hearing damage / ear plugs

[Dabz]

was on the news the other day about the hearing damage you can get from wind, engine and exhaust noise on bikes..meant to post up after seeing it. Does anyone wear ear plugs to prevent this? Mine's loud..quite like hearing it though :P

[Scott_W]

Yep, worn earplugs for years. You really do notice the difference when you don't wear them - even for a short trip. I would not go back to riding w/out them now.

Plus, wearing them makes your music sound better! Oh, and of course, you can hear your exhaust popping away clearer! :D

[R1chie]

don't wear earplugs

never liked them to be honest. i can see the benefits from them but they just grip my **** most of the time.

luckily my lid is quite good on cutting down the wind noise, plus i don't exactly go out everyday so its not all bad

[Dabz]

which ones do you use then?

[Scott_W]

I'm still using ones that cost 50p or so from the trackday's last year!

[FJ_Biker]

The survey is here

http://users.bathspa.ac.uk/holn1/

The only thing that concerns me this is more red tape when buying a crash hat and will put the price up as well

[kwik]

Have only just started wearing them, still having trouble getting to grips with 'em tbh. Have noticed lately that I keep saying 'What?' to everyone! My helmet is past its best but can't afford a new one yet so gave in to wearing them. I felt like I was stuck in my own little world at first but now I realise just how loud the wind noise is.

[mike]

I've just recently started to use them as well, but keep forgetting to put them in. I got a pack of 50 off Ebay for a few quid, think they were ones that Ride mag said were good, can't remember the name at the minute though. My hearing's pretty bad anyway from too many punk & metal gigs & using chainsaws! Can't afford to let it get worse though. They do take some getting used to, and yep, I keep shouting "WHAT?" a lot when I've got them in, just like when wearing Ipod earphones!

[russ100]

I wore them for the first time at the weekend, it is really weird .. you are in your own little world.
I didnt put them in to start with and riding back I noticed that I was riding a lot faster, I think thats mainly to do with the sensation of speed you get from a noisey can and so because I couldnt hear it I rode differently ... think it will take a bit of getting used to.

[Rich_aka_Baldspeed]

I wear in-ear speakers thru my comms which are customer made ear plugs with small speakers inside them. They should cost around £150 but I got them thru work for free for testing.......oh yeh to protect my hearing.

They plug straight into my MP3 player so if im out in my noisy mini for a long drive they block all of the sound out and I can listen to boyzone and take that with no problems lol

[enigma]

Always wear them on longer rides, like ninja i've got a quiet lid but the added bonus of ear plugs just means you get less tired. The downside is when you ride without them you wonder if that noise from the engine was there last time, LOL

[Dabz]

thanks for the advice guys :D dunno which ones to buy though lol

[Scott_W]

Just spend a quid or so on some from your local bike shop and see how you get on with those. If you like them, then bulk buy a load from ebay.

[kwik]

thanks for the advice guys :D dunno which ones to buy though lol

The ones enigma uses are good coz they're the ones I nick! Other than making me feel like a deaf mute but I guess that's a good thing :-/

[igbell]

The other month Bike ran a test on all the different plugs, so if you can get your mitts on that review it might help decide which to go for.

[Rich_aka_Baldspeed]

I got mine from Ultimate Ear Protection, they are specialists in the product

[pup]

I tend to find if i wear ear plugs i just end up riding faster coz i can't hear the revs so well. I suppose it could be seen as a good thing rather than bad. I ride everyday and just find ear plugs a pain in the arse, i only really wear them when i do a long trip. But i suppose at the end of the day try em and see what you think.