Hearing protection

[TheAtomicAss]

Because I've been off riding for several years, I've forgotten some of the finer details about riding, and as I was riding a few days ago, wondering why I was so fatigued, I realized I had forgotten ear plugs.

This prompted me to dig in the range bag for the foam ear plugs I use at the range, but these had a strange effect. While they reduced wind noise considerably, it was replaced with a distortion, very similar to when a signal is massively over-driven on solid-state amplifiers. I found this just as fatiguing as the wind noise. I don't recall this effect from my previous experience using ear plugs, so I'm curious as to what's going on.

One other thing I should mention is that I've taken to using a smaller ear plug designed for women, as the "standard" size cause me a great deal of discomfort very quickly.

 

[bigoltool]

I have tried every disposable ear plug known to man. In doing so I have settled on a clear personal favorite. The Howard Leight Max are my favorite. You can get an entire box of them for around $23 on amazon or elsewhere. Have used them for years and keep a half dozen in my tank bag at all times. Also great for mowing the lawn! I am sure everyone has a preference, this one is mine.

 

[GNBRETT]

anytime I put them ear plugs in my ear I rip em out 30 min later cause their so fukn annoying! I really gotta look into some custom made ones like for shooting a gun so they don't irritate my ears so bad. been riding for 30 years. hear perfectly fine but who knows wat the future holds....

maybe somthn like this for a cheap fix.....

 

[busafan08]

I never ride without earplugs i work at a steel mill so i use the normal foam ones they offer here works well

 

[Getn off]

Picked up a set that u custom form urself from bass pro shops. Fairly cheap, and can keep in all day long. Yes, foam ones hurt after about an hour for me too.
Troy

 

[piratediverjefff]

Have to admit I've never used any and still hear pretty good after 45 years of riding...and I like listening to my Brocks Short Meg at about 11,000 rpms.

Carry on...

 

[nosbig]

Have to admit I've never used any and still hear pretty good after 45 years of riding...and I like listening to my Brocks Short Meg at about 11,000 rpms.

Carry on...

Must be why when you are at work everything sounds like it is under water.

 

[piratediverjefff]

 

[BBMykey]

I am hooked on earplugs and always use them even on the shortest rides. Using them has become a habit. I also find them annoying but for me the upside is great. I use the moldable silicone ones. You need to change them when they become dirty because they loose their stickiness. Here in Northern California there is a lot of wind and a lot of wind noise. The strong gusting side winds can cramp your style especially when you try to ride really fast. When you eliminate the wind noise it somehow decreases the effect of the wind gusts a lot. I feel that I ride better and faster in the wind due to the earplugs.

 

[JK308]

The "distortion" you described, if I understand what you are describing properly, happens to me when one of my earplugs is not seated completely in the ear canal. Very annoying. It sometimes takes me two or three tries to get the earplug all the way in before it begins to expand.

 

[Dark3]

Ive been shooting howitzers for a living for many years and riding bikes with the loudest pipes i can find. I can hear great. My buddy wears them tho. He also asks for a pair of gloves everytime we start wrenching on anything

 

[piratediverjefff]

 

[nosbig]

 

[GNBRETT]

Have to admit I've never used any and still hear pretty good after 45 years of riding...and I like listening to my Brocks Short Meg at about 11,000 rpms.

Carry on...

no thats impossible!!!!!!!! just ask anyone on this forum if u ride a MC its guaranteed to ruin ur hearing.... I call BS on that still! I too have been riding for 30 years and many of those years were on a CR250 and we know they aren't loud lol and I still hear perfectly fine. who knows down the road but down the road we all lose our hearing to some degree doesn't mean its from riding a MC tho....

you ask some ppl on here and ud think its a cardinal sin to ride without ear protection. I also have 1/2 a dozen buddies that have been riding longer then me on HD's and we all know HD's aren't loud at all lol and they too have zero issues with their hearing. again, I think its all BS!

 

[piratediverjefff]

Hell,I never even owned a helmet(from 1970 to 2002)until I moved to CA and bought my 1st Busa in '02(neither IL nor AZ had mandatory helmet laws and back in the 70's and 80's[Harley days]and I can't ever remember seeing anyone wearing one).Probably a good thing though when I T-boned a car in '03 at 60 mph and landed on my head after flying 90' through the air.Wouldn't think of riding without one now though,Busas go too fast and after about 120 mph sunglasses tend to hang all sideways on your face.Only damage I knowingly remember doing to my ears was shooting in the late 70's with my old S & W mod. 29 44 Mag.(8 3/8" barrel)in the old modified Weaver stance without wearing muffs(bought some soon after!),my left ear's been ringing for 35 years so I'd probably never notice if I've done any more damage anyway due to loud pipes and wind noise.

 

[Shifty41]

I use custom molded earplugs that I had made for me at the gun show. They ain't cheap but they block out max db and comfortable all day.

 

[groran1000]

My hearing protection from the road is giant speakers next to my ears driven by sena b/t listening to ac-dc and I hear no road noise . But if I use earplugs, they would the formable silicon plugs from walmart and last about 5-8 insertions depending on how clean you keep your ears LOL and puts ALL the other plugs to shame.