"Loud pipes save lifes" that statement shows that you do not take into account the Doppler effect.

As a bike is approaching, the sound waves are bing compressed, effectivly turning them into higher frequency sounds. A higher frequency sound is not able to penetrate material (such as a cars windows) very effectivly. couple that with most drivers not paying enough attention to hear a top fuel car 10ft away from them, and most approaching bikes are not easilly heard inside a car until after they have passed.

I can hear Harleys on US 19 from my house (about 3 miles) I can hear some of them from about 118th to past Gandy. Sunshine is about 3 miles from my house also and conditions have to be just right to be able to hear the loudest of cars out there.

I dont mind bikes that are louder than stock, but when they are so loud that you cannot talk to some one right next to you because of the bike 3 blocks away, those pipes are not going to save your live, they just make me want to beat you to death with them.

im not prejudice against bikers, my father has been riding for 20+ years, i grew up at flat tracks tracks where you have race bikes with no exhaust and are not half as loud as most of these street bikes. I have pitted for him at road races at Moroso, Daytona, and Homestead.