[Beasley]

So, I bought my 20 Springfield with Indian stage 1 exhaust and the Indian air box. I was perfectly happy with the performance, though I have the TAB exhaust on my Harley and preferred it a bit. I was willing to stick with the Indian exhaust because I wanted the fish tail tips. I just learned that the Indian stage 1 tips will work with the TAB exhaust, so I gave it a try. Keep in mind, I am using the 2.5" medium baffles. The Zombie baffles are louder, and honestly sound great, but they got on my nerves when doing 200 mile+ days, so the 2.5"s struck a nice balance between sound and long term comfort. It is worth noting, that the 2.5" are quieter, but they also provide some back pressure that the Zombies do not, so performance is slightly better with the 2.5".
Going from the Indian stg 1 to TAB, idle is 5dB louder as measured from identical spots with a Radio Shack SPL meter at idle. Running at 3K RPM seems also about 5-6dB louder. The sound is a little better to my ears, though the sound of the Indian stage 1 was good, the TAB is a slight improvement. Performance, it feels like the TAB is a little bit better, but this is not a major difference. All things considered, it is likely not worth the money to upgrade from Indian Stage 1 to TAB unless you want the zombie baffles sound (a bit more volume, and more high end crackle when you hit it). That said, I do feel that the TAB are an overall better exhaust, so if you do not have the Indian Stage 1 yet, I would go for the TAB. If you like the Indian tips better, those do fit. I am certainly going to keep the TAB on my Springfield.

 

[thesnowback]

Great write up. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

I like the Tab's with Zombies on my Challenger. I don't think it's obnoxiously loud (all perspective - i get it). It sounds great from a distance (when service guy takes my bike for a test). I think they sound perfect on that motor. I have yet to see/hear a set on a HD

 

[Beasley]

Great write up. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

I like the Tab's with Zombies on my Challenger. I don't think it's obnoxiously loud (all perspective - i get it). It sounds great from a distance (when service guy takes my bike for a test). I think they sound perfect on that motor. I have yet to see/hear a set on a HD

I haven't heard the challenger with them, but I can can compare the 111 TS to an M8 Harley 114. The Harley has the 4.5" TABs though, while Indian has the 4". Both are running the 2.5" baffles. The Harley sounds a bit louder, but not much. The Indian just has an overall more pleasing note to it though. Both sound great, but if I had to pick just based on sound, the Indian sounds better overall.

 

[Indianster]

For the record - the forum has data concerning some of the above - specifically, back-to-back dyno testing from a forum member showing Stage 1 vs TABS (with the 2.5 inch baffle) - on a thunderstroke. TABS w 2.5" baffles showed a loss of 8 lb ft TRQ over the Indian Stage 1's ( which, IIRC, have a smooth baffle of 2 inches).

All indications we have point to Indian stage 1 slipons as being the highest performance slipons money can buy for the Thunderstrokes. Considering the very odd design of the stock header system - which is also the highest performance header for the Thunderstrokes ( at this point in time) , this all makes sense..

 

[Beasley]

For the record - the forum has data concerning some of the above - specifically, back-to-back dyno testing from a forum member showing Stage 1 vs TABS (with the 2.5 inch baffle) - on a thunderstroke. TABS w 2.5" baffles showed a loss of 8 lb ft TRQ over the Indian Stage 1's ( which, IIRC, have a smooth baffle of 2 inches).

All indications we have point to Indian stage 1 slipons as being the highest performance slipons money can buy for the Thunderstrokes. Considering the very odd design of the stock header system - which is also the highest performance header for the Thunderstrokes ( at this point in time) , this all makes sense..

This would definitely make sense of the dyno was comparing with the zombie baffles, as they are basically a straight pipe with no back pressure. The 2.5" are more quiet than the zombie, but also provide a bit of back pressure and make up for performance. I hadn't tried the zombies on the Indian, but I do have a set in the garage. When I went from zombie to 2.5" baffles on the Harley, the power difference was notable.

 

[thesnowback]

yeah, there is a compromise in power for the sound of the zombies. I'm not riding a Challenger to go fast. It does okay - definitely peppier that my RM 111TS. Just need to be able to clear traffic when passing. It does that very well - no idea what the dyno says, don't care. I know some folks do, but not all of us.

 

[JustinAZ]

This would definitely make sense of the dyno was comparing with the zombie baffles, as they are basically a straight pipe with no back pressure. The 2.5" are more quiet than the zombie, but also provide a bit of back pressure and make up for performance. I hadn't tried the zombies on the Indian, but I do have a set in the garage. When I went from zombie to 2.5" baffles on the Harley, the power difference was notable.

Mine runs better with 2.5s than with Zombies too. I liked the sound, but adding a passenger changed the pitch enough that the drone was unbearable. It would hit this resonance that killed my head was like when someone opens a back window in the car. 1up was great. I’m thinking of trying 1 of each and see how that sounds.