Using Earplugs

[cherrypicker]

I used to never wear earlpugs when I ride. I tried it a few times, but didn't like it. My new job requires that I wear them frequently during hte workday, so I guess I became used to them. 3 weeks ago I tried them again on a long afternoon ride. WOW! it's liek a whole new world. I have the stock exhaust on my ZX9R, so normally I hearly mostly wind and occationally indution noise... but wiht earplugs I get a little exhaust, some induction and a really cool gear whine from the tranny. It's livened up my riding experneice nad made rowing throug hte tranny a pleasure again. With a liter bike shifting on a causal but spirited ride in the twisties is usually optional, but now I find an excuse to bang down a few gears and drive a little harder on the exit.

The added benefit is protecting you hearing and less fatigue on a long ride and I find I'm more focused on the road, the bike and less distracted by the rush of the wind. I notice that all professional racers use ear plugs, but some of those bikes are so loud... you have to.

What are some of your opionins on using earplugs???

[21 natas]

I didn't like them at first, but after I got use to them I actually prefer to use them.

[alaska cajun]

I was born with 70% ear plugs so I don't have to buy them and it saves me money.

[RACER X]

i waer them every ride.

[mikem317]

I wear the disposible drug-store-brand ones. Foam based, perhaps. They usually last a few weeks of riding, then I toss them. I keep a set in both my jackets and a spare set in my pillion compartment. I only wear them when I ride the highway; it definitely helps reduce wind, exhaust, engine and traffic noise.

[stoinkythepig]

Wear them all the time unless it's just a short trip to the store or something. Without them, I really enjoy the induction sounds of my stock 9R, but the wind noise becomes tiring rather quickly.

Oh yeah, just remembered, I put a really tall windshield and a low seat on my Concours during the cold months and I don't need to wear them with the bike setup like that since the seat puts my helmet well below the wind. With my tall seat and short screen Summer setup, I wear plugs on that bike too.

[firefighter81]

I wear them everytime I ride. Is there a law against wearing earplugs?

[mikem317]

Originally Posted by firefighter81

Is there a law against wearing earplugs?

Prob. depends on the state/country. In Mass., you can wear earplugs, but not earbuds.

[cherrypicker]

Originally Posted by firefighter81

I wear them everytime I ride. Is there a law against wearing earplugs?

I don't think there could be. You're protecting your hearing from noises above 85dB. For example, a motorcyle police officer should be required by OSHA to wear earplugs while riding.

Something I discovered, is that earplugs don't remove noises, they only reduce the volume of all sounds and prevents the loudest noises from "overdriving" and blocking out the other sounds. That's why you can suddenly hear the induction and transmission better with the wind noise reduced. Earplugs alo are more affective at high frequency sounds such as wind.

Ear buds are illegal because the music from earbuds aor headphones tends to block out all other nosies, unlike the stereo in your car.

[l3uddha]

hmmm I never thought to wear ear plugs; thx.

[VIVID1]

Oh my gosh, Mike the cherrypicker. How have you been?

I used to wear them on my F4i since the exhaust was loud, but couldn’t wear them on the 954, since the bike is very quiet and I couldn’t hear it at all with earplugs, I even killed it a couple of times when taking off from a stop sign or a light, couldn’t even tell if it was running or not. On the Ducati I haven’t tired earplugs yet, but I think I will once I put on after market pipes. I just wish that I could remember to put them in my ears before I take off, even when I did wear them, I’d only remember to put them in 50% of the time.

[cherrypicker]

[quote=VIVID1]Oh my gosh, Mike the cherrypicker. How have you been?

I've layed low since sticking my foot in my mouth at CLSB and getting da boot. Although I think I was mostly misunderstood.. I was over the top and deserved it. I think I outgrew Ken and the clan. I've met up with Kevin a couple times since then while in Gurnee on business.

Lately, I keep dialing in more softness on the supension and going for longer more relaxing rides. Right now the 9R really wallows over bumps but I kind of like it because it's more comfy. I think I'm understanding much better your view of riding. I'm even considering getting a bigger front sprocket which would turn 6th into a true overdrive for more relaxed freeway cruising and fuel economy.

The motor on the Kawi is a little more crude than the Honda and has the big ram air intake which gives a lot of induction noise... so I don't have much trouble hearing it with earplugs. I can also feel the RPM's through the vibratons in the tank and bars.


SO what's new with you? You should shoot me an e-mail. motoguy128@yahoo.com



QUOTE]

[ride200mi]

This is what I have and work pretty good.



http://store.yahoo.com/earplugstore/...yclegear1.html

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

I wear foam ear plugs at work almost every day, especially when I'm running 1 of the CNC milling machines. Ear plugs are rated in Decibals (Db) of reduction (when worn correctly), the ones we use at work are some of the best at 33 Db reduction.

I'm not sure where your reference to 85 Db came from, but earplugs will reduce sound at any volume level. I use to be into high-end audio and learned quite a bit about sound during that time, I will explain some of the things I learned from back then. Do you know that a high pitched sound has a very short sound wave and that low sounds have very long waves (some low bass sounds have a sound wave that is 30+ feet long!)? This is the reason that you hear bass from so far away, but not the high pitched sounds that are of equal volume coming from the sounds source. Sound waves deteriorate with distance, because high pitch sounds have such a short wave they burn out much quicker than a low bass wave. Another factor is where you begin to 'feel' sound, like you do with bass, this is part of the factor involved when a loud Harley, semi, or train is near you in traffic (you subconsiously acknowledge the 'feeling' of the sound as well). This leads me to why you hear certain sounds better with ear plugs, but others seem to be reduced. It's actually more about the low sounds, like wind buffeting, reveberating the delicate bones in your ears (they resonate from sound and convert it to something our brain can interpret). The resonating of the low sounds over powers the ability of the ear to hear the high sounds very well at the same time because they don't have the power that the larger (low) sound waves have. If your hearing high sounds easily at that time then those sounds have to not only be very loud, but close as well.

If you had a noise canceling earbud that strictly eliminated the low frequencies, and buffeting of the bones in your ear canal from wind resonance, you would have a drastically different riding experience. The higher sounds that normally get drowned out would now be dramatically loud, sounds that you are now hearing with ear plugs in would be very loud to you. Earplugs in effect just allow the ear to work properly by reducing or eliminating that intense low frequency battering they are recieving, but at a reduced capacity. You are still reducing the sound level of ALL sounds with ear plugs, just now you can actually hear some of them that were drowned out before.

I have used some of the earplugs from work before while racing and found I would constantly hit the rev-limiter due to not hearing the engine as well. I too experienced the added sounds that you spoke of, but at a somewhat low level of audibilty to me. My suggestion would be to start with earplugs with a lower Db reduction, like 10 or 15 Db, that would probably reduce the low sound buffeting enough to enhance the drowned out sounds you now miss. This would also be much safer because sounds like sirens would not be reduced so much as to be dangerous when driving in the city (since ear plugs are more effective at helping you to hear drowned out sounds as speeds increase, but harm your ability to hear at lower speeds).

[Woody600]

I tried them once, they made me feel kinda disoriented. Something didn't feel safe about that. I thought maybe because your inner ear is used for balance or something.

And Mike, good write up but it is "dB".