Many states have laws that regulate how loud the pipes can be on a motorcycle. Some cities are actually banning loud pipes on motorcycles and even impounding them if they enter the city.

I know short skinny pipes look cool and they sure do sound cool but they are really loud at times too. And there is the issue, because I can't find a single person that says that they don't like the sound of the V-Twin engine or the look of a nice set of pipes. The only complaint I ever hear is that they are too darn loud.

Now I ride a GoldWing which is probably the quietest motorcycles ever made. And some times when I get up in to the mountains and I am just cruising, I will even pull inthe clutch and coast to make the bike even quieter. I like to hear everything around me.

But even I will admit that the sound of a nice V-Twin engine rumbling is some how very exciting and makes me want one. Hopefully some day soon I can get an additional bike just for fun riding and it will be a V-Twin and it may be just a little on the loud side.

The question is, how loud is too loud? Some may say that loud pipes save lives. That is a statistic I would love to see studdied because I an not convinced that drivers in cars really pay much attention. The ones that cause accidents often are destracted doing things like talking on the phone or listening to the radio too loud. I am not sure in those cases that loud pipes would help. But then I am equally sure that in some cases being loud really does help. I know that I drive by ear some times. I can hear a distant ambulance well before I can see it. I hear cars coming sometimes before I can see them. So it must be similar if a loud bike is coming.

Do the loud pipes make it harder for the rider to hear the cars and emergency vehicles on the road? Without a doubt. The noise of the pipes must cause problems hearing other things. There is no way they couldn't just by the nature of how sound works.

Every once in a while I hear very loud bikes climbing the hill which is over 100 yards from my house. The noise is staggering. And when it happens late at night or early in the morning, I really wish I had stop sticks to throw in the road. I wouldn't want my neighbors to think of me as that annoying guy that rides that noisy bike. I would rather have them think of me as a cool guy on a cool bike.

When I do get my V-Twin, it will be much louder than my GoldWing. No doubts about that but I will be able to ride in and out of the neighborhood at any time of the day or nigh without the neighbors wanting to hang me from the tree on the corder as a warning to other bikers. I also don't want to spend a small fortune building up my bike just to have it impounded or ticketed every time I take it out for a ride.

I am sure there is some point where the cool part of loud pipes can live where it doesn't reach the level of hated noise by those that don't ride. The question is where is that balance?

I have no answers on this matter. I can only say that I know what I like and I know that my idea of loud enough is very quiet compaired to what I have heard on some bikes. So to each their own but try to be respectful when choosing your pipes.

Comments are more than welcome in the forum section of this site.