MIKE - Living 60-70 miles from Harley's home city, I've NEVER seen a motorcycle stopped for loud pipes in WI. ANY brand of motorcycle.
Having straight pipes on both my Farmalls, my diesel pickup, and my CC # 72, just a straight pipe does not make an engine loud. It needs a large load on it, and lots of RPM helps too. When idling along at normal city speeds a bike with straight pipes can be fairly quiet, but crack the throttle and your vision will blur. Plus the sound is pretty directional, a turn-out exhaust tip will direct a lot of the sound away from the operator or whatever.
Yes, in the two situations I described, neither time did I hear the bike, but saw it. With the female co-worker the people in the back seat were talking, and the other situation I was idling in my diesel pickup waiting for a car to pass so I could make my left turn, the bike was about 200 feet ahead of me coming towards me. Neither bike was accelerating, they were coasting actually.
I will say this, the "LOUDEST" vehicle I have ever seen go past my house, on my rural road, was a neighbor's old Dodge Cummins pickup. All manner of hot street motorcycles, hot street cars, cars/trucks with mufflers falling off, etc go past frequently, even had a parade of over 100 Harley's two years ago, but that Dodge pickup was loudest, I even heard it over my Cub Cadet 72 before the straight pipe was installed while mowing the back yard one afternoon. I was trimming around a tree, and heard it go by and looked up to make sure it was who I thought it was. It was MUCH much louder than my Powerstroke w/straight pipe.
The loud vehicles that really irritate me are the ratty old cars that have the sub-woofers in the trunk that you can hear a half mile or more away. What must it be like INSIDE those cars? SON's had a couple loud stereo's, the one in his old '88 Mustang would rattle the alum. siding on the house when inside the shop with all the doors close 75 feet away when turned up playing certain songs, mostly Metallica. And it was tame compared to some of these old ratty cars that have the loud sub-woofers. No wonder kids can't hear what their parents tell them anymore!?!
SON has a neighbor that has a custom Harley, like something the Teutuls would build, must be a big CID engine, even in a residential area of town when he cranks the throttle you can hear him at least a quarter mile away over all the other traffic. And he cranks the throttle a L-O-T. But when he does, everyone knows where he's at... for at least a few seconds.
