Best Sounding Harley Touring Exhausts

In this review we’ll be recommending and comparing the best-sounding Harley Touring exhausts. 

Our review will focus on the most essential features of each exhaust, such as the build quality, sound, and any performance benefits the exhaust has. Some of these exhausts are built specifically for Harley Davidson’s Touring line of bikes, while some can be used with other bikes. 

Our top contender is Vance and Hines’ Power Duals Headers for Harley Touring. Leave it to Vance and Hines to make the default best sounding aftermarket exhaust for Harley Touring that combines a clean design with a significant power upgrade. 

After riding motorcycles for almost twenty years and working on them for ten, we have a fair bit of experience with Harley Touring bikes. If you need a solid recommendation for which exhaust to buy, allow us to help. 

Keep reading for more of our thoughts on the best Harley Touring exhausts.

Vance and Hines have outdone themselves with their Power Duals Headers for Harley Touring. These purpose-built exhaust pipes for Harley’s big touring models boost power and have some cool features that make longer journeys more fun and comfortable.

Kicking things off with the design of these awesome sounding exhaust header pipes for Harley Touring. We have a sleek, classic design that you can get in either chrome or deep matte black. It fits right in with the Harley Touring aesthetic, and you can fit your choice of mufflers to go along with them.

Speaking of, that’s one of the drawbacks of this exhaust. It does not include mufflers, so you’ll have to purchase those separately. And if you want to install these pipes on a Trike or CVO Screamin’ Eagle bike, you’ll need some adapters.

But these pipes make up for their lack of mufflers in other areas. The free-flowing exhaust architecture unlocks a healthy power upgrade in your Harley Touring bike so that you’re faster off the mark, and we also noticed a distinct difference in throttle response. The bike was overall quicker to launch, and passing vehicles on the highway was even easier.

These power-ups are thanks to the unique ‘Power Chamber’ Vance and Hines have integrated into the design of these rowdy sounding pipes. The chamber is hidden behind a heat shield, so it doesn’t stand out, and you don’t have to worry about extra heat either.

In fact, these header pipes address a pretty common complaint people have about the latest Harley Touring bikes. Riders, or rather, passengers, have been complaining about excess heat on the left side. These headers use clever routing to mitigate exhaust heat while protecting sensitive engine components from damage so both you and your passenger won’t feel the heat.

But how do they sound? Well, suffice to say, these are some of the best-sounding Harley Touring exhausts. They have that incredible Vance and Hines sound that we all know and love, complete with the air intake noise on cold starts that just puts a smile on our faces.

Just be mindful of the type of mufflers you use with these pipes. We found that mufflers from Vance and Hines themselves work best and produce that deep, guttural sounding exhaust note that Harleys are known for.

Rounding up the feature set, we have full coverage heat shields that make long journeys more comfortable. The necessary O2 sensors and adapters are provided in the box, making the installation and tuning process much more straightforward.

The Bassani Road Rage is a familiar face. This Mega Power version was specially designed for Harley Touring. It has the same Bassani rumble that we’ve seen in the regular version and some massive power gains that don’t go unnoticed on the 800-lb Road Glide.

But first, let’s touch on the design of this awesome sounding exhaust. It is a 2-into-1 style pipe made from high-quality 16-gauge steel. The build quality is hands down the best we’ve seen in this category, with beautifully done welds that can withstand the highest exhaust temperatures and pressure which means excellent longevity and maximum bang for your buck. And while you can get it in classic chrome, we are partial to satin black.

Being a 2-into-1 style exhaust, you can expect this puppy to give you one hell of a power upgrade. The 2-into-1 design enables a phenomenon called ‘scavenging,’ wherein the exhaust pulse from one cylinder sends a bit of back pressure to the other one and vice versa.

The result is effortless rolling on the throttle with more torque throughout the rev range so you get higher top speeds and fly off the mark. A unique collector design also ensures the engine is working at peak efficiency so no power goes to waste

This exhaust gave us the second-highest bump in power, beaten only by the Two Brothers. But for a stock engine with a nice tune and no other major modifications, the Bassani gives you an awesome power-up.

We have always spoken highly of Bassani’s sound character. The Road Rage is no different, with its loud, meaty sounding exhaust note. It is even deeper and more resonant than the Vance and Hines option.

In fact, while the V&H pipe is still our top pick, the Bassani is louder and more pleasing to the ear, thanks to its stellar build.

But for touring, most riders want a slightly quieter sounding exhaust that doesn’t get annoying on longer journeys. Still, if you want that performance bagger aesthetic or you don’t mind the louder volume, the Bassani can’t be beat and is one of the best sounding touring exhausts on the market

For your money, Bassani also gives you full coverage heat shields and contrasting chrome or black end cap for just a little bit of flair. But at the end of the day, this pipe is all about the acoustic. And it’s definitely the loudest sounding Harley Touring exhaust, if not the best suited for longer journeys.

Here we have another 2-into-1 style exhaust for the Harley Touring line. This one sports a retro design and a growly exhaust note that is quite imposing close up, if not from further away. And being a Two Brothers, this exhaust gives you the biggest bump in power out of all of them.

The TBR wasn’t necessarily designed with Touring bikes in mind, but it looks pretty nice fitted to them. Build quality is good, though nowhere near the level of Vance and Hines and it’s also one of the best sounding touring exhausts.

The round muffler is made of high-grade stainless steel and reminds us of classic bobbers more so than full dressers. And whether you choose chrome or black, you get a carbon fiber end cap that betrays this exhaust’s racing roots.

The sound quality is nice and crisp, focusing on the lower frequencies for that beefy sounding tone. It doesn’t quite get up to the volume of Bassani’s exhaust, but then again, few exhausts do. In fact, the sound is pretty well suited to Touring bikes and doesn’t become obnoxious when you are ten hours into your journey with another ten to go.

Still, this is one of the best sounding exhausts for Harley Touring, so you should expect a louder and ‘growlier’ sounding exhaust note compared to stock.

But ask anyone who knows their exhausts, and they’ll tell you that Two Brothers exhausts have never been about sound or build quality or design. TBR’s pipes are about one thing and one thing only: performance.

All of TBR’s racing and motorsports experience culminates in a massive performance boost for your bagger. We were able to wring out an additional 5 HP with the full system exhaust. The launches are quicker, passing on the highway is easier, and even the top-end is improved.

The stainless steel design drops weight, and the higher mounting gives you a bit more ground clearance for when you need to drag a knee on your fully-loaded touring bike.

These performance benefits can be traced to the free-flowing exhaust architecture. Furthermore, this is a 2-into-1 style exhaust, so scavenging is very much in play.

Overall, the TBR may not be the loudest sounding exhaust for Harley Touring, nor is it the one with the sexiest design. But one twist of the throttle, and it’ll have put you back in the saddle like no other.

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