CNC -machined billet end caps.
designed with maximum visual impact. The huge 4.5-
inch diameter and new, stylized billet end caps make
a strong visual statement - one that matches the
performance and the deep, throaty sound. Having
celebrated our 40th anniversary last year, the
'Torquer 450' has been a great project with which to
start our fifth decade."
VANCE & HINES
Santa Fe Springs, California, USA
Tel: 562 921 7461
[email protected]
www.vanceandhines.com
The 'Secret Sauce' - the patent pending LS275
baffle "addresses the issues encountered when
trying to develop the right sound and power from
an oversized muffler."
Available in chrome or black finish, this year's
Torquer 450 slip-ons are their newest entry into the
4.5-inch diameter segment of the exhaust market
that they created, and 35 year Vance & Hines veteran
Eddie Tejeras says that they are the best performance
of any Vance & Hines slip-on exhaust yet produced.
"Listening carefully to riders at the rallies we attend,
and based on the miles we do testing our products,
the overwhelming feedback from M-8 owners was
that they wanted a sound that was both emissions
compliant and that expressed the new level of
smooth power that Harley had delivered with the
new engine.
"Of course, they also wanted it at an affordable price.
The sweet spot that we kept hearing was $599.00
MRSP - that would have to be the target, so we threw
that one at our R&D and engineering teams, and a
year later they delivered."
Mike Kennedy, V&H President, picked up the story:
"The target was to give the market a 4.5" muffler
with a billet end cap and the quality and reliability
that the Vance & Hines name has always meant. The
result is the 'Torquer 450,' and part of the secret to
being able to deliver such an awesome product at
such an exceptionally good price-point has been the
huge strides that we have been able to make to
improve production timeliness through
manufacturing efficiency and flow improvements
following the 'Unwind'.
"We have been able to implement changes and
develop processing to the point where we can lasercut
the 4.5" raw material, spin-form the tube, stamp
it with the V&H brand ID, assemble the completed
muffler with the CNC-machined billet end cap and
baffle, and get it through shipping and get it loaded
ready for delivery, all in just one day - and all with
that magic $599.00 MRSP start-point to make them
the lowest priced 4.5" mufflers on the market."
If there is R&D 'secret sauce' to the engineering that
has made the 50-State emissions compliance and
sought-after sound and performance possible, then
the all new patent pending LS275 baffle is it.
Designed to deliver the required sound and power,
"it addresses the issues encountered when trying to
develop the right sound and power from an oversized
muffler," says Mike. "That is what our team achieved
with the new LS275 baffle."
"When we develop a new baffle, we start with a
clean sheet," explains Eddie. "Our engineers begin
in CAD, work through several designs, and then our
R&D fabricators build prototypes that we take to our
testing department. We’ll often go through many
iterations until we find the right formula that checks
all the boxes.
"With the LS275, we didn’t want something that
was just going to be louder. It had to have great
performance and the right kind of tonal quality - the
convincing, characterful sound that our riders told us
they were looking for.
"Through all the work that went into this project, we
finally arrived at something that is so unique that we
knew we had to apply for a patent on it. Everyone
on the team felt that with the free flowing LS275 we
had hit on something special, and the response from
our customers has been the proof that we got it right
- they love it."
Let's face it, nobody loves the sound and feel of a
Harley-Davidson more than Hall of Fame drag racer
and co-founder Terry Vance. "I was hearing the same
as everyone was on our show trucks. Consumers
wanted better sound from their M-8 Harley touring
bike exhaust. Simple.
"On my annual trip to the Sturgis Rally, other riders
told me they couldn't find slip-ons that delivered
great sound from a 4.5 incher on the M-8, so it was
clear - we needed to reinvent the 4.5-inch category
that we had created.
"Milwaukee-8 motors do tend to favor a more open
type muffler, especially when big bore kits are added,
and after less than a year of having them on the
market, the feedback we are getting is that although
we designed them for the stock M-8 configuration,
unusually for a replacement slip-on they would also
be great with a flowed header (like our Power Duals)
on a 131 motor.
"Down the years we have also learned that style is
important to every rider, more than most exhaust
manufacturers realize, so the new mufflers were also
26 AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - OCTOBER 2020 www.AMDchampionship.com