[music man]

I have listened to headphones on my bike since day one. I have some noise cancelling ear buds that are really nice because even when I don't feel like hearing music they block out a lot of the wind noise. As for the whole "sound of the engine" thing, I keep my headphones turned down low enough that I can still faintly hear the engine of my bike running, I don't "jam out" like I do in my cage.

I would have to say overall it is not all that dangerous as long as you are responsible, and you are not too engulfed in your musical experience on your bike. I personally don't know how people ride long distances without it, but I can't go more than a couple of hours without music, even when I am not on my bike. I think that safety wise though, it might be better (if you can afford it) to go with something like Sarris did and put some speakers on your handlebars and jam that way. Probably would be less likely to get "too involved" in your music. Me personally I am poor so my 40 dollar MP3 player will just have to do.

Later