I have a 2014 fat boy lo with factory pipes. I know that louder pipes would let drivers know I'm there. I'm concerned about traveling long distances and the sound. What to do?

 

Welcome to the Forum from here in Centennial!
Change your pipes to your liking and wear earplugs to guard against the wind noise which is far more damaging to your hearing than your pipes will be.

 

Ride fast enough to outrun the sound.

 

+1,000 on the ear plugs! I have V&H Big Shots which are nice sounding, not outrageously loud. 120mi commute round trip, and I'm fine as long as my ear plugs are in. The cool thing is I can still hear the sounds of traffic, horns, etc.

 

Vaild.

Truth is,, that's really not a joke.
While doing long distance at highway speeds the high decibel level of the exhaust is pushed/lost behind you.
The long term damage is from the wind.

 

Welcome to the forum.
Your options are to buy slipons or a whole new system. As to which way to go, there are countless threads in this forum you can research for opinions and experiences.

 

Welcome to the forum. Loud pipes will likely become annoying on cross-country trips--with or without ear plugs. Everyone has their own definition of what it means to be loud. Keep in mind you don't need ear-splitting Db levels to be noticed. Low frequency sound waves are not easily dampened inside a vehicle and will get someones attention more than high frequency popping and cracking. Anyone who has sat in their car near a vehicle blasting a sub woofer knows this fact. You want rumble more than screeching and don't need to go overboard. Another thing to note--if you go out and get the loudest exhaust you can find, the only person that will think it's cool is yourself. When people go out and put on these ridiculously loud pipes, nobody else around them thinks they are cool..On the contrary, they think poser douchebag with a small wiener.

 

That's for sure. The wind hurts my hears. Pipes, not at all.

 

What he said. You will hear your pipes ok, the noise is following you not at you.