The Best Exhausts for Harley Davidson’s Electra Glide Motorcycles

This article recommends the best exhausts for the Harley Davidson Electra Glide.

Our review focuses on the build quality, performance, and sound characteristics of each Electra Glide exhaust. We also tested each exhaust in various scenarios to see how they perform in the real world.

Vance & Hines’ Big Radius is our favorite Electra Glide exhaust. This exhaust boasts a rowdy sound, impressive performance figures, and the high-quality construction Vance & Hines products are renowned for. Add an eye-catching design to the mix, and you’re off to the races!

We’ve been riding Harley Touring bikes all our life. And with over 10 years of experience testing motorcycle accessories professionally, we’re pretty well-equipped to help you make the best purchase decision.

Keep reading for more of our thoughts on the best exhausts for the Harley Davidson Electra Glide.

Vance & Hines have outdone themselves with the Big Radius exhaust. These curved, slash-cut pipes for the Electra Glide offer the sturdiest build quality, a beefy exhaust note, higher power output, and more features than we know what to do with!

If you want a beefier exhaust note for your Electra Glide, the Big Radius offers one of the most exquisite sounds in this category. The sound is deeper than stock but still crisp and loud. Suffice to say, this exhaust puts the ‘thump’ in ‘Big Thumper.’

The pipes even have a unique startup sound that we haven’t seen in many other Electra Glide exhausts. On cold starts, the exhausts make a ‘fluttery’ air intake sound that never fails to put a smile on our faces. And when you rev the engine, the sound quality seems to increase with the loudness.

Moving on to the construction of this Electra Glide exhaust, we have the same high-quality build that Vance & Hines pipes have always delivered. Liberal use of high-grade stainless steel ensures better resistance to extreme exhaust heat and pressure.

The Big Radius exhaust comes in classic chrome or a matte black with chrome inner tips. Both come with full coverage heat shields that prevent excess heat from making longer journeys uncomfortable for the rider and passenger.

If you go with the chrome, don’t worry about the pipes becoming blue over the course of thousands of heat cycles. V&H has designed these pipes to be completely ‘blue-proof.’ Furthermore, the pipe uses TIG welds, which look nicer than regular welds.

Performance baggers are all the rage these days, so Vance & Hines gave their flagship Electra Glide exhaust a massive boost in power. This power-up comes courtesy of the free-flowing exhaust architecture. Just be sure to get your engine properly tuned to get the full benefit of this exhaust.

As for real-world performance, we have to say the Electra Glide never felt so fun. The lightweight build of this exhaust makes low-speed maneuvering a lot easier. And the added torque comes on low in the rev range, where it works to accelerate the bike faster.

But it’s not just low-end grunt that gets an upgrade. You get better performance throughout the rev range, which means passing vehicles on the highway is more manageable, the throttle is more responsive, and the bike feels more nimble.

Two Brothers Racing makes a fantastic, affordable exhaust for the Electra Glide. The 2-into-1 design adds a ton of power and sounds absolutely phenomenal. This is a longer version of the Comp-S exhaust, so it’s a bit quieter, perfect for touring applications.

Let’s kick things off with the design of these pipes. It’s endlessly customizable, with standard or slash cut end caps on offer in various finishes and materials such as carbon fiber. You can get this pipe in black, but for once, we actually prefer the chrome.

The fitment is precise and confidence-inspiring. While the regular Comp-S is compatible with both forward and mid control bikes, this Touring variant is specifically designed for bikes like the Electra Glide.

Alright. Now that the boring stuff is sorted let’s talk about the performance of this exhaust. Like any 2-into-1 style exhaust worth its salt, this one brings a massive power-up to the table. In fact, you can expect up to a 5 HP increase in power, depending on the model year of your Electra Glide, and granted that you get the engine tuned.

Plus, it’s a 2-into-1 style exhaust, so you benefit from ‘scavenging.’ If you aren’t familiar, ‘scavenging’ allows the exhaust pulse from one cylinder to help suck in more air in the other and vice versa. The result is enhanced performance.

That means better throttle response, faster acceleration, and a lot more torque to play with for day-to-day riding. We liked how much more fun the Electra Glide felt with this exhaust installed. Just don’t expect a ton of weight savings because this is a pretty beefy exhaust, in more ways than one.

But that beefiness also comes with exceptional build quality. You get durable, mandrel-bent stainless steel tubing and TIG welds that keep the high exhaust pressure in check. The high-temp SS wool and packing material also keep exhaust heat at bay.

And that brings us to the sound of this exhaust. While it has that loud, raucous 2-into-1 style exhaust note, it isn’t so loud as to make your cross-country trips on the Electra Glide uncomfortable. Still, it’s no slouch either. It belts out a deep and rumbly sound that gives your Electra Glide a more aggressive feel.

The S&S Diamondback is another 2-into-1 style exhaust that delivers even more performance and a unique design that is just as functional as it is good-looking. The sound is also louder and more imposing, perfect for your performance bagger build.

We loved the awesome design of this Electra Glide exhaust. Sure, it uses high-grade stainless steel from header to end cap. But what sets it apart from the pack is the use of CAD software that allows for more precise design and construction. In fact, this exhaust is designed to give you as much ground clearance as possible, so feel free to lean further into those corners.

S&S focused on making this exhaust as powerful as possible. It has a free-flowing exhaust architecture, improved backpressure, and ‘scavenging,’ thanks to the 2-into-1 design.

But S&S went the extra mile and gave us oversized header primary tubes. This improves exhaust flow, resulting in higher power throughout the rev range.

And it doesn’t stop there. Besides this stepped header, S&S also outfitted the exhaust with a merged collector, preventing exhaust gas reversion. In simple terms: Awesome pipe make bike go fast. Very fast.

In fact, we noticed that the Electra Glide was quicker to accelerate, had smoother throttle response, and even got some extra torque for low-speed maneuvering. This is, by far, the best performing exhaust for the Harley Davidson Electra Glide.

It sounds the part too. The exhaust note is an ear-splitting, boomy sound that would fit right in at the racetrack, probably because that’s where S&S developed this exhaust. The designers even made this exhaust just long enough that it makes more power while still producing louder sound.

Speaking of, the pipe ends just before the rear axle, which gives the Electra Glide a stripped-down, performance-focused look.

As for other features, the Diamondback has full-coverage heat shields, which work really well on hot days and long journeys. It comes with 4 separate O2 sensor bungs, making installing the sensors a lot easier. You can get an all-black version, but there’s something unique about the stainless finish, so we went with that one.