[Chowda]

When you're on longer road trips do you wear earplugs? I will be wearing a full face helmet and wondering if I'll need earplugs and, if so, what are some effective and comfortable plugs. I will also be using a Sena bluetooth so will need to be able to hear it.

 

[FastNinja]

i do not were ear plugs. I upgraded my helmet to an AGV K5 S which greatly reduced wind noise compared to my HJC helmet. I also use a Sena.

 

[tyrmeltr]

I've been wearing ear plugs for almost 10 years now. Rode for 18 years before that without them.

 

[Johnmark101]

I buy my disposable earplugs off of Amazon and wear them on every ride. Long term exposure to wind noise can damage your hearing over time. Use them when mowing as well.

 

[Rickifumi]

I never ride without earplugs, ever.

A few months ago I was riding with a guy on a very loud thumper. Afterwards, he mentioned forgetting his earplugs so I gave him a new pair of mine. "Hey, they are even Kawasaki green!" That rider was none other than the 1981 and 1982 AMA Superbike champion.

 

[mrsand]

Never hurts to protect your hearing.....even tissue paper stuffed helps

 

[Bikram]

I have owned and ridden with these helmets... AGV K5, Shark Race R Pro, Shoei Neotec, Schuberth C3 Pro, AGV Sport Modular, Shark Evo One2... and I use ear plugs with each. It’s the wind noise which affects hearing over a period of time. Using ear plugs is big YES for me. I also use Cardo Scala Packtalk communicator and it works absolutely fine with the ear plugs.

I use No Noise ear plugs. They are brilliant.

 

[Chrispy]

I never ride without earplugs, ever.

A few months ago I was riding with a guy on a very loud thumper. Afterwards, he mentioned forgetting his earplugs so I gave him a new pair of mine. "Hey, they are even Kawasaki green!" That rider was none other than the 1981 and 1982 AMA Superbike champion.

Pics or it never happened. :wink:

 

[cooldaddygroove]

55 years old, been riding for 25 years. A typical day ride for me is 500 miles and significantly over the speed limit. You better get yourself something to protect your hearing, 'cause if you don't you will be F*cked when you get to my age. I have tried every combination of earplugs and comm systems out there, and for me (Me, old guy) the only thing that is effective is a set of custom molded earplugs with dual driver speakers in them, connected to my Cardo PAck Talk (same results with my SENA SMH10).


Here's some more perspective for you. Some riders I ride with are fine with the stock speakers that came with their comms system, and use good quality foamie ear plugs. Foam ear plugs will actually provide better protection than the $300 custom ear plugs that I use, and even the company that made mine will tell you this. But.........anything over 55mph, they have difficulty hearing our conversations. With my setup, I can hear a conversation at 150mph, plus the fidelity of my music is amazing, especially the base response with the dual drivers.


They all say speaker placement in the helmet is the key to good sound. I personally wanted to get away from my custom plugs this summer, mostly because your ears get sore toward the end of the day from all the helmet on/helmet off that occurs. They tend to get torn out of your ears when you take your helmet off. So back to the speaker foamie setup. And a few hours of riding, stopping to move the speakers, repeat. I got it as best I could and while it was ok for riding in the city, anything over 50mph was useless. I also went and got my hearing tested, and while I was missing out on some high frequencies, typical for my age, my hearing was fine. I'm also using a brand new Shoei RF1200 which is a pretty damn quiet helmet.


If you have good hearing, the most comfortable setup is speakers and foamies (or those flanged plugs mentioned earlier). If you want amazing sound for music, custom molded with dual drivers inside is the way to go, but you are gonna pay for that.


Everyone is different, their hearing is different, where their head is in relation to the windscreen, how tight their helmet is etc.


I even have a set of Etymotic earphones, which are excellent, but even they make my ears sore and will still get ripped out of my ears when I take my helmet off https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/earphones.html

 

[Chrispy]

If you have good hearing, the most comfortable setup is speakers and foamies (or those flanged plugs mentioned earlier). If you want amazing sound for music, custom molded with dual drivers inside is the way to go, but you are gonna pay for that.

After trying lots of options, I've come to same conclusion (speakers and foamies). I buy foamies in bulk, throw them away as needed and use my Etymotic's only for the super long rides.

When I started working in machine shops many years ago, I quickly noticed how difficult it was sometimes to talk to the old guys due to their hearing loss and started wearing hearing protection ever since.

 

[mrsand]

ear plugs

55 years old, been riding for 25 years. A typical day ride for me is 500 miles and significantly over the speed limit. You better get yourself something to protect your hearing, 'cause if you don't you will be F*cked when you get to my age. I have tried every combination of earplugs and comm systems out there, and for me (Me, old guy) the only thing that is effective is a set of custom molded earplugs with dual driver speakers in them, connected to my Cardo PAck Talk (same results with my SENA SMH10).


Here's some more perspective for you. Some riders I ride with are fine with the stock speakers that came with their comms system, and use good quality foamie ear plugs. Foam ear plugs will actually provide better protection than the $300 custom ear plugs that I use, and even the company that made mine will tell you this. But.........anything over 55mph, they have difficulty hearing our conversations. With my setup, I can hear a conversation at 150mph, plus the fidelity of my music is amazing, especially the base response with the dual drivers.


They all say speaker placement in the helmet is the key to good sound. I personally wanted to get away from my custom plugs this summer, mostly because your ears get sore toward the end of the day from all the helmet on/helmet off that occurs. They tend to get torn out of your ears when you take your helmet off. So back to the speaker foamie setup. And a few hours of riding, stopping to move the speakers, repeat. I got it as best I could and while it was ok for riding in the city, anything over 50mph was useless. I also went and got my hearing tested, and while I was missing out on some high frequencies, typical for my age, my hearing was fine. I'm also using a brand new Shoei RF1200 which is a pretty damn quiet helmet.


If you have good hearing, the most comfortable setup is speakers and foamies (or those flanged plugs mentioned earlier). If you want amazing sound for music, custom molded with dual drivers inside is the way to go, but you are gonna pay for that.


Everyone is different, their hearing is different, where their head is in relation to the windscreen, how tight their helmet is etc.


I even have a set of Etymotic earphones, which are excellent, but even they make my ears sore and will still get ripped out of my ears when I take my helmet off https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/earphones.html

CoolD those etymotic aren't cheap........i use no noise ear plugs when i remember to put them in, i have never used any comms before.....maybe i should try a basic set for less money.......wish i was 55 again....

 

[Carl Hixon]

Similar to others, I always wear ear plugs. Just the wind noise at 80 mph is enough to cause hearing loss. Fomies with sena comms on on older rf-1100. Looking for a quieter helmet.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[proto2o]

I use Earplugs plus a sena.

RPHA 11 is my preferred helmet.

 

[gazzas]

i like the noise of the bike and the wind so dont use earplugs.im 60 and my hearing is fine

 

[rcannon409]

Everyone thinks their hearing, and eyesore is fine. Many of us find out different when work sends you in for baseline testing. At that point you start to wonder about how much you enjoyed that wind noise because there is a price to pay.

No one on this forum invented hearing protection while riding motorcycles. The experts can show us the noise level we are subject too is loud enough to require protection.of it's fine now, that's awesome. It's a personal choice if you decide to keep it that way..

 

[gazzas]

Everyone thinks their hearing, and eyesore is fine. Many of us find out different when work sends you in for baseline testing. At that point you start to wonder about how much you enjoyed that wind noise because there is a price to pay.

No one on this forum invented hearing protection while riding motorcycles. The experts can show us the noise level we are subject too is loud enough to require protection.of it's fine now, that's awesome. It's a personal choice if you decide to keep it that way..

my last hearing test was 6 months ago and no issues,everyone is different

 

[Indefatigable]

I always use earplugs. All it took was just 2 short years working in a foundry to destroy my hearing. When your young you think your indestructible

 

[scubasteve711]

I picked up a decent 30$ set... I'm not good about wearing them all the time but for longer trips I am. They actually make it easier to hear whats really going on around you because the wind noise mutes everything else out. I can run my sena at a lower volume too and hear more around me.

 

[rcannon409]

my last hearing test was 6 months ago and no issues,everyone is different

Maybe they can substitute some sort of brain scan, next time, and not waste time on the worthless hearing test? Any 60yr old, with a brain, who had hearing that was"fine" would double down on the desire to protect what they have. Why risk it on noises that are proven to be loud enough to damage?


I know there is always some douche who will disagree with any sort of safety topic, but ear protection is a stupid one to do this with. Once you dont protect, and you do damage, thats it. Theres no going back to fix like you can sort-of do with a knee injury or maybe even a back injury.

 

[Chrispy]

Long term damage aside, most everyone seems to agree you feel less tired at the end of a long day riding if you wear hearing protection.