Ear Plugs (do you or don't you?)

Well, I tried out earplugs twice now. First time was at night. As I traveled home on two laners with little to no traffic it added to the feeling that I was moving along in a little bubble created by my headlight as I watched trees and what not slide by.

Second was for about 100 miles or so yesterday exploring my part of Michigan and looking at the rivers swell waaaaay out of their banks. (Didn't take the camera on account of all the rain!)

My conclusion is that I do not like them, no I don't. They make me feel isolated from the bike. By now I can tell by the pitch of the motor my approx speed/rpm's and with the plugs in I couldn't even hear the bike much less deduce rpms.

So - do you use 'em? If so, then why do you like them?

Strictly speaking, from the physiological standpoint, the use of earplugs will stave off the cumlative effect of noise on one's hearing. Perhaps someone with a grasp of the specific effects will post and address that aspect of the question.

Either way, I usually use earplugs when riding on long trips. Having done it both ways (with, and without earplugs) I have found that at the end of an all day blast on the freeway, they relieve a lot of "noise fatigue" for me.

For short jaunts around town, or moderate length rides of an hour or two to eat or drink coffee, I won't take the time.

At Dogwood Trail, a vendor was serving a steady stream of customers doing custom earplug fitment. I listened to his pitch, but declined to buy. I've tried the various shapes and types of foam earplugs, and while nothing is perfect, I have not gone the custom fitted route.

Sooo ... for me, it depends on the situation.

No I don't

Earplugs aren't for me. The only time I would use them might be if I had an ear ache and wanted to ride. If I wanted quietness I would just drive the cage. A BMW doesn't make enough noise to need earplugs, so why would anyone want to use them anyway? I believe that they hinder one's ability to hear and prevent a rider from being aware of the surroundings of what could potentially be an accident from not hearing other motorists. I enjoy the freedom of the road with all of it's sights, sounds, and smells. To me that's what riding is all about.

I do on trips where I know I'll be riding fast for a sustained period of time and/or won't have much traffic.

For me, earplugs reduce just the wind noise; I can still hear the engine okay and high-frequency sounds like sirens.

I use the standard cylinder-shaped foam ones but cut them down a little so they don't rub against the helmet.

Earplugs? You bet.

I prefer to look over the windshield in my RT, and even with my full-face Arai, there's plenty of noise. Sticking the drug store Hearo's in my ears makes for a much more pleasant ride. I find I'm less fatigued as well.

Some of you may feel that the earplugs make you less aware of your surroundings, but I find the opposite to be true. Without the large amount of wind noise, I find I'm more likely to notice horns, sirens, Harley-Pipes-Saving-Lives, etc. as I motor along.

My dad lost quite a bit of his hearing after 40 years as a machinist; the noise he was exposed to wasn't LOUD, but it was CONSTANT. If I'm riding more than half an hour, it's with earplugs.

TB

Ear plugs all the time

To me one of the most tiring things is the white noise hash caused by the wind rushing by at legal speeds, sometimes faster on the track.

The concept of threshold shift and ear fatigue are two things that I am concerned about. Threshold shift is what occurs when you hear loud noises for a while, you stop hearing the quiet ones. It is what happens when you walk into a concert going full bore.

The ear fatigue varies by person, but it drives me batty and saps my energy. I have the same problem on planes.

There are other things to be aware of; according to the reading I have done, a helmet can have an interior sound of 85dBa of SPL at speed. An eight hour exposure to that level can do permanent damage.

Then again I do work in the audio industry so I am really careful about the hearing stuff.

I wear them all the time. It makes my ride more comfortable and I don't get as tired!

Jim

Ear plugs help me hear

When I first started riding I didn't wear earplugs and all I could hear was the wind going WHOOOOOOSH and the engine going GRAAAAAAAHHH!
Passing cars and other "important" noises? I couldn't hear 'em!
At first I thought hearing the wind and the road and the engine was what motorcycling was all about. Just me and the machine! But after an hour of listening to a steady WOOOOOOOSH and GRAAAAAAAAHHH my mind got bored and my ears got tired.

Okay, so to finish my story...

So as I was saying....

I thought I'd liven things up by putting some speakers in my helmet so i could listen to the radio. I was disappointed by the fact that I had to crank the walkman all the way up in order to be able to barely hear it at highway speeds.

One day as I was riding, barely rocking out to some tunes on the radio, it occured to me that I would never listen the music this loud under normal circumstances, and if the wind noise and engine noise were EVEN LOUDER than the radio, what the $#@& was this doing to my hearing?!?!?

I went and bought some hearos ear plugs and wore them on my next trip and I was amazed at how much they "lowered the volume" of the wind and engine noise. I could still hear the wind and the engine, but now I could also hear passing cars, other assorted "road noises" AND my walkman. And you know what? With the earplugs in, I was able to hear so well that I actually turned my walkman volume DOWN! Yeah, the earplugs just take the edge off of everything, and I dont arrive at my destination with ringing ears and feeling worn out due to overwhelming noise.
Since then I've read that at 70mph, the wind noise inside your helmet can be so loud that hearing damage will occur INSTANTANEOUSLY.

So I think ear plugs are great!

Tarren Shaw
PhD to Be

Not yet........

I just picked up a set of in ear earphones at the last rally, and had a chance to give them about 20 miles on the road, both with an without music.

The hardest part was learning to shift visualy with the tach rather than relying on engine noise to make the decision. Aside from that I really liked not having the constant wind noise.

I'll have to put some serious road miles in with them to really determine if it makes a difference in the fatigue at the end of the day, but I like them in concept at this point.

For about the last decade, I've been wearing them for any trip longer than about ten minutes. With plugs, at the end of a long day, my ears don't ring. At the end of a long day, I'm not nearly as tired.

I can hear the vehicles around me better. I can hear my own bike running. I can hear myself breathing inside my helmet.

I even wore plugs when I used to go to punk rock shows. When I got home, I could sleep.

Plugs? Won't ride without them. I've usually got a few pair floating around my riding gear pockets.

I had custom ones for a couple years, but ears grow and change and they no longer fit. The foam jobs are actually quieter. It did take me a bit to get used to them. My brother and I rode from MA to Brownsville, TX with our wives one year and we tried earplugs. That's when I got hooked.

Here's a great link that talks about noise in helmets

Plugs for me on long trips. Biggest struggle for me was remembering to pop them back in at gas stops. Sucks to realize that you didn't put them in right as you are hitting 60mph at the top of the onramp.

RW

I use custom plugs,about $200 CDN.Mine are 3 years old and still fit and work well.I don't use them for short hops.I can hear everything I need to with them in, and I notice the difference in my fatigue level after a long day.I do not have the science on irrecoverable hearing loss,but what little I know,scares me.
Yeah,ear plugs.Uh huh!

What did you say?

Having worked around heavy machinery for years, and religiously used protection (hearing of course). Even with care, I have significant hearing loss. I use the plugs on any ride longer than the 5 minute commute to work (parkway speeds) . One would be wise to protect what you have.

Imagine being able to crank the treble control on your stereo all the way up or down and not hear a difference, have the greatest difficulty hearing womens' or childrens' voices, and living with a constant ringing that masks what you do want to hear.

Wear em.
Jim

Re: What did you say?

tinboatcapt said:

... have the greatest difficulty hearing womens' or childrens' voices, and living with a constant ringing that masks what you do want to hear.

Wear em.
Jim

Click to expand...

I have the same problem, so my ex told me.

But seriously, I have some hearing loss from my military days and I also have a hard time with crowds. The white noise, similar to wind noise, makes it hard to hear certain tones and at certain times.

Wear em!

Jim

Just like Kbasa and Tarren said.

Foam plugs, all the time, every time. They reduce the cumulative fatigue on trips. They don't interefere with hearing; I can hear the engine and other traffic just fine, and they don't interfere with smooth shifting at all.

For many years, I was involved in choral music, and early on decided that I should do everything I could to protect my hearing. After awhile, putting pugs in every time and keeping spares floating around the storage compartments and tank bag became habit. When I occasionally forget to insert them, I pull into traffic and am *always* astounded at how noisy it is. I buy them in boxes of 200 pairs for ~$25.00. At this price, I don't bother washing them any more; when they get soft, I grab a new set.

I live in NYC so I really don't need them around town,but if out for a long trip you better believe I use them. My shulbeth helmet is not the quietest helmet around you know.I use the little yellow foam plugs that you roll between your fingers and then insert in your ear.

gambrinus said:

Plugs for me on long trips. Biggest struggle for me was remembering to pop them back in at gas stops. Sucks to realize that you didn't put them in right as you are hitting 60mph at the top of the onramp.

RW

Click to expand...

Yep, that's me. I don't use them for my commute (15 mi./20 min. on back roads) but I do use them for long rides or hwy riding. I just forget to put them in often. If by myself I stop but when riding in pairs or a group I put them in at the next stop.

At the end of the day I can either take off my helmet and feel like I just left a loud bar or pop out my ear plugs and feel like I can hear again. It's not the engine noise, it's the wind noise. With the plugs in I can still hear the engine speed about the same.

MarkF

Great to hear so much interest in saving hearing.

I don't bother for a couple blocks of below 35 mph - like to the grocery store.

For the commute to work and around town I wear the kind with three ridges and a string. That saves time because I don't have to worry about them expanding properly in my ear. And I can just leave them hanging around my neck while I do my errands and pop them back in when I get back to the bike.

Of course, the squishy ones are more comfortable when the helmet's on for a while.

I've been really wanting a pair of molded plugs. My buddy has a pair with several filters of varrying db cuts.

I have no interest in losing my hearing due to wind noise, music, or whatever. I've got spare squishy ear plugs stashed everywhere: on the bike, in my car, in my instrument cases, and in my practice room. It's surprising how often someone else appreciates the offer. Bands play too loud!

cliffy, i had the same experience as you, and i still go back and forth. i'd gotten used to the way riding sounded without plugs. then i tried plugs, and at first i had a real problem with it. little 'snick' sounds from shifting went away, and other things like that. then i got used to it. ive tried to separate it into two separate problems, even though theyre coupled. one is the easy one - hearing protection. i dont want to lose my hearing, and i can tell that in my el cheapo HJC helmet, it's loud and it's bad. two - i wonder about rider safety. i want to hear the sounds of the cars around me. like what good is it for me to be a corpse with really good hearing. "hey, we found the head! check it out, his ears look GREAT! wow!"

so i have been switching back and forth, particularly in town, and what ive been learning is that it is just different. ive tried really hard to hear the other cars around me, and i really cant, with or without plugs. (maybe my hearing is already shot?) most cars are so quiet these days. and so ive noticed that without the plugs, i really couldnt hear that much detail around me. then i ride with plugs, and i find that i can hear the same things that i can hear without the plugs. theyre a little softer, but theyre not competing against a wall of sound from my helmet/the wind. so im 90% convinced that im not all that much less safer with earplugs in in the city.

on the highway, it's a slam dunk for me, plugs are better, and the lower ambient noise just seems more pleasant to me.

the other thing i wondered about was having all my senses tuned to the bike as well, and noticing problems right away. what i've convinced myself of is that i get *some* sound through the plugs, and i get *changes* in sound through the plug. (modulation is the real key, right?) i also feel what my bike is doing very easily through my hands and feet. i think i need a throttle body sync, and my feet and hands are telling me this.

and finally, i tried a bunch of different plugs. i cant recall what ive settled on, i buy them at the welding shop. they might be hearos. disposable, orange, and bullet shaped. anyway, try various ones out, ive learnt that if the fit is poor, the performance is crappy and i get a bad read. when the fit is snug and theyre working right, it's pretty nice. i can hear all the same stuff, is just seems like someone turned the gain down on my ears.