LOL, my turbo 914 was actually quiet as stock exept for the turbo whine. The turbo cut up the sound pulses and i had a very long exhaust pipe that ran from the top of the engine all the way back and then crossed all the way to the driver's side. I made it quiet on purpose. Sleeper.
My V8 car was loud when i first got it running. I took it down to the local muffler shop that same week and had them weld in a crossover pipe and smaller diameter extensions out the back from the mufflers to quiet it down. At idle and normal cruising is was difficult to tell it was a V8. Of course when i went WOT it was much louder due to the intake noise form the big carb but I rarely went WOT on the street and did not do it on residential streets. Again, i like the sleeper effect.
In my experience I rarely hear loud bikes until they are next to me. At that point it would be too late to change any possible outcome as far as safety. I'll pay more attention on the way home today and actually see if I can hear a loud bike coming before I would sense a quieter bike. I doubt it when they are coming up from behind. In that situation all they do is cause me to say bad things about the rider's mother
