ear buds

[Ivan]

so, I picked up a set of these from walmart. Not nearly as sound deadening as a set of foam earplugs. The music was not the quality I would expect, but they were only $10. As for a safety standpoint, under my helmet, I could still hear cars and such around me. With a set of foam earplugs in I can hear my self breathe over anything else even with no helmet.

I really don't think the safety issue is a worthy arguing point. For me hearing is used more to know when to shift than anything else. Driving is a visual endeavor. We don't have to take a hearing test to get a license, and arguing that sound plays a part in safety is easily quashed when riding in a luxury car with the stereo at even a minor level. I realize that scoots aren't luxury cars, but I maintain that one can be perfectly safe while riding with vigilant use of other information, and retain hearing in the long run. Things that are necessary to be heard, horns, sirens and such, will penetrate foam earplugs or ear phones.

Yes, there are occasions that sound comes into play, train crossings come to mind. But to go blindly charging into such situations while relying on sound to safe your butt from playing squashed bug on a locomotive, is just nonsensical. In city traffic, I could see the need to hear, and in that situation, music would be an irritation to me. Blasting down K96 at 80mph, the wind noise is annoying, and music would help relieve some of the auditory fatigue that sets in after a couple hours of riding. Not only that, but the drone of the engine and the blast of the wind have caught me several times in vertigo like situations, where my mind nearly shut off as the road passed by. I think something to listen to would help keep the brain engaged in these situations.

[yadada]

I think it should be illegal for deaf people to ride motorcycles.

I think it should be illegal for blind people to post on the internet.

I'm kidding by the way.

I use earplugs on a regular basis. I don't listen to music, not comfortable with that personally.

[Crazcnuk]

I too think the whole "earphone on a bike" thing is another one of those laws that sounds like it makes sense more than it really does.

If hearing was such an issue, all those Hardleys would have problems. Also, as was stated earlier, why does a bike have to hear traffic, and cars don't?

My problem with cranking the cycle sound high enough to hear it at highway speeds, to overcome the road and air noise, is that it's loud enough to give me headaches.

I don't listen to music, normally, when I drive. I listen to talk radio.

I think it's a completely different thing as to whether you wear open or closed helmets, too. I only use open face helmets which likely doubles the noise I get.

[TopCatGr58]

The sound of silence.

Okay, as animals, we humans are visually oriented, and we get about 90% of our information/input from our eyes. Yes, hearing is important, but as has been said, with my windows up, and the radio playing, I can't hear a SIREN until it's less than a block away if that, and will have already seen the flashing lights and such long before that.

I got into the habit of using foam earplugs for riding during rallies, thanks to Gary Granger at the first XSEast I attended in 2002. Before that, I just wore a full face helmet, but no hearing protection. But I didn't ride my machine much in those early years, just back and forth to work ~30 miles each way. I wasn't exposed to hours of noise abuse, and my ears never rang afterwards.

When I started riding my bike to the rallies for hundreds of miles, mostly on superslabs, I was concerned about the boredom and road fatigue, as well as chances for hearing damage. I got an MP3 CD player first, and used earbuds to help keep my mind from going NUMB!!! If I'm riding with a small group, once I put them in and turn on the music, I can't hear my fellow bikers TALK to me, but I can still easily hear horns, sirens, etc.! I have a flash card style MP3 player now, use it for the LDR's, but not once I get to the rallies, I just use hearing protection earplugs then.

The earbuds I got a few years ago from RS are nice soft and big, and cushion the plastic speaker well, so that it doesn't rub against any part of my ear. I have good hearing in both ears, and I want to enjoy my STEREO music. As stated, I can still hear alerting sounds, and actually better than when I'm in my SUV, so I don't see any safety issues with this setup.

But you have to also realize that you can cause hearing damage with the music when you turn it up loud enough to hear it over the road/engine noise. Continuous exposures to sound pressure levels of 80+db for extended time CAN cause damage just like short bursts of sound levels above 90 db. IF you ears ring after your use of earbuds, then you have had the music up too loud!
T.C.

[Ivan]

Well, I sprang for a set of JVC "Marshmallow" canal buds. These have a memory foam cover instead of the silicone. From my perspective, they are much more comfortable and secure in the ear. They also do a nuch better job at blanking out background noise. I took a blast down the hiway at 70mph and it was much more pleasant not being hammere with wind noise. While I could turn the volume up to the point that only the music could be heard, it was just too much. Leaving the volume at a moderate level., I could enjoy the ride, the music, and still hear cars as they passed. Probably the best of all worlds.

I would highly recommend canal buds with foam as opposed to the silicone, they are more comfortable and secure. The JVC hads ok sound, but not nearly as loud as my wife's Body Glove Headset, which had much better bass and clarity, but the silicone seals.

Riding around town was not as much a problem as I had surmised, I got along just fine.

All in all, I think being able to block the wind rumble and listen to music, or podcasts, or even radio is going to make long distance trips much more enjoyable.

[DJinNH]

Whenever I go for a ride of some distance and I am wearing my half helmet, I definitely wear the soft plugs. They cut down on the headaches or fatigue from all that noise. I even wore them on the outboard boats and inboard boats all those years in South Florida. That wind can really get your ears ringing.

With my full helmet, I am usually good to go as my pipes are normal, I guess. Not a lot of sound coming into the helmet like wind, but I can hear cars and horns just fine.

Don

[HobbyMan]

Hello, My name is Andrew and I am addicted to music
My $.02..
I rarely leave the house on my bike without some sort of tunes. I have a pair of LE headphones that use the silicon style inserts. I have had the foam style before and they don't last as long and are harder to use. Mine disintegrated and I started using a pair of earplugs with a hole punched in the center to slide the speaker through (not a good idea and a big PITA!) My helmet does not block out that much wind noise so I end up running my mp3 player on high volume. If I can't get to the volume control right away when slowing dowin, I can't hear traffic. Any more than 50 miles like this = headaches.

I don't like using earbuds but right now, its all that I have. With a tight fitting helmet, I have a hard time putting the earbuds in and keeping them in.
I know its a long post but I am an absolute profectionist when it comes to good music.
This summer, I plan on buying a new helmet and building a bluetooth setup. The constant movement of the wires causes them to break. Wired headphones allways end up with a mess of extensions and plugs taking up valuable space in your jacket pockets. My new mp3 player is bluetooth capable. I am either going to buy a set of bluetooth speakers and put them in my helmet or buy a bluetooth reciever and mount it in my helmet along with some higher quality amplified speakers. With this, I will be able to have my mp3 player mounted on my handle bars for easy acess. It is important to be able to pause or mute the player in case you need silence. (listening to your bike in the bike for mechanical issues or traffic)
To sum it all up, good tunes are a must.

Earbuds:
Pro- help block out noise, cheap
con- bundle of wires, some broken wires, loud to mask out any remaining noise, hard to use with some helmets

wired helmet speakers:
Pro- a little safer concerning traffic noise, easier to use (just put on helmet and plug in)
Con-wire issues, good speakers sometimes need an amplifier to be powered from an mp3 player, They can be VERY uncomfortable if not installed correctly

Bluetooth:
pro-NO WIRES, easy to use, can be hassle free
cons: space requirement in helmet ( battery, reciever, etc...) some units don't have as good sound quality, can be expensive, helmet must be recharged once in a while
note: it may be easier to just buy a helmet with bluetooth speakers already installed.