Topic: Do you wear ear plugs?

[toytuff]

Sound is an important safety input, imo.  Particularly while so exposed on a motorcycle.

Doesn't effect any sound given the db the sound makes. I can hear cars coming up behind me, horns, whatever.

tt

Non-active ear plugs are indiscriminate in what they attenuate.  I didn't say you couldn't hear, but the hearing effectiveness is reduced, particularly if masked by your own loud motorcycle.

Sure you can hear cars behind you.  But, they will be much closer before detection than without ear plugs. Distance attenuates sound as one singular factor.  Earlier warnings are what I prefer.  Then there is your reaction time to the sound to factor.

Chose whatever risk you wish to take.  But, don't tell me you can hear as well with plugs as without.  If you believe that, you are only fooling yourself.

Forgive me if you would rather have opinions than science.  But, it also matters how deep you insert ear plugs.

And how well you can hear in the first place. 

tt

[seanbarney41]

TwoTired, do you wear a helmet?...'cuz that is gonna muffle your hearing considerably.  Might be much safer to not wear a helmet so you can hear the dangers waiting to spring at you from all sides.  Do you limit your riding to under 40mph?  ...cuz wind noise after about 45 is really loud and you are not gonna hear anything over it anyway.

[dave the welder]

yes and no.it depends on what I am riding.when I am on my stock 750A no its to damn quiet with the stock exhaust how ever when I ride my chopper with open exhaust(LOUD)I wear them all the time.just trying to save whats left of my hearing as I get older

[ken65]

I always use ear plugs even though im pretty deaf, after 10 minutes the wind noise really affects my comfort level..

[70CB750]

Sound is an important safety input, imo.  Particularly while so exposed on a motorcycle.

Doesn't effect any sound given the db the sound makes. I can hear cars coming up behind me, horns, whatever.

tt

Same experience.  Plugged ears for me create a sense of disconnection from the real world, like a show I am watching - but it passes fast.

I am trying to protect my ears, while hunting in VA it helps a lot when you can hear well and I noticed my hearing getting keener over the years.

[vfourfreak]

Motorway / Autoroute driving, yes. Otherwise no, same thing about connection with the environment etc.

Kev

[BIKE]

Always. Otherwise it sounds like I'm in a tornado everywhere I go over 50.

[toytuff]

I pulled this from the Arrow web site.

 Conducted at -Rpm 4125
 Background noise DB (a) 47
 Stock exhaust DB (a) 94
 Arrow silencer kit DB (a) 97
 Arrow full system DB (a) 105

Then factor this from the first post: Interestingly, our perception of loudness is not the same as sound pressure level. Although the actual formulae is somewhat complex, as a rough rule of thumb, an increase of 10db SPL is perceived to be approximately twice as loud.

So, with DB Killers it's 8 db less than full.  4000 rpm and above is where the bike likes to be.

tt

[TwoTired]

TwoTired, do you wear a helmet?...'cuz that is gonna muffle your hearing considerably.  Might be much safer to not wear a helmet so you can hear the dangers waiting to spring at you from all sides.  Do you limit your riding to under 40mph?  ...cuz wind noise after about 45 is really loud and you are not gonna hear anything over it anyway.

Of course I wear a Helmet and said so previously.  There's a helmet law here in California, as well as a law regarding ear plugs.  I'm also well aware of the damaging effects of loud noise and the need to protect your hearing from that.

Still, a helmet alone accounts for only a 2-3 db attenuation factor.  Foam ear plugs attenuate in the 30-35 db range.    And that matters in city traffic or how soon, distance wise, you will hear a car horn or a emergency vehicle siren.

If your motorcycle makes 100db.  You are unlikely to hear the 100db horn of the car screeching into you until it's 2ft away, irregardless of helmet or earplugs. 
If your motorcycle is making 70DB, a 100DB car horn can be heard from farther away if wearing a helmet, than wearing 30-35 db earplugs.  With ear plugs you may notice metal bending and bones crunching before hearing of any warning sound.  In effect, you are restricting your own sensory input to sight only, which is hardly a survivalist technique.

At any rate check your laws.  Can't wear ear plugs in both ears here in California, unless you are "special".

 

[dave500]

I hate seeing people riding or driving with music plugs in their ears!

[ofreen]

Chose whatever risk you wish to take.  But, don't tell me you can hear as well with plugs as without.  If you believe that, you are only fooling yourself.

Or it could be that he has observed something that makes him believe it. Back in the '70s I worked in a steel fabrication shop for a company that built railroad cars. My partner and I ran a press brake set up for punching steel. A typical set up was for punching holes in side posts for rail car sides. These brakes had 15 ft beds and would punch 50 or more holes at a pass. Pretty noisy, and combined with the crashing and banging when pulling parts off stacks and restacking, the din was amazing. Not to mention the noise from the rest of the shop. My partner Roy didn't wear ear protection. I asked him why and he said so he could hear when the punches went out of alignment.  Roy was an artilleryman in Nam where they used cotton balls in their ears. So he figured his ears were shot anyway. I thought he was nuts and told him I could hear the punches just fine with earplugs. He didn't believe me. One day he noticed he was feeling dizziness that came and went. It got worse so he went to see a doc. The doc told him all the noise was damaging his vestibular system, and he would end not not being able to walk if he didn't start using ear protection. Roy liked being able to get around, so swallowed his pride and began to use earplugs. One day he came to me and told me I was right, he could actually hear the punches better with hearing protection.

My experience in 48 years of riding motorcycles shows this same thing applies. The effect of loud noise on hearing is cumulative. I don't use plugs for the 20 minute ride to work, but do for anything longer than that. What others have said is true. It isn't the noise of the bike. It is wind noise. After awhile, you can hear ambient noises better with ear protection on than without because the noise will have dulled the unprotected hearing. The ear has a mechanism for protecting itself from loud sustained noise. Not to mention the permanent damage caused by cumulative exposure to loud noise.

[flatlander]

i wear earplugs on longer faster rides. basically everything outside town and over 30mins. they considerably cut down the windnoise but i can still hear traffic, my engine etc. they don't make you deaf, just take off the edge of the sustained high-pitch windnoise that actually masks every other sound.

before i started using them i remember when i once rode in the left lane of a motorway. not even very fast, about 100kph wearing a full face helmet with visor down. that emergency vehicle with sirens and lights i only noticed because it had come up so fast, so close in the mirror. didn't hear any of the siren - all blocked out by wind noise. i believe i actually would have noticed it sooner with the earplugs.

[nccb]

would earphones count?

I ride around most of the time with them in, however sometimes the music is quite low.  When I don't wear them I forget how loud the outside.  My helmet is a cheaper model; AFX FX-95.

[CB750R]

Well written ofreen,

I really enjoy a good concert but find I can't enjoy the music very well without some earplugs either.

My last Metallica concert was in a Stadium, and without earplugs I could barely make out the vocals the sounds were all mashing together. Pop in some plugs and the concert was a blast!!

If you've got a constant white noise background of wind noise caused by the turbulence of wind at highway speed constantly assaulting your hearing your going to miss out on more subtle sounds.

[toytuff]

Interesting read with your cup of coffee.

tt

http://www.motorcycle.com/features/motorcycles-hearing-loss.html

[scottly]

Still, a helmet alone accounts for only a 2-3 db attenuation factor.

How many db attenuation do you attribute to your Windjammer, at least in terms of wind noise?

[TwoTired]

Still, a helmet alone accounts for only a 2-3 db attenuation factor.

How many db attenuation do you attribute to your Windjammer, at least in terms of wind noise?

I don't know that.  Probably some, but there is still wind noise, traffic noise.

The brain works in funny ways.  I recall Vietnam pilots in the heat of air combat, totally unable to hear missle lock warning tones in the their helmets, due to input overload.  The sound was there, but they swear they didn't hear it.

Greg,
Picking a variation out of a repetitive sound even attenuated is still different than a random or singular unexpected sound over a field of random noise inputs.

People have varied skill sets.  I certainly use attenuators while flying to suppress noise.

[ofreen]

Greg,
Picking a variation out of a repetitive sound even attenuated is still different than a random or singular unexpected sound over a field of random noise inputs.

We may talking about two different environments, too.  I'm thinking more in terms of higher speed riding of longer duration, when your focus may be slower speeds in traffic closer to town. I usually don't wear earplugs for short around town trips either since the noise level is lower and less duration.

Shoei helmets are quiet, especially the later ones without the shield sideplates hanging out in the breeze right next to your ears. Years ago I had a couple of RF200s that were OK, but when I bought an RF800, I found it as quiet without earplugs as the 200 was with them.  These days I've been using a modular which is noisier, but I find I drink more water with the modular on the long rides because I don't have to take it off to drink.

[70CB750]

Still, a helmet alone accounts for only a 2-3 db attenuation factor.

How many db attenuation do you attribute to your Windjammer, at least in terms of wind noise?

The brain works in funny ways.  I recall Vietnam pilots in the heat of air combat, totally unable to hear missle lock warning tones in the their helmets, due to input overload.  The sound was there, but they swear they didn't hear it.

I am not surprised.  Many hunters, me included, rarely recall the sound of the shot. 

[azuredesign]

Well written, thanks!

Chose whatever risk you wish to take.  But, don't tell me you can hear as well with plugs as without.  If you believe that, you are only fooling yourself.

Or it could be that he has observed something that makes him believe it. Back in the '70s I worked in a steel fabrication shop for a company that built railroad cars. My partner and I ran a press brake set up for punching steel. A typical set up was for punching holes in side posts for rail car sides. These brakes had 15 ft beds and would punch 50 or more holes at a pass. Pretty noisy, and combined with the crashing and banging when pulling parts off stacks and restacking, the din was amazing. Not to mention the noise from the rest of the shop. My partner Roy didn't wear ear protection. I asked him why and he said so he could hear when the punches went out of alignment.  Roy was an artilleryman in Nam where they used cotton balls in their ears. So he figured his ears were shot anyway. I thought he was nuts and told him I could hear the punches just fine with earplugs. He didn't believe me. One day he noticed he was feeling dizziness that came and went. It got worse so he went to see a doc. The doc told him all the noise was damaging his vestibular system, and he would end not not being able to walk if he didn't start using ear protection. Roy liked being able to get around, so swallowed his pride and began to use earplugs. One day he came to me and told me I was right, he could actually hear the punches better with hearing protection.

My experience in 48 years of riding motorcycles shows this same thing applies. The effect of loud noise on hearing is cumulative. I don't use plugs for the 20 minute ride to work, but do for anything longer than that. What others have said is true. It isn't the noise of the bike. It is wind noise. After awhile, you can hear ambient noises better with ear protection on than without because the noise will have dulled the unprotected hearing. The ear has a mechanism for protecting itself from loud sustained noise. Not to mention the permanent damage caused by cumulative exposure to loud noise.

[TwoTired]

We may talking about two different environments, too.  I'm thinking more in terms of higher speed riding of longer duration, when your focus may be slower speeds in traffic closer to town. I usually don't wear earplugs for short around town trips either since the noise level is lower and less duration.

I don't do much long duration riding (like more than 2hrs), that's for sure.  I do know that in town/city riding, being able to hear a threat with ample warning time has saved my bacon more than a few times.  Attenuating any sound means that it must be much closer to be noticed in whatever din that surrounds you.  I believe early warning betters my chance to react to a threat.  Certainly, my reaction times have diminished with age.  And, I want any edge I can get.  And, I don't feel I am particularly lucky or charmed.

Maybe California has more unpredictable drivers than elsewhere.  I haven't ridden a motorcycle out of state in many years.

Cheers,

[flybox1]

DIY custom earplugs for under $15 you ask?  these are awesome!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w5hclSlRsY

[Vicman]

I hate seeing people riding or driving with music plugs in their ears!

You won't see mine cause they are under my helmet.
I have the noise cancelling ones. But if you look at the pipes on my 73 I would need shooter muffs to get them down to acceptable Db.
Dang but they sound great though

[martin99]

At the weekend I was riding behind a Harley, don't know what but it was bloody noisy. My 750F2 is running pods and a Marshall Deeptone exhaust, which makes for a fantastic sound on full song, but behind the HD I couldn't hear my bike at all. As we were both ripping along at 70-80, I wasn't minded to overtake and create distance, so I stayed behind him. Wish I'd been wearing earplugs.

Today I pulled up at a set of lights next to an R6 with an Akropovic. We stayed together for four or five miles, spirited riding. What made it all the more exhilarating was the brilliant soundtrack the two bikes made. Glad I wasn't wearing earplugs.

 

[ofreen]

[

Maybe California has more unpredictable drivers than elsewhere. 

Cheers,

Distracted driving is at epidemic levels.  It is bad here in Idaho, and I can imagine California is worse just because of greater population density.  I have ceased to be amazed at what I see some people do.