Loud pipes saves lives as they say. As a car driver & a "defensive" rider I'd say they are an aid to letting other road users know of your presence in traffic. If your speeding & someone pulls out in front of you then no, loud or quiet your doomed. Thoughts ?? do you have loud pipes ??

I'll go along with that. You'll still have the moron driver pulling out in front of you, but fewer in number.. Big bonus is the reduction in pedestrians thinking of stepping off the curb - especially children
                                                                                                                                                                             

Good post.
It was amazing how 'visible' I became when my poorly 125cc had a hole in its exhaust pipe. Sounded like a monster bike ha ha.I felt safer knowing other road users knew I was there.
Obviously went back to mouse mode once new exhaust was fitted.

I run loud pipes on both my Harley and my Bonneville.... I feel safer and it sounds awesome but as a car driver I can't usually hear loud bikes if they are behind me at a distance, only when they are pretty near                                                                                                                                                                             

Quite happy with the standard pipes on all three of my Hinckley Triumphs...all are pleasantly 'throaty' without any mods..all three have twin round front headlamps,so nobody could even dare to say SMIDSY..Overall think loud pipes ARE potential lifesavers..                                                                                                                                                                             

Loud pipes do have their merits with regard to drawing attention but only if car drivers are paying attention on what is approaching. I have had cars pull out on me at work and I drive a bright yellow artic! just how the hell they can say SMIDSY in that situation is beyond me. Similarly, I have witnessed the Ambulance service encounter problems getting through normal traffic because some idiot is driving with the stereo at full chat and a phone in their hand either reading or sending a txt. Now how can they fail to see or hear an emergency service vehicle with blues and twos going frankly is a case of not paying attention to what is going on around them.

Nail on the head 66. Could do with more patrol cars looking out for idiots rather than the more popular cash cow speed cameras.                                                                                                                                                                             

Good news this month that penalties for texting whilst driving are set to be increased to higher points tallies and heftier fines,hope CCTV technology is refined so they can be caught without need for thin blue line to waste time sitting at roundabouts ....

No warnings,just an envelope through the door,inviting you to have six points added to your licence,and pay for the pleasure too...seen too many playing on the M5/6 whilst bobbing their head up and down...suicidal behaviour..