Music in your helmet?

**notme** · 7th June 2006, 22:21

Well....I've been a good boy and searched, but the closest I have found is a thread about stereo's on bikes.

So.... Do you have music in your helmet whilst riding? Do you want it but have not the means? Would you rather listen to your pipe(s)?

**boomer** · 7th June 2006, 22:35

have an i=pod and have read lots of stuff on here about how/what others use too.

Its quite common to see other bikers with i-pods/players; The problem i find is getting the bastard ear plugs to fit snug so i can here over my bloody exhaust

**imdying** · 7th June 2006, 22:35

Naw... I put it up to the volume I used on the bike one day at home. It was bloody loud, loud enough to root my hearing quick smart. Not recommended, they still can't rebuild the little hairs into your ear yet

**notme** · 7th June 2006, 22:38

When I work out how to add another option....

I will add my own case, which is that I prefer to listen to the bike BUT I have speakers built into my helmet for the purposes of radar detector announcements.

**Madness** · 7th June 2006, 22:38

I was born with complete deafness in one ear. The one that works is on the pipe side. I would dearly love to losten to music whilst riding but can only hear the very bottom of the spectrum at 100k. My pipe has been called noisy by others, but I wouldn't change it either.

**Crasherfromwayback** · 7th June 2006, 22:40

Each to their own....but I think it's too easy to get carried away listening to music, and end up in a ditch.
Or worse.
Riding motorcycles requires 100% concentration.

**James Deuce** · 7th June 2006, 22:47

Imdying is dead right (unfortunate pun that) - BUT - if you spend up big you can get noise cancelling in-ear speakers, but I'm not so sure about spending $700 - $2000 for headphones that might get damaged or lost in an accident.

Remember, quiet helmets usually rate at about 90dB at 100km/hr. Loud enough to need earplugs if you want to keep your hearing forever. You have to overwhelm 90dB of essentially white noise to hear the music well enough to enjoy it. You'd be well into rock concert/jet aircraft levels and you'd be doing it for sustained periods. Hearing loss is insidious and you usually don't notice it until you can't follow conversations with people right next to you at a social function with more than 10 people. Too late. Upper register will be gone by then. Vivaldi and Eddie Van Halen's best work wiped out forever.

**Motu** · 7th June 2006, 23:00

I'm with them too - the sound level for use in the car (huh,diesel 4x4 and van) is just a tad high for normal use,it'd be much higher for a bike.I'd only use a music player on highway stretches....but I don't do that.

**madmal64** · 7th June 2006, 23:06

I like to listen to the sound of the v twin coming out of the Carbon cans.
Plus I do wear ear plugs on any ride over 20 minutes because I do want to be able to retain what hearing I have left for as long as I can.
I enjoy my music & play guitar myself & I have decided that motorcycling & music are best enjoyed one at a time.
Bike rallies are the best of both worlds.

**imdying** · 7th June 2006, 23:09

Please heed my advice, once it's gone (your hearing) you're totally screwed.

Oh yeah, and by a twin with open pipes

All the music you'll ever need

**Korea** · 8th June 2006, 01:18

Hearing be damned, it's distracting!
I tried it once and found I was zoning out to the music and not really paying enough attention to what was going on around me. Ran wide on a corner because I'd lost my concentration and decided not to do it again.
Might work for others; not me.

**RiderInBlack** · 8th June 2006, 07:08

Each to their own. "Roxanne" is not too loud, and I find that the right music helps me relax and get in the "mood". For me this has improved my corning. I do have ta watch which music I play in the helmet. Feuer Frei (Rammstein) is bad news in the straights or cop heavy areas (makes it hard to hear my radar detector)

but bloody awesome in the twisties

**Squeak the Rat** · 8th June 2006, 07:41

I chose to ignore others advice when I was doing my OE about 7-8 years ago. Spent too many nights in loud clubs, concerts, parties etc. Now I frequently find myself sitting in the pub with a group of friends staring into my beer because I can't separate their voices from the background noise. Trust me, it sucks. And trying to converse with strangers is just embarassing.

Music on a bike is loud enough to do permanent damage.

I liken the car experience to watching TV, you've got the screen, the comfy seat, the soundtrack (stereo). Your not engaged. I prefer to leave that behind when on the bike.

**Lou Girardin** · 8th June 2006, 08:16

I just use an I-Micron.

**yungatart** · 8th June 2006, 08:21

i just sing - that way I get to hear the wonderful melodic sound of my extremely tuneful voice - and no one else has to put up with the fact that I can't sing in tune! Something about the way a helmet distorts one's own voice so that it sounds great - sort of like karaoke really....
Seriously tho, do protect your hearing on the bike - half an hour's riding at open road speeds causes irreparable damage, so says the audiologist.