Earplugs?

[FZ8Panda]

So ended up buying some cheap disposable earplugs to try it. Just wondering how many of y'all prefer to ride with them. I gotta admit with my noisy helmet it is quite pleasant. I think it is more necessary for when your on the highways though. I already stalled the bike with it in my ear riding around town. Haha. Yeaaaa I'm Mr. Dopey. lol.

 

[alexk]

*always* wear earplugs while riding.

From http://www.hearingtestlabs.com/motorcycle.htm

according to OSHA's regulation of industrial noise exposure, an average worker surrounded by levels around 85-90dB for an eight hour day will not exceed the limits of exposure time within a 24 hour period of time.

However, when the sound levels exceed 100dB, your exposure time is reduced to two hours. When sound levels exceed 115dB, your exposure time is drastically reduced to 15 minutes. This puts riding a bike a whole other realm as "wind noise" at highway speeds can measure up to 103dB, or comparable to a running chainsaw. At these levels the rider is not only fatiguing physically from the excess noise exposure, but it also puts him into a position of needing a hearing aid later in life.

I've chosen to use foam shooter's earplugs (available at walmart), inserted as deeply as possible - that gives me 33dB of noise reduction, and it centers in the vocal range, so I'm both well protected and can still hear the engine and traffic nicely.

The best custom-made plugs (etymotic.com) top out at 25dB reduction, so cheap disposable foam it is for me!

My experience:
5 minutes at highway speed + cheap helmet + no plugs = ears feel painful after
10 minutes at highway speed + cheap helmet + no plugs = I just want to sit in a quiet room for an hour
45 minutes at highway speed + cheap helmet + plugs = just fine
90 minutes at highway speed + cheap helmet + plugs = I just want to sit in a quiet room for an hour
90 minutes at highway speed + good helmet + plugs = just fine

My ears may be more sensitive than most, but the time difference is pretty dramatic, and I still hear everything I need to - it just dials the world down a little.

 

[onesonofamitch]

I always wear earplugs. They make for a far more comfortable and safe ride because they allow you focus more,IMO, because you don't have this dull roar thats caused by all the wind noise. Plus, I've never thought "woah, i wish i could have heard that guy before I saw him"

 

[rail]

Yup, I always wear earplugs unless I'm just putting around town at < 50 mph. I still hear far more than inside a car with the windows rolled up... and I drive a Subaru (in case you know how Subaru "sound insulation" is... lol)

 

[HenryT]

Long trips ear plugs, local riding no ear plugs

 

[FZ8Panda]

Good stuff. Went out on a decent ride today with the earplugs. I like riding with them. I do have to agree that you can concentrate a lot better. Should've did this sooner!

 

[tri dude]

A big Hell's Yeah to wearing earplugs!!!! So much more of a pleasant experience on long rides...

 

[Perron]

I like to listen to some music while riding so I never trier earplugs.. But I did a 500 miles ride today and with my cheap helmet, the music and the wind, It's too much.. I might try them on the next ride considering many people here are using them

 

[SeñorJack]

I like to listen to some music while riding so I never trier earplugs.. But I did a 500 miles ride today and with my cheap helmet, the music and the wind, It's too much.. I might try them on the next ride considering many people here are using them

Ya I drive from Northern California to Mexico a lot, no tunes, keep it as quite as possible.

Google "ear fatigue", it can be quite draining on your body as well.

Also wind is quite literally the worst frequencies for your ears, as far as hearing loss is concerned. Mostly because it's all or most of them, like white noise.




Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

 

[socal]

if you have buddies that sell hearing aids like i do then you can have them make a mold of your inner ear and send that to aquanot where they will make custom plugs. they seal so well they are water tight

 

[pigdog]

ya, i did the custom ear plugs. no helmet worked good.with helmet the plugs rattled my eyeballs against helmet. get a good helmet & use ear plugs for barking dogs when you cant sleep.

 

[RoadKill]

I always ride with ear plugs and use the 32db ones from CVS. I still hear my sena smh-10 fine so i'm able to listen to music and talk on the phone, but the wind doesn't give me ear fatigue. i wear them every time.
EDIT:

Also i have had many helmets all of them pretty nice and at least as quiet as the Shoei Qwest but all of them have been inadequate for wind noise.

 

[Rotaryknight]

I never rode with ear plugs, my scorpion exo500 seems to protect my ears from noise, especially wind noise pretty well. My friends shoei qwest helmet has better noise reduction compared to my scorpion.

Riding with no muffler on the highway, thats a whole other thing lol. I need plugs if I am riding on the highway with no muffler.

 

[goonanc]

**always**

like alexk,always wear plugs. good helmet + plugs. good living. can hear better, everything that goes on around me. can hear/feel the bike better. no reason not too. i use cheap from hardware store and just tie them to the loop inside ALL my jackets

 

[alexk]

Most earplug fitment problems come from the plugs not being inserted deeply enough. If it interferes with your helmet at all, then they stick out too far. Getting them in deep enough takes practice, but makes them work SO much better and keeps them from affecting your helmet fit.

The video is really dry (yay engineers!) but explains it beautifully. Check 3:56 for a picture to show how deep they should be inserted. You don't need much to be able to grab it and remove... just enough to pinch with the very tips of your finger.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX7uG1lCaXE"]Proper depth shown at 3:56[/ame]

 

[97audia4]

i wear skull ear buds to listen to music they block the wind noise really well and i can listen to jams.

 

[mckshred]

I wear ear-plugs (not sure what kind, they are rubber with multiple fins) with both my HJC and my Arai. Rarely go without them and usually carry a spare bag of them to share on my rides. Once I convince fellow buddies to use them, they become instant plug users. I can't imagine NOT wearing them.

 

[HenryT]

gotta keep the filthy buggers clean!

 

[TorontoAlex]

Any chance the custom plugs can hook up to comm system?

 

[[]V[]addog]

I use noise reduction head phones and some tunes on ling rides on the highway, make a WORLD of difference.