one more thought
If you like to listen to music as you ride (I don't, but that is just a personal preference) try the following:
1. Bring up a favourite song on your Ipod or Sat radio station and adjust the volume as you sit on your bike, ignition off. Get the volume to a level which is satisfying but not deafening. (OK, for some types of music I recognize that those two terms are almost synoymous.) Trust you get the idea. Real "listening" music, not "background" music, but at a level you don't think will cause hearing damage. Then fire up the bike and go for a ride. Is that volume level you selected in your driveway enough in traffic, or at highway speeds?
2. If you are tempted to increase the volume on the road to counteract the noise wind, tires, and other vehicles are creating - well do it to the point where the music again is "satisfying." Then pull over as soon as you can, turn off the bike, and assess the sound level your were just listening to. If the level is kind of deafening with the bike parked, it is just as deafening on the road - and unfortunately that term means literally, over time, just that.
3. The solutions are "quieter" helmets, better fitting ear buds, or both so you DON'T have to increase the volume above "driveway" volume.
I think this may be an insidious problem for many. Try the above experiment and report back your findings.
If you like to listen to music as you ride (I don't, but that is just a personal preference) try the following:
1. Bring up a favourite song on your Ipod or Sat radio station and adjust the volume as you sit on your bike, ignition off. Get the volume to a level which is satisfying but not deafening. (OK, for some types of music I recognize that those two terms are almost synoymous.) Trust you get the idea. Real "listening" music, not "background" music, but at a level you don't think will cause hearing damage. Then fire up the bike and go for a ride. Is that volume level you selected in your driveway enough in traffic, or at highway speeds?
2. If you are tempted to increase the volume on the road to counteract the noise wind, tires, and other vehicles are creating - well do it to the point where the music again is "satisfying." Then pull over as soon as you can, turn off the bike, and assess the sound level your were just listening to. If the level is kind of deafening with the bike parked, it is just as deafening on the road - and unfortunately that term means literally, over time, just that.
3. The solutions are "quieter" helmets, better fitting ear buds, or both so you DON'T have to increase the volume above "driveway" volume.
I think this may be an insidious problem for many. Try the above experiment and report back your findings.