Helmet noise & ear protection

Helmet noise & ear protection

Poll: Helmet noise & ear protection

Total Members Polled: 209

Yes: 67%
No: 18%
Sometimes: 15%
Author
Discussion

Fort Jefferson

8,237 posts

221 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
ccr32 said:
Best ones I have found for me so far have been the Howard Leight Laser Lite's.
Another vote for these, I've used them for years.

I wear them EVERY TIME I ride, with no exceptions.

WaferThinHam

1,680 posts

129 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
Fort Jefferson said:
ccr32 said:
Best ones I have found for me so far have been the Howard Leight Laser Lite's.
Another vote for these, I've used them for years.

I wear them EVERY TIME I ride, with no exceptions.
Mouldex for me. The offical ear plug of NASCAR.

AdamGP

198 posts

123 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
I've recently bought some Dewalt ear plugs as I found on longer rides I was getting ringing in my ears after, though seems to just make the exhaust sound more boomy, so going to look at trying another brand.

AdamGP

198 posts

123 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
I was expecting them to be a lot quieter, I guess this would be the same for everybody then.

I'm used to wearing ear plugs though, I was a joiner for 8 years, just have never worn them on a bike before.

ccr32

1,968 posts

217 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
WaferThinHam said:
Fort Jefferson said:
ccr32 said:
Best ones I have found for me so far have been the Howard Leight Laser Lite's.
Another vote for these, I've used them for years.

I wear them EVERY TIME I ride, with no exceptions.
Mouldex for me. The offical ear plug of NASCAR.
There's an official ear plug of NASCAR?!

Every day's a school day...

julian64

14,317 posts

253 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
Nascars a buch of girls. I don't wear ear protection on a bike for the same reason I don't wear earrings or suspenders.

I'm actually a man.

mike-r

1,539 posts

190 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
julian64 said:
Nascars a buch of girls. I don't wear ear protection on a bike for the same reason I don't wear earrings or suspenders.

I'm actually a man.
Not sure if serious. I suppose you'd work in a spray booth without a respirator or weld without a mask, et cetera, as well? So manly!

julian64

14,317 posts

253 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
Well you could izzard your way through a number of examples but it makes for a meaningless thread.

For instance I could counter with 'do you put earmuffs on when someone opens a window in your car, or on the morning passenger train'

Or I could dispair from a health nd safety point of view saying that sticking ear buds in while motorcycling is about the same as having an MP3 playing blaring in your ears while riding toward your darwinian future.

Or simply say that a bike which requires the rider to stick in ear protection but leave the near by pedestrians exposed to the noise is a bit of a plonker.

But I just decided that we need the direct approach for this particular thread.

If we can all agreed that it isn't very manly to put earbuds in then we can stop all of these sort of threads with little surrounding argument smile

Baryonyx

17,990 posts

158 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
I don't at the moment, but when I upgrade to a bigger, faster bike I will invest post-haste. My current bike isn't very fast, and even at full tilt with the wind blowing a gale towards me, I found my helmet pretty quiet, especially with a neck warmer on which seals the bottom off and removes a channel for noisey, turbulent airflow.

Dr Jekyll

23,820 posts

260 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
julian64 said:
Well you could izzard your way through a number of examples but it makes for a meaningless thread.

For instance I could counter with 'do you put earmuffs on when someone opens a window in your car, or on the morning passenger train'
No, because the noise level isn't high enough to be damaging in those situations.

julian64 said:
Or I could dispair from a health nd safety point of view saying that sticking ear buds in while motorcycling is about the same as having an MP3 playing blaring in your ears while riding toward your darwinian future.
No, you can still hear what you need to hear even with plugs in.

julian64 said:
Or simply say that a bike which requires the rider to stick in ear protection but leave the near by pedestrians exposed to the noise is a bit of a plonker.
It's the wind noise on the helmet that does the damage, this doesn't affect pedestrians.


black-k1

11,887 posts

228 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
Purity14 said:
Just bought some ear plugs today, went for a ride. (Based on this thread)
Felt a bit queasy to be honest, i arrived home feeling nauseous.

Is that normal?

The bike did sound better.
I rode faster than I usually do, and had to keep myself in check.
Not uncommon until you get used to them - 2 or 3 trips will sort that.

chibbard

1,554 posts

259 months

Saturday 13th September 2014
quotequote all
No from me as I don't suffer from tinnitus and wind noise has never bothered me. Saying that my hearing isn't the best but I put that down to loud car stereos in my younger days....oh and my HP4 full titanium exhaust is a pleasure to listen to....

Dr Jekyll

23,820 posts

260 months

Saturday 13th September 2014
quotequote all
chibbard said:
No from me as I don't suffer from tinnitus yet and wind noise has never bothered me. Saying that my hearing isn't the best but I put that down to loud car stereos in my younger days....oh and my HP4 full titanium exhaust is a pleasure to listen to....
EFA

FunkyNige

8,859 posts

274 months

Saturday 13th September 2014
quotequote all
https://sites.google.com/site/earplugsbypost/home does a selection of ear plugs for a tenner if you want to try a load of different ones, I found the cylinder shaped ones a better fit that the cylinder shaped ones. I think it's the North Decidamp that I use.

clen666

925 posts

121 months

Saturday 13th September 2014
quotequote all
For those that don't use ear plugs because they don't find wind noise too bad, I suggest that you at least try using them for a while.

I didn't use them until someone suggested them, its not until you've tried them and then gone without that you realise just how loud it actually is.

And saying you don't use them because you don't have tinnitus is like saying you don't use a condom because you don't have syphilis.

But there's plenty advice on here, so each to their own...

black-k1

11,887 posts

228 months

Saturday 13th September 2014
quotequote all
chibbard said:
No from me as I don't suffer from tinnitus and wind noise has never bothered me. Saying that my hearing isn't the best but I put that down to loud car stereos in my younger days....oh and my HP4 full titanium exhaust is a pleasure to listen to....
By the time you realise you have a problem, it's too late. You can not get back any hearing lost to damage.

obscene

5,174 posts

184 months

Saturday 13th September 2014
quotequote all
black-k1 said:
By the time you realise you have a problem, it's too late. You can not get back any hearing lost to damage.
What? hehe

This. Hearing damage is no joke, plus assuming you like the sound of your exhaust you might want to use earplugs so you can hear it in future years.

MarkRSi

5,782 posts

217 months

Saturday 13th September 2014
quotequote all
Always wear them. How I managed the first 2-3 months without them is beyond me (okay I wasn't that quick but still).

The first time I wore some, the silence was quite eerie. The earplugs I use at the moment (yellow foam cylinder types) aren't quite as silent but at least I can hear the 675 biggrin although they loose effectiveness after a few uses then almost seem to amplify the noise rather than quieten it (or is my bike that loud? hehe)

That reminds me, I need to get some more in...

Edited by MarkRSi on Saturday 13th September 19:54

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

254 months

Sunday 14th September 2014
quotequote all
julian64 said:
Nascars a buch of girls. I don't wear ear protection on a bike for the same reason I don't wear earrings or suspenders.

I'm actually a man.
And if you manage to survive to an older age, then you will be a deaf man. A really hard, macho deaf man who still thinks that not using hearing protection for the sake of his perceived masculinity was worth the sacrifice.

julian64

14,317 posts

253 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
Mr2Mike said:
julian64 said:
Nascars a buch of girls. I don't wear ear protection on a bike for the same reason I don't wear earrings or suspenders.

I'm actually a man.
And if you manage to survive to an older age, then you will be a deaf man. A really hard, macho deaf man who still thinks that not using hearing protection for the sake of his perceived masculinity was worth the sacrifice.
Yeah but then I believe the risk to my masculinity is too high to be using face creams to protect my boyish good looks as well.

BTW I have never seen someone with deafness of old age cause by a motorcycle. Strangely I have never seen it in an HGV driver either, and I would have thought the noise in the caab was at least as high as wind noise on a bike.

What I do know is that the majority of bikers die from either their inattention, or that of the people surrounding them. Losing one of your senses for comfort won't imporve those statistics.

On a more general note, although high ambient noise can damage your hearing, the relatively short time on a motorocycle is very unlikely to cause it. The inner ear has an amplification system which can effectively turn up or down the volume comming into the ear. You can demonstate this if you spend some time in a noisy room and then go into a quite one where someone is talking. This isn't damage to your ear, its the amplification system changing.