vance n hines no baffle?

does anyone run open header? I know its loud, but will it hurt the motor?

Wont hurt the motor as long as carbs are jetted properly.might hurt your pocket book tho.most cops dont like loud pipes.

not nearly as loud as most harley d's around here, i think im running 122.5 mains in my 29 smooth bores, doesn seem to hurt the performance.

I always leave my baffle out. I like the sound and it seems to run the same if not better

ok, My set up is 29mm smoothbores w/17.5 pilots and 125 mains. I rode 15 miles today without the baffle and did a plug check. The plugs looked dark gray, but nothing too sooty. The bike pulled hard through all the gears to the redline. A little shakey under mid range, but after 3k it took off and on the highway it ran great. Can somone assure me that the open header will not cause valve damage. I hear 2 sides all the time that it wont hurt them and from other that it will.

Nick

It won't hurt the valves. Only way I know of hurting valves would be if you ran the motor without the header and then you would probably burn your exhaust valves. No header lets the cool outside air hit the hot exhaust valves and can do a number on the valves. Other than that, I see no reason to worry about running an open header on your bike...aside from the obvious noise factor. Whenever you are in a situation where the noise may be an issue...i.e. passing a police officer, etc....just get off the throttle and pass him while the motor is at a idle and once you are a little way pass him, throttle up gently as not to attract his attention.