Ear plugs

[GreyGhost]

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You guys use ear plugs for city riding?

I prefer to not wear plugs in the city as i prefer to hear everything.

In the suburbs or rural roads? Then yes but depending on how long i plan to ride for.

I use any foam plugs. Would like to try different types though

Plugs go on before the helmet any time I plan on riding for more than 15 minutes. They don't stop you from hearing anything. They lower the sound level of all noises. When riding a bike, if you can't hear it with plugs in, you couldn't hear it with no plugs (lots of ambient/wind noise masks quieter sounds).

 

[oioioi]

I also thought that I wouldn't be able to hear anything while I was afraid that "oh my, I NEED to hear everything"

Since I have tried them, I am not going back to riding without them.
I treat them as part of a mandatory helmet that I need and want to wear.

 

[oioioi]

FREE ALERT
If any one wants a pack of earplugs in the pic below, I have a pack of 5 pairs that I can part with. Used 1 pair and did not like it.

PM me for more info.

 

[regder]

Another vote for Howard Leight, the green ones.

 

[jc100]

You should wear earplugs every ride. I have tinnitus, it’s not just from the bike I don’t think, but it’s not something you want to deal with. It basically means you never have complete peace and quiet. There’s always a high pitched noise in my head.

I have to look into getting something done about it when we get back to whatever normal is.

 

[Hardwrkr13]

You should wear earplugs every ride. I have tinnitus, it’s not just from the bike I don’t think, but it’s not something you want to deal with. It basically means you never have complete peace and quiet. There’s always a high pitched noise in my head.

I have to look into getting something done about it when we get back to whatever normal is.

I do as well. But I still say marriage is worth it.

 

[Mad Mike]

My idea is to choose very quiet helmets. They do cost more, but for a few hundred extra bucks you won’t need earplugs, you also get the benefits of comfort, aerodynamics, lower weight and most important protection for your head.

 

[jc100]

My idea is to choose very quiet helmets. They do cost more, but for a few hundred extra bucks you won’t need earplugs, you also get the benefits of comfort, aerodynamics, lower weight and most important protection for your head.

I've had super quiet helmets before. My current one is pretty quiet. It doesn’t matter, that noise inside the dome will get to you and do irreparable damage little by little. Once it’s gone it’s gone with regards to your hearing.

 

[Scuba Steve]

My idea is to choose very quiet helmets. They do cost more, but for a few hundred extra bucks you won’t need earplugs, you also get the benefits of comfort, aerodynamics, lower weight and most important protection for your head.

Interesting as far as I know there has never been a helmet made quiet enough you don't need earplugs.

Sent from my Chesterfield using my thumbs

 

[Evoex]

Plugs all the time, costs me nothing.

 

[Mad Mike]

I've had super quiet helmets before. My current one is pretty quiet. It doesn’t matter, that noise inside the dome will get to you and do irreparable damage little by little. Once it’s gone it’s gone with regards to your hearing.

I hear you (I think). For years I noticed a definite gradual decline in hearing during motorcycle season - in class I had trouble hearing students late in the season. Corrected itself over the winter but I stared worrying about permanent loss.

A few years ago I went to quiet helmets, I don’t have that issue any more.

I’ve tried a Shoei Neotech and Schuberth C3, both are very quiet compared to my RF1200 and Scorpion EXO, helmets I used in the past because I thought they were quiet. Since I switched to the C3 my hearing no longer diminishes as the season rolls along.

 

[timtune]

These 3M ones are awesome! All I use, I do trim them a bit using a scissor so some more sound from the BT speakers in the helmet can go through.

I actually sleep with these on, never notice them. Soft, and get a few uses out of a pair.

I tried various silicone ones, from cheap to pricey, to moto specific stuff. All hurt with the helmet on/off, and pressure. Foam wins time and time again

I always put my ear plugs in for sleeping when we're mc camping or at a rally. Helps a little when the early risers try to get even with the night owls.

 

[Jayv]

My idea is to choose very quiet helmets. They do cost more, but for a few hundred extra bucks you won’t need earplugs, you also get the benefits of comfort, aerodynamics, lower weight and most important protection for your head.

I always seem to go the opposite route, my thinking the louder the helmet the better the ventilation.

 

[Mad Mike]

I always seem to go the opposite route, my thinking the louder the helmet the better the ventilation.

Not always. My RF exhausts out a rear vent, it lets noise in and out and the airflow itself creates a tiny amount of woosh past your ears. My C3 exhausts through a mesh vent the neck ring, works like a muffler to inside and outside noise.

 

[mbroyda]

custom fit pair I got at the bike show, cannot ride without them

 

[afici0nad0]

OK. Rode with generic foam plugs today and was able to last a full hour without fatigue in city riding, or at least stopping for a break. Usually cant last past 30min.

Felt pretty good

 

[caje]

I use 3M foam ones, and they work very well. I cut them down a bit so my helmet doesn't knock them off when I put them on...it lets a bit more noise in which probably a good thing IMO.

I had tried generic foam ones from Walmart previously and didn't like them at all. When you squish them, they expand far too quick and it was always a pain getting it to stay in my ear.

I tried silicon ones and did not like them at all. Could never get a proper seal, even when wetted (which I found kinda gross anyway).

 

[Freddy F]

Just a semi-interesting fact, the foam earplugs reduce higher frequency noise a lot more than lower frequency. I discovered this when using them in hotel rooms...you can still hear perfectly well when someone is stomping across the floor above you. The higher the pitch, the more they work.

 

[GreyGhost]

Just a semi-interesting fact, the foam earplugs reduce higher frequency noise a lot more than lower frequency. I discovered this when using them in hotel rooms...you can still hear perfectly well when someone is stomping across the floor above you. The higher the pitch, the more they work.

That's how all passive ear protection works. Active noise-cancelling is only effective at lower frequencies with relatively constant noise sources. Combine them and you get good overall performance. To be fair, the low frequency noise is rarely at sufficient levels to cause hearing damage, it's the finer high frequency hairs that take a beating first.

 

[Jenerator]

Ear Peace. Have been using them for a few years and they work great for me.

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