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From a visual standpoint, shorter is better. Remember too that URIs wrap in emails and are typically broken when this happens and that is why shorter is better.
Believe me, stay away from the long URIs as much as possible. They can be a bear to work with especially when they reach the wrapping point.
In reference to URI character limits, once you've reached that limit you will get the rare 414 Status Code...
10.4.15 414 Request-URI Too Long
The server is refusing to service the request because the Request-URI is longer than the server is willing to interpret. This rare condition is only likely to occur when a client has improperly converted a POST request to a GET request with long query information, when the client has descended into a URI "black hole" of redirection (e.g., a redirected URI prefix that points to a suffix of itself), or when the server is under attack by a client attempting to exploit security holes present in some servers using fixed-length buffers for reading or manipulating the Request-URI.
I say rare because I've never seen a 414 before. :)
