Would this concern you.

[Spydee1]

Over the holiday I was riding my RT with friends behind me in a truck. They received a call that the place we were going was closed and wanted me to pull over and discuss a change of plans. They blew the horn several times and I did not hear it. They were directly behind me only a few feet. I only stopped when I saw them flashing their lights. My hearing is fine and I did not have the radio on. I was wearing a Shoei helmet which covers your ears. The thought that I could not hear a loud horn that close to me concerns me. I like a half helmet but know that the Shoei is safer. Has anyone else experience something like this, does it concern you?? Should I consider removing some of the helmet padding around the ears??

Just wanted you thoughts.

[HollyH]

Over the holiday I was riding my RT with friends behind me in a truck. They received a call that the place we were going was closed and wanted me to pull over and discuss a change of plans. They blew the horn several times and I did not hear it. They were directly behind me only a few feet. I only stopped when I saw them flashing their lights. My hearing is fine and I did not have the radio on. I was wearing a Shoei helmet which covers your ears. The thought that I could not hear a loud horn that close to me concerns me. I like a half helmet but know that the Shoei is safer. Has anyone else experience something like this, does it concern you?? Should I consider removing some of the helmet padding around the ears??

Just wanted you thoughts.

I have a Shoei helmet and hear just fine with Radio on and husband talking too... that's strange... test it out again... BEFORE you get on a busy road!

[Pennyrick]

Over the holiday I was riding my RT with friends behind me in a truck. They received a call that the place we were going was closed and wanted me to pull over and discuss a change of plans. They blew the horn several times and I did not hear it. They were directly behind me only a few feet. I only stopped when I saw them flashing their lights. My hearing is fine and I did not have the radio on. I was wearing a Shoei helmet which covers your ears. The thought that I could not hear a loud horn that close to me concerns me. I like a half helmet but know that the Shoei is safer. Has anyone else experience something like this, does it concern you?? Should I consider removing some of the helmet padding around the ears??

Just wanted you thoughts.

Before anything else, you may want to have your hearing tested.

[Spydee1]

I forgot to mention that I had a passenger and he did not hear the horn either (he also had the ear covering type helmet). I have added louder pipes but not that loud. Without helmet, I can easily carry on a conversation with other bikes while engine running. My husband was in the truck as a passenger and was very surprised that neither me or my passenger heard the horn. He says they were right on our butts while blowing the horn.

[Bob Denman]

No doubt; the louder pipes was all that it took to cover the sound of their horn...
You might want to consider some interbike communicaiton system... (Nady, Cardo..)

[Spydee1]

thanks Bob, we have the Scala system in our helmets and they work great. But this time we did not have communication with the truck since as my husband loaned his helmet to my passenger (we could communicate fine between each other and even carry on a conversation without the head set). My concern is missing something that it happening around me for lack of ability to hear. I was mostly wondering if the ear padding could cause this much of filter?

[Schnauzer]

Sounds like when your riding your in the zone..I know,been there done that even have the T-shirt.. IMHO, they should have passed you and flagged you down. Blowing the horn will at times startle a person that could have severe results.

I ride at times without a helmet, and don't hear other vehicle noise till it is right in my space. The air turbulance is a great noise muffler.

[bruiser]

Possibly, and this is just a guess, the combination of headset, louder pipes and full helmet could be the problem. Was this a full face or 3/4 helmet? I wouldn't remove any padding just yet w/o further testing.

[Spydee1]

Thanks all,
It is a Shoei RJ 3/4 helmet. I know that between the helmet, pipes etc my hearing would be restricted but I never thought that I would not be able to hear a truck horn that close to me.

I think I will do a little test this afternoon with both helmets and a truck horn.

I guess is good that cops have blue lights in addition to sirens

[Blue Star]

Possibly, and this is just a guess, the combination of headset, louder pipes and full helmet could be the problem. Was this a full face or 3/4 helmet? I wouldn't remove any padding just yet w/o further testing.

it could be a combination thing. Also you should have your hearing tested. I have hearing loss in the high tones, but perfect in the low tones. So while I can get away without my hearing aids (my co-workers will dis-agree) because I can hear most things said to me, but there are some times that I can't. I would guess that a horn would fall into a high tone.

[rhansen309]

I have the same kind of thoughts, not being able to hear somethng from behind. Although my wife and I can communicate without out Scala this makes it easier. I constantly look in my mirrors for emergency vehicles and others that may be approaching. I hope you can figure it out. I wear a 3/4 HJC helmet. I usually have the clear visor up, unless I am on the highway.

[Firefly]

Were you wearing earplugs? If not, you should be. Wind noise is the main concern... but exhaust noise is a concern too.

You may find you'll actually hear 'immediate' sounds like a horn better with plugs in as all the constant noise (wind and exhaust) are toned down.

Also, how far behind you were they? Remember-- you were driving away from the sound... so it's not going to be as 'loud' coming from behind.

[Some Guy]

Were you wearing earplugs? If not, you should be. Wind noise is the main concern... but exhaust noise is a concern too.

You may find you'll actually hear 'immediate' sounds like a horn better with plugs in as all the constant noise (wind and exhaust) are toned down.

The "white noise" from the wind hides a lot of other sounds. I find I hear other vehicles etc. much better when wearing ear plugs.

[Spydee1]

Again thanks for all the advise. I will add ear plugs to my testing, I had never thought of that, duh on me.

Firefly, the truck was only a few feet from me ( I was going to fuss at them about that, I hate when people ride too close), but I was so surprised that I did not hear the horn, they escaped the wrath I was planning

[NancysToy]

A horn is a bad way to communicate between vehicles. As you move forward, the sound mostly radiates backward. Not that much of it goes straight forward at highway speeds. Much more effective from the side, or if you are moving toward it. Had the truck been in front of you, you would probably have heard them. Earplugs may help, by masking the wind noise. Better yet, look in the mirrors frequently when you are traveling with others. You can see them flash their lights then...or come up ten feet off your six.

[flaggerphil]

I would think you might want to check your hearing or find a way to cut down the ambient wind noise. I wear a Shoei RF 1100 full face helmet, as does my wife, and we never have problems hearing vehicle horns or sirens.

[donec]

Simply speaking. If you are doing 60 mph/88 ft/s and the sound behind you is about 10 ft back then every second the sound would drop about -48 db according to my rough estimates. This means that if the horn was not a very loud horn then you may not hear it. Ford tries to keep their horns at around 94 - 95 db, to me it sounds like if you don't notice the horn in the first second of the horn blasting you won't hear it. Wind noise and buffeting can for sure distract your hearing for a second easily.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Immediately sell that Noisy Spyder, and buy a Gold Wing....Problem solved........Mike....

[daveinva]

You may find you'll actually hear 'immediate' sounds like a horn better with plugs in as all the constant noise (wind and exhaust) are toned down.

Even with my Shoei full-face I hear FAR better with earplugs in.

It's counter-intuitive, but true-- the helmet and earplugs block the "bad" frequencies allowing the "important" frequencies to come through. I have no problem hearing horns and sirens through the plugs.

A horn is a bad way to communicate between vehicles. As you move forward, the sound mostly radiates backward. Not that much of it goes straight forward at highway speeds. Much more effective from the side, or if you are moving toward it. Had the truck been in front of you, you would probably have heard them.

This. It's a wet blanket on the "loud pipes" crowd: at highway speed, this effect precludes anyone from easily hearing loud exhausts coming from *behind* you until they're right on top of you. Next time you're in a car and you spot a biker in your rear view mirror, pay attention to when you hear them-- you'll discover that their exhaust is loudest next to you and in front of you, but behind you, there's little to no warning.

[bruiser]

I have noise masking. It's called tinnitus.

[Blue Star]

I have noise masking. It's called tinnitus.

Off subject, but, my hearing aids fixed that too.

[Utah Geezer]

My wife says I have selective hearing. I said "what did you say". When I'm riding I'm usually tuned in to everything but what is around me. That's why I ride. To forget and let go of everything. Probably not the safest thing but sometimes mental health is just as important as physical health. Ride safe and what they said. I'll bet you hear it next time.

[BajaRon]

As mentioned by several already, ear plugs will let you hear more than wearing no ear plugs. Wind noise is a killer. Much worse, usually, than even loud pipes.

If I go from one gas stop to the next without ear plugs my hearing is just about the same when I stop as it is with 33db ear plugs in, if that makes sense. Roughly speaking, riding about 100 miles without ear plugs reduces my abiltiy to hear by at least 33dbs, which is quite a bit. But at the same time it isn't exactly the same quality of hearing loss. With ear plugs in I can hear everything, just at an attenuated level. Without ear plugs after several miles, I can't hear lesser sounds at all, the sound has to rise above a certain level before I can hear it. And I have trouble distinguishing sounds, like words, which is not so much a problem with ear plugs in.

Also, hearing loss can be segmental. Your ablity to hear some sounds may still be 100% while other sounds don't register at all (like your wife's voice, which can result in additional medical issues when your wife discovers it ).

And lastly, some trucks have VERY Wimpy horns. You might want to have your friend honk their horn for you to see if that may be adding to the problem.

[bruiser]

Guess I didn't mention, i do wear ear plugs when I wear my half helmets. As mentioned, my 3/4 helmet does have good noise attenuation. My tinnitus and hearing loss are the result of 20 years in the Air Force. I do ride with folks who don't wear any type of ear protection, that have the ultra loud pipes and wear half helmets. I try to explain to them that although they may think their hearing recovers after the ride, hearing loss is cumulitive. But, to each his own. Ooops, thread hijack.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

The way they measure decibals ( loudness etc.) is similar to earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes.....A small number change equals a very large change in the volume....i.e. earthquake 4 = not so bad, 6 = catastrophic....same thing with tornadoes catagory 3 = really bad, catagory 5 = It can remove your entire town........Mike.....