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Tony Sanfelipo has an air horn and a siren on his Harley-Davidson Road King. But he often uses the deep growl of the bike's engine to warn motorists not to cross over into his traffic lane.

With a snap of the throttle, his bike's louder-than-normal muffler gets your attention. It's better than the horn or the siren, Sanfelipo said, because those sounds startle other drivers too much, and they might swerve into his bike's path.

"I like the fact that my bike can be loud, if I want it to be, but I can control it," Sanfelipo said about revving the engine when he wants to and keeping the noise level down when rumbling through a residential neighborhood.

The sound of a Harley or any other big bike is sweet to many people who associate it with summer and good times. This weekend, there will be plenty for them to celebrate as Harley-Davidson dealerships host their annual Milwaukee Rally, an event that attracts thousands of bikers to Water St. and other party spots.

But the "loud pipes save lives" mantra that many bikers swear by also stirs complaints from people who say excessive noise disrupts their peace and quiet.

Earlier this week, when Harley-Davidson Inc. announced that one of its 2015 model-year bikes has a stereo system loud enough to fill a Nashville, Tenn., auditorium with amazing quality sound, Milwaukee-area resident Tom Thielke said he had heard enough.

He asked: "Is that so riders who remove their factory installed, legal mufflers, and put on straight pipes, can hear 'music' over their obnoxious engine noise? I'd like to see Harley make it impossible to remove or alter their existing muffler systems. Then I...along with lots of other individuals, would find the Harley lifestyle more acceptable."

Vacuum-cleaner loud

A Harley-Davidson motorcycle, without modifications, has a noise rating of about 80 decibels, similar to a vacuum cleaner. All Harleys are manufactured to meet federal noise standards and are compliant with those standards, the company said in a statement.

But the bikes can be much louder when modified by their owners with after-market exhaust systems designed to boost the decibel level and, in some cases, improve the bike's performance.

Many motorcyclists are convinced, through their own experience, that a loud bike helps get the attention of a distracted motorist on the highway or a busy city street.

"Loud pipes save lives, absolutely without question," said Dave Zien, a former state lawmaker from Chippewa Falls who logged more than a million miles on a 1991 Harley that's now parked in the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame, in South Dakota.

Traffic safety experts say they aren't aware of any research that shows whether a loud motorcycle helps prevent crashes with other vehicles. Wisconsin's state law reads: "No person shall modify the exhaust system of any such motor vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted."

The Milwaukee Police Department says it considers loud motorcycles on a case-by-case basis, and that officers often give bikers a warning rather than a ticket.

"The vast majority of the interactions we have, related to excessive noise, are kind words, a shake of the hand, and sending the person off with a better understanding of the law," said Lt. Mark Stanmeyer, Milwaukee Police Department spokesman.

The Milwaukee County sheriff's office, which patrols Milwaukee's lakefront and some other areas popular with motorcyclists, said it hasn't issued a noise violation ticket to a biker in the past two years, and that it's also rare for deputies to issue a noise violation ticket to other motorists.

In the Village of Jackson, in Washington County, Police Chief Jed Dolnick said his officers issue warnings to motorcyclists who engage in obnoxious behavior, such as revving the engine in a residential neighborhood in the middle of the night.

Can't ticket everybody

During Harley-Davidson's anniversary events, in 2003, 2008 and 2013, hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists rode through towns like Jackson on their way to Milwaukee. One Jackson resident demanded that police ticket every biker who rode through the village with an excessively loud bike.

"I tried to explain that it was virtually impossible...all of the police departments are in that position," Dolnick said.

Earlier this year, the City of Delafield removed signs that urged motorcyclists to "throttle down in town" after some people complained the signs were bad for tourism because they discouraged motorcyclists from visiting the city.

Loud bikes are controversial nationwide, especially in cities such as Daytona Beach, Fla., that have annual rallies attracting thousands of motorcyclists who spend a lot of money at those events.

Some police officers use noise regulations as a reason to pull over bikers and check for other violations including drunken driving and lack of insurance, according to Zien, the former state lawmaker.

But police in Oakland, Calif., embraced the notion that a louder bike is safer.

The Oakland Police Department installed high-volume pipes on its patrol motorcycles, at a total cost of about $15,000, after an officer riding a toned-down bike was struck by a motorist who said he hadn't heard the officer approaching.

Some communities have adopted noise ordinances that motorcyclists say are too vague to be properly enforced.

"It's like speeding. You can't tell people there's 'no speeding allowed' and then not give them a speed limit. I also want to know what 'loud' is supposed to mean," said Sanfelipo, an accident investigator for the law firm Hupy & Abraham and a founder of ABATE of Wisconsin, a motorcyclist rights group.

"To one cop, your bike might be too loud, and to another it's not," he said.

Bikers sympathize

Sanfelipo said he could sympathize with someone who has an outdoor gathering spoiled by very loud motorcycles in the neighborhood for hours at a time.

"There are a small number of guys, on Harleys and other bikes, too, who are pretty obnoxious. I ride alongside some of these guys on the highway, and their bikes hurt my ears. There's no reason a bike has to be that loud," he said.

It's a topic debated in motorcyclist groups. Following a recent ride to Galena, Ill., members of Stilletos on Steel, a Milwaukee-area women's motorcyclist group, talked about whether their bikes were too loud when they rode through that small town.

"Some of us thought the revved-up pipes and a thumping stereo was inappropriate. And an equal number of the girls said 'relax, whatever, it's a motorcycle.' It was a pretty heated discussion," said Anne Zube, the group's president.

Motorcyclists should ride respectfully, Zube said, but those extra decibels come in handy when other motorists aren't paying attention to their driving.

"That's kind of like our roar. It's like saying 'I have a place on the road. I am the lion here,' so recognize it," Zube said.