PTParks
Active member
Just installed a set of Vance & Hines CS One mufflers on my '11 FJR, as part of my ding and scrape repairs resulting from my little driveway shunt a couple weeks ago.
Installation: Not too bad. The pipe and muffler assembly is one piece and much lighter than the stock unit that came off the bike. The instructions were clear enough and the entire installation took maybe 30 minutes. The hardest part was keeping the rubber insulator aligned inside the triangular muffler clamp as I tightened everything down. No leaks to worry about. Alignment of the mufflers was a no-brainer since you have to have the muffler at just the right angle to align with the upper clamp mount. Had to use my knee to apply enough upward pressure to get the bolts through the upper muffler support while holding the aluminum spacers in place. Parts included the triangular clamps, the rubber insulators, aluminum spacers for the upper muffler mounts, the necessary clamps and nuts and bolts.
Appearance: I'm here to tell you V&H designed these mufflers with a picture of an FJR taped to the wall. The unique shape of the cans and angled ends compliment the bike much better than a set of regular round mufflers could ever do. The angled outlet is similar to the shape of the rear taillight, and the smaller size (compared to stock) makes the mufflers blend better with the overall profile of the bike. IMHO, they really set the bike apart from the rest of the pack.
Sound: At startup the sound is a couple of decibles louder than stock, but not enough to drown out the whine of the engine. You can stand behind the bike and feel the exhaust pulses from about 5-8 feet away; don't remember having that with the stock mufflers. At low speeds there is a definite growl back there. Above 3500-4000 rpm the growl picks up quite a bit, but it is still not something that would attract unwanted attention. During deceleration, there is a nice burble to the sound. No backfiring, at least on my bike. The idle was a little lopey when I first stated it up after installation, but smoothed out a little more after the bike was warmed up. The bike ran fine from the get-go. I imagine there is a little less backpressure that the electronics may have to adjust for, but there were no driveability problems. Today's drive was in open country. In a downtown setting they will obviously be a little more noticeable. The butt--dyno didn't note any appreciable power gains, although running up through the gears sure sounds like it means business.
The best price I could find was on Ebay, which included free ground shipping.
Installation: Not too bad. The pipe and muffler assembly is one piece and much lighter than the stock unit that came off the bike. The instructions were clear enough and the entire installation took maybe 30 minutes. The hardest part was keeping the rubber insulator aligned inside the triangular muffler clamp as I tightened everything down. No leaks to worry about. Alignment of the mufflers was a no-brainer since you have to have the muffler at just the right angle to align with the upper clamp mount. Had to use my knee to apply enough upward pressure to get the bolts through the upper muffler support while holding the aluminum spacers in place. Parts included the triangular clamps, the rubber insulators, aluminum spacers for the upper muffler mounts, the necessary clamps and nuts and bolts.
Appearance: I'm here to tell you V&H designed these mufflers with a picture of an FJR taped to the wall. The unique shape of the cans and angled ends compliment the bike much better than a set of regular round mufflers could ever do. The angled outlet is similar to the shape of the rear taillight, and the smaller size (compared to stock) makes the mufflers blend better with the overall profile of the bike. IMHO, they really set the bike apart from the rest of the pack.
Sound: At startup the sound is a couple of decibles louder than stock, but not enough to drown out the whine of the engine. You can stand behind the bike and feel the exhaust pulses from about 5-8 feet away; don't remember having that with the stock mufflers. At low speeds there is a definite growl back there. Above 3500-4000 rpm the growl picks up quite a bit, but it is still not something that would attract unwanted attention. During deceleration, there is a nice burble to the sound. No backfiring, at least on my bike. The idle was a little lopey when I first stated it up after installation, but smoothed out a little more after the bike was warmed up. The bike ran fine from the get-go. I imagine there is a little less backpressure that the electronics may have to adjust for, but there were no driveability problems. Today's drive was in open country. In a downtown setting they will obviously be a little more noticeable. The butt--dyno didn't note any appreciable power gains, although running up through the gears sure sounds like it means business.
The best price I could find was on Ebay, which included free ground shipping.
