Jardine Drags Section:
I've gone through the process of looking at the different available exhaust systems for the VTX1800R. I liked the look of the classic Drag 2in - 2out configuration. Even with a loss of performance vs. a 2 into 1 pipe setup. For me, the looks out weighted functionality.

The Jardine Drags have a distinctive low rumbling sound. When performing a hard deceleration it sounds like a big block V8, definitely vibrates the body and soul ;)

I was very satisfied with the sound the Stock Jardines made... but like everyone else I wanted to "try" out different variations and configurations to see if I could "improve" the sound.

The first thing I did was yank out the baffles and ran the bike for awhile. It no longer sounded like a Big Block V8, it sounded like a helicopter! Had this deep "whoop, whoop" sound. Wasn't the sound I was looking for...

below is what a stock Jardine baffle looks like when pulled from the exhaust system. It has sheets of baffle wrap. If you try to change the wrap, cut it out length wise and try not to damage it too bad. You'll be able to re-use it if necessary.

I ran the bike with the baffle installed but with no wrap. The sound changed again. This time it had a higher note with a more metal sounding crack to it. I tried different wraps from dirtbike wrap, fiberglass wrap and some stuff I got used from a Local Harley & Davidson shop. The shop had tons of it. In any case wasn't the sound I was looking for...

I then had some baffles made that had "offset" half disc along the length of the baffle. I hope to achieve a lower better quality rumbling sound. This actually worked. I had a lower sound, probably more back pressure but with this faint "pffft, pfft" sound too. I thought maybe if I added the baffle wrap back on it would help. It didn't work, same annoying sound at idle. This wasn't the sound I was looking for...

Tried different amount of half-disc, angle of disc, assorted baffle wraps. I must have taken apart my exhaust system a dozen times. This get's fairly expensive when your replacing the gaskets each time. I thought it would be better to do that then risk a chance of a leak and not optimizing the sound quality. Plus, it was so @#@%!#@! hard to get those baffles off! I wanted to be just done with if the sound was right.

Exhaust sound is subjective. Eveyone will swear that the pipes they purchased are the best sounding in the planet and in their opinion, they are. Nothing wrong with that.

The process of changing all those configurations made me realize what exhaust tones I didn't like. When I first started messing with the pipes I thought I could make it just a little better. Never mind that Jardine's engineers had already optimized them...

So after a weeks and weeks of experimenting I went in a full circle. I ended up installing the original Jardine Baffles along with the original baffle wraps. I'm done "trying" things out and just enjoying the sound.

Note* no scientific process here. Best thing to do is to try it out different ideas and hear the effect. You know what sounds good to you, that's all that matters.