfectly with the front heat shield on the same pipe. the new set up doesn't look bad, but that 2.5" portion of chrome has no real purpose as nothing is behind it. no big deal, just in case people are reading the whole story here it is a consideration. I was turned off originally but now that it is installed it doesn't look bad at all.

4) reused the exhaust clamps and did not have a problem, none were provided in the slip-ons box as was expected and mentioned in the included instructions. would have used the old ones anyway based on the experiences I have read here (presumably higherly quality).

nothing was a show stopper. would recommend the same to others.

so, bottom line, bought the 3.5" slash-cut slip-ons off of eBay (Dennis Kirk scratch and dent 'dktrader', new in box / discontinued) for $75 and am very pleased. took two weekend afternoons start-to-finish and two trips to the hardware store for Torx T50 sockets.

next project is the dynoject PCIII (or other).

MFB