[Captal]

So I've been intrigued by this whole "wearing headphones while riding" deal and I bought some at Target yesterday to try them out. Wore them on the way to work today and the results were so-so. In town the volume was perfect but on the interstate there was too much wind noise to hear the music.

Normally I wouldn't wear them just to work, but I wanted to try it out. I'd like to get some headphones for long trips but I want something that will enable me to still hear traffic and such. The problem with the headphones I bought at Target is that they hit my helmet when putting it on and taking it off- I called Target and they said I could return them so I am going to do so. Brian recommended some Sony headphones that looked like they'd be low enough profile to easily fit and not hit my helmet:

Sony Fontopia MDR-EX71SL

What does everyone else wear? How have your experiences been with them? The only problem I see is if I concentrate too much on the music instead of riding- I would never wear them if I were going to purposefully hit up twisties but if I'm going to take a 2 hour trip to Illinois down to where I live I'd like to have music.

Another question- is it illegal to wear headphones and ride? I thought it was illegal to do so and drive...

 

[mattg]

i believe it is illegal to ride with headphones.

not sure about that tho.

 

[davisa]

i believe it is illegal to ride with headphones.

so is spitting on the ground, jay-walking, and speeding. if a cop wants to be an ass, hes going to be an ass. besides, its a little hard for them to see the headphones inside your helmet anyways.

i use them with my nomad jukebox when i ride the bike up north. 3 hours nonstop is too long to just hear the wind and my pipe.

 

[mykrowsy]

I know a couple of people that have regular headphones (The kind that have a band over the top of your head, and a 1inch speaker covered by foam) and they dismantle them, and just put the speaker part inside their helmet next to their ears. They attatch them with velcro, or, as one of my buddies helmets has, sort of a carved out spot that the speaker fits right into. Much better than messing with earbuds every time you take your helmet on and off.

 

[silva bullit]

i use the squishy foam ones like ear plugs...work great!

 

[Captal]

Well after reading the reviews I ordered the headphones I linked above... hopefully they work out ok

 

[Moses]

Well after reading the reviews I ordered the headphones I linked above... hopefully they work out ok

You won't be disappointed. Where did you get them from? Amazon hopefully

 

[ShaneTbolt]

I tried ear bud type head phones but was dissapointed at HWY speeds. So my next try was going to find some headphones that I can velcro to my helmet and then give that a try.
I like riding with ear plugs in when traveling to keep wind noise down so this just might work better than the ear buds. Please give a report when you try it.
Although it is nice in a way to ride with nothing distracting you like music or conversations with a passenger. Gives me quiet time to go through my thoughts of the day or planning for the future.

 

[davisa]

i got the squishy ones too. i cant remember the brand though. i velcro them inside the helmet and they plug into my chatterbox. the jukebox is plugged into that and the volume control is on the outside of the helmet. im sure youve seen them before. Lisa follows in the car behind me with all of our stuff and when she wants to tell me how fly for a white guy i am, she can talk to me though your average walkie talkie and it cuts the music until were done talking. kinda cool.

another cool thing is i can talk to other people if i want. they dont know who the hell it is talking to them so you can say all kinds of shit.

 

[Captal]

You won't be disappointed. Where did you get them from? Amazon hopefully

Yeah I picked em up at Amazon.

 

[MWB BigMike]

Headdphones in your helmet are not illegal. There is no law that says you cannot have them ..

 

[davisa]

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/statepatrol/enforcement/faqs-enforcement.htm

"Is it unlawful to drive with headphones on?

If there is reason to believe that this would interfere with safe operation of a vehicle, a person could be charged with inattentive driving."

thats kind of a fuzzy one i guess. if copper sees you swerve or pass a vehicle, or blow through a yellow, or speed, then he may blame it on the music. probably wouldnt be good either if he pulls you over and you say hold a sec while i turn down "fuck tha police" or "cop killer".

 

[Bonk]

www.etymotic.com

 

[Moses]

Rob, if you haven't already gotten them, you'll probably get them from Amazon really quick. I got free 3-5 day ground shipping on mine but got them in 2 days.

Like I said above, you won't be disappointed. They take a little bit to get used to because of the new pressure in your ears under your helmet, but you'll get used to it really quick. I had mine in all weekend long while riding around Southern Illinois. Plus, listening to music around 12am Saturday night really helped take my mine off of the really cold temps while riding from Kenosha to Marengo, IL.

 

[sjlee]

Headdphones in your helmet are not illegal. There is no law that says you cannot have them ..

Yeah, he's right.

This is from the DOT's website:

"Is it unlawful to drive with headphones on?

If there is reason to believe that this would interfere with safe operation of a vehicle, a person could be charged with inattentive driving."

So, basically, it's up to the officer to determine if it is affecting your driving.

 

[sjlee]

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/statepatrol/enforcement/faqs-enforcement.htm

"Is it unlawful to drive with headphones on?

If there is reason to believe that this would interfere with safe operation of a vehicle, a person could be charged with inattentive driving."

thats kind of a fuzzy one i guess. if copper sees you swerve or pass a vehicle, or blow through a yellow, or speed, then he may blame it on the music. probably wouldnt be good either if he pulls you over and you say hold a sec while i turn down "fuck tha police" or "cop killer".

Heh... should've read all the posts before posting I guess.

 

[RC511]

I just ordered a set of the fontopia headphones from amazon 24.95 is pretty cheap funny thing is shipping is free if you spend 25.00 they were going to charge 6.95 for shipping, so I just got a cd lense cleaner kit for 4.95, I get the free shipping and saved 2.00! I remember looking at them at Best Buy but there was no way I was going to pay 50.00 for head phones