Ear plugs prevent permanent hearing damage

[Radar]

After riding, does your hearing sound muffled , or do your ears ring? If so, then you are suffering temporary hearing damage,
which, if repeated regularly, may become permanent hearing damage.

Read this article from the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research:
http://www.isvr.co.uk/at_work/m_cycle.htm - Check out the photo of the dude on the police motorcycle - inside a wind tunnel.

I'm now using ear plugs on longer trips and I like the lower noise level.

[HornetBoy]

After riding, does your hearing sound muffled , or do your ears ring?

i think its too late for preventing that with me ,my old cb250ft hornet had extremly loud aftermarket pipes on it which over the period of a year gave me ringing ears that go on and off the bike didnt really notice till it was too late

now its just preventing further damage eh! going to look at plugz for lugz i think

[DingoZ]

Aye, ear plugs are the way to go. I don't ride without them..

[FROSTY:Me]

which is why the team at Plugz for Lugs are our freinds

[Mort]

I never ride without them....Essential..... I got tinitus after riding for a year without them.

I buy them off EBay in the UK - there's a guy on there has a good range....

[CookMySock]

I'm now using ear plugs on longer trips and I like the lower noise level.

ok I tried this on a long trip and I didn't like it. The wind noise sounded LOUDER and I couldn't hear the engine any more, both of which sucked. A lot.

What am I doing rong ?

DB

[DingoZ]

All depends on what kind of earplugs you are using..

I use the 3M Industrial Workplace ones. Orange in colour.

Roll them between thumb and finger and insert into ear. Hold in place until they expand (usually just a couple of seconds). Hey presto, no noise...


If you are still getting noise through, the plugs are not generating enough of a seal, or they are not the right kind...

[Radar]

All depends on what kind of earplugs you are using..

I use the 3M Industrial Workplace ones. Orange in colour.

Roll them between thumb and finger and insert into ear. Hold in place until they expand (usually just a couple of seconds). Hey presto, no noise...


If you are still getting noise through, the plugs are not generating enough of a seal, or they are not the right kind...

Yep, my Hyo brother DingoZ , has it spot on. The ones I have now were purchased in a chemist shop - squash them up, insert, and let them expand in your ear to make a seal. Yesterday I did see some industrial ear plugs that were orange, as DingoZ says - these were in a plumber's supply shop and were probably only a dollar a pair - they were shaped better than the ones I got in the chemist.

[Kirill357]

Bought from 'plugs for lugs' guys but not satisfied with noise reduction, simple one which you need to squeeze and roll are way better, i'd say they reduce twice better

[Badger8]

Only tried riding once with plugs, just on the short commute home. Didnt like it at all.
BUT bear in mind, we are talkin a 5 minute town commute on a squirrel-farting-in-a-can sounding GN here
Could hear the engine note great, but DAMN i felt so unaware of what was going on around me. Cut out all those little noises i use as cues when driving in town.
Open rd i have yet to try, and i'm sure once i get a bike with some louder pipes they will be my best friend.
Plus i get a free supply from work!

[Steam]

...Open rd i have yet to try, and i'm sure once i get a bike with some louder pipes they will be my best friend...

It's not the pipes so much nowadays, it's the wind noise that's the real ear-killer.
At 100kph on my GN250 I always wore earplugs for rides of more than 30 minutes or so, the wind noise was a deafening roar that left my hearing muffled for a while after I got off the bike.
I have talked to people with really expensive helmets, and they say while they do cut the noise down somewhat, they still have to wear plugs.

[Badger8]

It's not the pipes so much nowadays, it's the wind noise that's the real ear-killer.
At 100kph on my GN250 I always wore earplugs for rides of more than 30 minutes or so, the wind noise was a deafening roar that left my hearing muffled for a while after I got off the bike.
I have talked to people with really expensive helmets, and they say while they do cut the noise down somewhat, they still have to wear plugs.

I dont find the wind too bad in my helmet. I'm normally one of the first to complain about loud noise hurting my hearing, but others seem to complain about the noise at 100k and not me i find if i shrink my neck a bit and pull my helmet down snugly against the neck of my jacket it's pretty sweet. Will just be interested to try plugs on a longer ride on the open rd to see how it is. i personally find plugs get uncomfortable after a while at work, so will be keen to see if it's worth it

[Radar]

Only tried riding once with plugs, just on the short commute home. Didnt like it at all.
BUT bear in mind, we are talkin a 5 minute town commute on a squirrel-farting-in-a-can sounding GN here

On short trips I don't bother with ear plugs. Its the longer trips at 100+ kph that raise the noise level in my helmet to about 90 db (according to the studies).

Over time, any loud sustained noise will cause permanent damage to your hearing.
I spoke to an audiologist about this and she put it this way: Its like setting up a tent on the lawn at home. A day or two, no problem, but if you leave the tent up for a long period, the grass underneath is killed. Inside your ear, in the cochlea, there are little hairs that detect sound vibrations. If these little things get pounded with noise for a long time, eventually they will be damaged - permanently.

As an aside, with so many iPods and other mp3 players pumping loud music through headphones/ear plugs, in the years to come we will see many many people with hearing problems, permanent hearing loss.

Personally, even if there was no chance of hearing damage, I would still use ear plugs since the wind noise is quite loud at 100 kph. But to be honest, I often forget to put them in. Last night I stopped at a quiet rural intersection to put them in, just to see if it was really worth it. Yes, it was.

[Okey Dokey]

I biked for years without ear plugs. After really big days especially I had that ringing going on. I could never get the squashy ear plugs to fit in my ears- they pop out.

Now I use a 3-flange type with the stalks cut off so they are flush with the side of my head. Fantastic! It's really much better for my ears- no more ringing- and seems to help with overall fatigue, too. I wish I had found this solution ages ago.

[Steam]

Now I use a 3-flange type with the stalks cut off so they are flush with the side of my head.

I experimented with that, lost the bloody things inside my ear, they went deeper and deeper. Had to get my flatmate to get one of them out with tweezers!