Ear plugs

[dannylightning]

the ear plugs i have are made by mack's and they are super comfortable plugs. there purple and made out of really soft rubber, i got mine at walmart in the section over there by the medicine and bandages and stuff. most comfortable ear plugs i ever had. when they get dirty just wash them and there good as new.

[mr. softie]

I will have to check those out dannylightning. I have been using some foam plugs from Home Depot that came in a 500 pack, half of them orange and the other half green. They work great when I get them inserted correctly. I only use them once then discard them. I have noticed that on all day rides (8-10 hours) my ears will get uncomfortable sometimes. I also sometimes use some earbuds with my mp3 player that do a good job of cutting the wind noise out and allow me to listen to tunes when on long boring slab rides. BTW I have put over 10,000 miles on my '83 Honda GL650I since I got it in March this year. One trip to Georgia, another to Minnesota and general riding around. I am leaving on a trip to Georgia again in a week and then one to Vermont when I return.

[alanmcorcoran]

Good to hear from you softie! 10K miles since March is a respctable amount of riding! Let me know if you find the perfect pair of plugs. Right now I am preferring the disposables over the Hearo's cause of the sticks that stick out. But the hearos go in more consistently and block the noise more consistently (they let enough through so you can still talk to people and hear your engine. I once had a pair that were more like the Hearos but had a short, fat "holder" but i don't know what they were called. I'll look around for them next time I'm in a drug store.

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by mr. softie

I will have to check those out dannylightning. I have been using some foam plugs from Home Depot that came in a 500 pack, half of them orange and the other half green. They work great when I get them inserted correctly. I only use them once then discard them. I have noticed that on all day rides (8-10 hours) my ears will get uncomfortable sometimes. I also sometimes use some earbuds with my mp3 player that do a good job of cutting the wind noise out and allow me to listen to tunes when on long boring slab rides. BTW I have put over 10,000 miles on my '83 Honda GL650I since I got it in March this year. One trip to Georgia, another to Minnesota and general riding around. I am leaving on a trip to Georgia again in a week and then one to Vermont when I return.

well i dug up my plugs and went for a ride, i was not pleased, could not hear any thing, except the wind noise. pretty much drown out every thing and i dont like that. you need to be able to hear whats going on around you.

[patrick_777]

That's what I have experienced with the earplugs I've tried. At one point I had a highway patrol car right on my ass trying to get around me without even hearing his siren...not a good position to be in. Fortunately, I didn't catch a failure to yield cite for it. I stopped using them for a while after that, but I still consider them for longer rides.

[Sarris]

:plus1: :plus1:

I've tried them and I can't hear anything. I'd rather loose some hearing instead of my life.

[bonehead]

Originally Posted by Sarris

:plus1: :plus1:

I've tried them and I can't hear anything. I'd rather loose some hearing instead of my life.

10-4

[dhgeyer]

Any earplugs I've ever tried didn't impair my ability to hear traffic or sirens or any outside noise any more than being in a car with the windows rolled up. I can always hear cars coming up alongside me on the highway. If I wasn't wearing earplugs I probably wouldn't hear that, as the wind would be too loud. The exception is when I'm on the Concours, with a fairing and a big windshield, which cuts wind noise down to a level that's not harmful, and doesn't interfere with essential hearing.

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

Any earplugs I've ever tried didn't impair my ability to hear traffic or sirens or any outside noise any more than being in a car with the windows rolled up. I can always hear cars coming up alongside me on the highway. If I wasn't wearing earplugs I probably wouldn't hear that, as the wind would be too loud. The exception is when I'm on the Concours, with a fairing and a big windshield, which cuts wind noise down to a level that's not harmful, and doesn't interfere with essential hearing.

what kind of earplugs are you using, i cant hardley hear the pipes on my bike or the engine rev and if that's the case im sure not gonna hear any thing else. the little bit of noise i can hear is faint except the wind. i can still hear that its just not loud.

i really did not find the earplugs to be safe. like patrick said the police were chasing him down for doing wheelies on that ninja and he had no idea :crackup

[alanmcorcoran]

I can hear things like sirens, my engine, even Moedad through the hearo's just fine. Most musician earplugs are designed to cut down the decibels, not eliminate them. If you are already deaf, it doesn't really matter, but if you have a larger bike or one with loud pipes, long rides without protection are almost certain to cause permanent hearing damage. It's a cumulative thing, for one ride or ten rides the difference may not be noticeable, but once you do notice the problem, it's too late. Obviously, some people will have better hearing for longer than others (just like eyesight.) But I don't think anyone is immune. If you do a little research on people around (big) guns, rock music, airplanes, etc. you will find early onset deafness is very common. Some people have had damage just from listening to their ipods too loud for extended periods.

I don't notice any after effect from a 10-15 minute ride to work or even a 30 minute ride. But somewhere at about 45 minutes to one hour, there is an after effect. I think probably even the shorter rides take their toll.

I did a little bit of googling around and there are some good links here:
http://www.webbikeworld.com/Earplugs/earplugs.htm