Well I have done it now. I installed the De-catted Head pipe I bought off ebay for $110 a few weeks ago. I know, I know.....gasp, how could you do that when there are so many other head pipes you could get that will work so much better. Well I will tell you I was a bit hesitant on doing it. I researched and read every article and forum I could find on the matter. And from what I have come up with is this. Most of the forums I read were from when the new 103's came out back in 2010, and they started putting the Catalytic converters in the head pipes. I've read a few hundred posts all saying they done this with varying amounts of success, Most being positive, and with a majority of the bad posts were because the O2's were placed back in the wrong bungs. There are quite a few negative comments about cross talk, and bike not working properly cause the rear O2 sensor can get the same readings as the Front O2 sensor. If you look (like I did), most of the O2 cross talk posts are from MFR's of after market head pipes, 'Don't modify your stock pipe for practically nothing and buy ours for $500+...."
I will say that i am no mechanic, I am not a dyno tuner, just and average Harley guy that wanted a little better sound and less heat from my bike.
I have seen down inside the cut opened head pipe, and there is quite a bit of separation between the O2 sensors. The rear head pipe extends into the open area well beyond the bung. and it appears the cat material did not reach the end of this pipe, so it is safe to assume that the "Cross talk" was there even before the Cat material was removed. But I am not here to talk about what has been said, I am here to post what I have found out from my experience, and so far so good.
I am really only posting this to give my findings after this mod to my mostly stock 2016 Street glide and what i take from the research I did......and by the way I was mostly looking for posts from someone that had done this mod, and after a few years came back to the forums and posted any issues from it, I did not find one instance of this.
First off the addition of the de-catted head pipe is the only change I have made. Intake, mufflers, even the map are all stock. So my observations are all based on just this change over the stock bike performance.
I did notice a little power decrease in the low RPM range (below 2,000 RPM's) taking off from a stop seems to be a little bit sluggish, but not really all that noticeable. And there is a little bit of pop or backfire every once in a while when shifting up through the gears, but that happened on my bike before the mod, just wasn't as noticeable cause the cat seemed to muffle it. But then once the RPM hits 2500+ it really comes to life. both in power and in sound. I am quite happy with the way it runs. after this last 500 miles of the de-catted pipe, I have yet to see any bad issues with this mod, other than the slight power drop at low RPM's.
I am planning on buying a V&H FP3 later on, along with some slip-ons. but as for now I will ride it the way it is. And until I hear from someone that has done this mod to their 103ci with bad results, I will keep on running cat free.
Thanks for all your help on here, as I found quite a few posts on the subject here on this forum.
I will say that i am no mechanic, I am not a dyno tuner, just and average Harley guy that wanted a little better sound and less heat from my bike.
I have seen down inside the cut opened head pipe, and there is quite a bit of separation between the O2 sensors. The rear head pipe extends into the open area well beyond the bung. and it appears the cat material did not reach the end of this pipe, so it is safe to assume that the "Cross talk" was there even before the Cat material was removed. But I am not here to talk about what has been said, I am here to post what I have found out from my experience, and so far so good.
I am really only posting this to give my findings after this mod to my mostly stock 2016 Street glide and what i take from the research I did......and by the way I was mostly looking for posts from someone that had done this mod, and after a few years came back to the forums and posted any issues from it, I did not find one instance of this.
First off the addition of the de-catted head pipe is the only change I have made. Intake, mufflers, even the map are all stock. So my observations are all based on just this change over the stock bike performance.
I did notice a little power decrease in the low RPM range (below 2,000 RPM's) taking off from a stop seems to be a little bit sluggish, but not really all that noticeable. And there is a little bit of pop or backfire every once in a while when shifting up through the gears, but that happened on my bike before the mod, just wasn't as noticeable cause the cat seemed to muffle it. But then once the RPM hits 2500+ it really comes to life. both in power and in sound. I am quite happy with the way it runs. after this last 500 miles of the de-catted pipe, I have yet to see any bad issues with this mod, other than the slight power drop at low RPM's.
I am planning on buying a V&H FP3 later on, along with some slip-ons. but as for now I will ride it the way it is. And until I hear from someone that has done this mod to their 103ci with bad results, I will keep on running cat free.
Thanks for all your help on here, as I found quite a few posts on the subject here on this forum.
