Ear Plugs

M450

You've all convinced me to give these a try! Gonna grab a pack of these 3m ones: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pairs-E-A-R-Earsoft-Ear-Plugs/dp/B00374LCFS

I figure that between wind noise, engine noise and blaring music through speakers built into my helmet I may be doing some damage.

Hoping that they might even improve the music clarity by blocking the wind noise but allowing the music through? Or is that just crazy?

goodlad

I tried some ear plugs yesterday and today when commuting.
I absolutely hated it. I tend to commute lane hoping up the middle of all the traffic on national roads. With the ear plugs in I felt like I lost my hearing and was looking around like a crazy person in case something was there that I should of heard but couldn't.

Realistically I can't hear anything over my exhausts anyway but the sensation of dulled down hearing from the ear plugs was awful. I deffo won't be wearing them again.

I can see them being quite nice to have in if I was doing a long boring straight line drive with feck all traffic about.

Canis Lupus

goodlad wrote: »

I tried some ear plugs yesterday and today when commuting.
I absolutely hated it. I tend to commute lane hoping up the middle of all the traffic on national roads. With the ear plugs in I felt like I lost my hearing and was looking around like a crazy person in case something was there that I should of heard but couldn't.

Realistically I can't hear anything over my exhausts anyway but the sensation of dulled down hearing from the ear plugs was awful. I deffo won't be wearing them again.

I can see them being quite nice to have in if I was doing a long boring straight line drive with feck all traffic about.

You get used to them and hey, if you keeping riding without them eventually it will be like riding with earplugs anyway you'll be so deaf so possibly a cost saving on buying earplugs for years. Win win :P

Tzardine

My hearing has been damaged by riding. The wind noise and loud exhaust are to blame.

It prevented me getting a job as a Garda. Got all the way to the medical and failed the hearing test. I had only been riding 3 years at the time. So my hearing was damaged in a very short time.

You do get used to wearing the ear plugs. I wear them every day for my commute. I find now that if I don't wear them the wind noise is unbearable.

A pair of good, properly fitted earplugs will drown out the wind noise but you will still hear every else.

positron

Tzardine wrote: »

My hearing has been damaged by riding. The wind noise and loud exhaust are to blame.

It prevented me getting a job as a Garda. Got all the way to the medical and failed the hearing test. I had only been riding 3 years at the time. So my hearing was damaged in a very short time.

You do get used to wearing the ear plugs. I wear them every day for my commute. I find now that if I don't wear them the wind noise is unbearable.

A pair of good, properly fitted earplugs will drown out the wind noise but you will still hear every else.

+1. This is experience speaking. I don't know how anyone can choose to ignore this.

goodlad, try and do couple of more days with them in and see if that changes your feeling of deafness - I have done around 50k kms with earplugs in and I can hear cages near me, even on motorway. Regularly checking your mirrors and blindspots and doing lifesavers is something we all need to do anyway, and if not hearing a cage puts you at risk, what if a really quiet cage (like Nissan Leaf) comes up near you? I know it's an individual thing, so I definitely don't want to sound like I am being pushy, but everyone should give it at least a week before deciding if it's for them or not... imho!

positron

M450 wrote: »

Hoping that they might even improve the music clarity by blocking the wind noise but allowing the music through? Or is that just crazy?

That might be a bit of crazy alright... Unless you get one of those expensive ETYMOTIC earplugs, that will let in the right sound and cut out anything over certain db / frequency.

Not being able to listen to radio/music/podcasts is something that I really miss by wearing cheap Howard Leight earplugs. However I console myself thinking less distractions has got to be a good thing - enjoy riding more etc.

goodlad

As much as the earplugs annoyed me i didn't wear them today and the wind noise really annoyed me where as its never bothered me before.
I will give them a bash again for a few days.

I also listen to music on the bike but didnt bother when the ear plugs were in.
Might need to crank up the volume of the music to hear it which may defeat the point of wearing ear plugs

M450

goodlad wrote: »

I also listen to music on the bike but didnt bother when the ear plugs were in.
Might need to crank up the volume of the music to hear it which may defeat the point of wearing ear plugs

What setup have you got? I'm using the Sharktooth, speakers aren't great but they automatically increase the volume as the background noise increases. When I'm on the M50 I can barely hear the music so I can only imagine the damage being done to my ears!

goodlad

M450 wrote: »

What setup have you got? I'm using the Sharktooth, speakers aren't great but they automatically increase the volume as the background noise increases. When I'm on the M50 I can barely hear the music so I can only imagine the damage being done to my ears!

Shuberth Src in my S2 Lid.
Volume is grand. I can hear the tunes pretty loud even when doing 120kmh.
And it auto adjusts when it picks up more noise. Its dead handy for when i start belting out the lyrics and the song goes louder so i can still hear it over the awful sound of my own singing voice

CrazyRabbit

Another +1 on the Howard Leight Laser Lite's. I use them all the time. Comfortable, easy to use and a good reduction in wind noise whilst still allowing me to hear what is going on around me.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pairs-Howard-Leight-Laser-Plugs/dp/B00A25JLN0/ref=sr_1_20/278-4198787-0559640?ie=UTF8&qid=1412277772&sr=8-20&keywords=earplugs

Del2005

goodlad wrote: »

I tried some ear plugs yesterday and today when commuting.
I absolutely hated it. I tend to commute lane hoping up the middle of all the traffic on national roads. With the ear plugs in I felt like I lost my hearing and was looking around like a crazy person in case something was there that I should of heard but couldn't.

Realistically I can't hear anything over my exhausts anyway but the sensation of dulled down hearing from the ear plugs was awful. I deffo won't be wearing them again.

I can see them being quite nice to have in if I was doing a long boring straight line drive with feck all traffic about.

There are different levels of noise protection available. Try dropping down a level of protection to see if you like it, some protection is better than none.