I've read about pounding the mounting tabs closer to the pipe but I'm hesitant to take a hammer to the bikeNo, my exhaust is stock and I've modded my heat shield so I didn't notice any significant difference but uthatch said it seemed closer in to him, compared to stock. Its easy to move the shield closer if its bothering you. Also spacing out the right side foot assembly helps a lot. I'm working on an idea for a custom heat shield.