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Ear / Hearing Protection

lstayner said:
Even though a Spyder is quiet compared to other bikes with pipes the main culprit of hearing loss exists. Wind noise. A lot of inexpensive helmets and some pricey ones don't offer much protection. I have always ridden bikes with stock pipes and worn ear plugs. An example: We were riding 500 miles home mostly on 2 lane highway and decided we didn't need our earplugs. About an hour into the ride it started to rain so we hopped on a 4 lane highway and bumped up the speed to 70. The rain didn't last long but we stayed on the 4 lane. 200 miles into the ride we were both feeling beat and stopped for a break. We put our earplugs in and rode the rest of the 300 miles home and interestingly enough our fatigue went away.

My suggestion is to try a set of these: https://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Fid...d=1550927286&sr=8-4&keywords=etomic+ear+plugs They are inexpensive and comfortable to wear. You might be surprised.
Click to expand...

I have not read all of the responses here (yet) but when I saw this one, I thought this is a well stated testimonial in favor of ear plugs. Here is why I agree almost 100% with you. I have been riding motorcycles since 1968 and have accumulated over 450K miles on two wheels. In my earlier years 1968 to 1980 I was pretty young and like all teens & young adults, thought nothing of things like hearing. After a 20 year break from 1980 to 2000, I started riding again and looked into wearing ear plugs on the recommendation of a buddy who was big into ATGATT, including hearing protection. It didn't take me long to realize the immediate benefits of wearing ear plugs even on the quiet BMWs I was riding. The wind noise with most helmets is enough to cause fatigue even after only a couple of hours. From having worked in the medical facility in the job I had at the time, I also knew first hand what long term exposure to noise can do in the way of permanent hearing loss. Those three things made me finish the ATGATT with ear plugs every time I ride unless I'm doing maintenance and need to listen for problems for a short time. Otherwise I am truly ATGATT now. Granted the Spyder is likely the quietest "bike" I have ever ridden from wind noise, but it is still enough to cause fatigue and permanent hearing loss over time. People will do what they want and what they are comfortable with, but for me, I need to keep what hearing I have left after those early years of no hearing protection not just from riding, but other noisy sports as well. It doesn't take much to accomplish the protection task either. The plugs recommended in the link provided by Istayner are certainly a good option. For me personally, I find the orange ones in sporting goods at Walmart sufficient. Some people find them very uncomfortable; that's where a little more searching may be necessary, but ask yourself what your hearing is worth. As for the very expensive custom made foam plugs, my wife has a cousin who is an audiologist and can make those. He said they are not really that much better for db reduction than the ones we use from Walmart. They do provide a more comfortable fit if that is an issue though. On the down side, they do need to be cleaned regularly to avoid ear infections. With the cheap ones, they get dirty-toss them in the trash and buy new ones. well that's my .02 worth.
 
:agree: :agree: :agree:

I'm new here as a 5-day new Spyder owner. But I fully support the Etymotic recommendation. I already had tinnitus from military service when I started riding my Honda NT700VA in 2010. If you don't already have tinnitus, you DON'T want it. I tried the "foam" plugs...several different brands...but they all "muffle" ALL sounds, some to the point of actually being a safety hazard. Listening to music through my helmet speakers was useless unless you like the sound of someone singing from inside a padded room.

Get a set of quality musicians earplugs, like the Etymotics (or possibly the other "vibes" brand recommended by someone above...I have no experience with those). They block the frequencies and sound levels that WILL cause hearing problems for you sooner or later if you ride without ear protection. But they don't "muffle"...your music still sounds clear and great and you can still hear things around you that might get you killed if you didn't hear them.

Musicians play stage shows blasting out music in excess of 100 decibels for hours on end while wearing these earplugs. They can hear what they need to hear, the way they NEED to hear it, with no hearing damage. The earplugs work the same way for us as motorcycle riders. They come in different sizes, so if you don't like the feel of them, or can't get them in/out of your ears easily, you most likely just have the wrong size. At $13 - $15 a pair, buy your best guess size, then if it's wrong for you, go up or down one size and you are there. I road my Honda sport tourer for 85K miles and was on the second pair I had bought. They last a long time with proper care (wash your ear wax out of them more than once every 6 months :shocked:). I'm wearing them again on my Spyder and they work great.

Just my 2-cents worth.

EDIT: More in-depth info about them from the Etymotic site itself. https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/hearing-protection/which-earplug

NOTE: The Amazon link shows the ETY plugs but calls them the ER20. The Etymotic site lists their newer ER20XS versions in the chart link above. What you may really want or need is the ETY Blue ones from the Etymotic site here: https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/hearing-protection/er20.html Yeah...even though the URL says "er20.html", they are really the ETY Blue ones. The difference in the STEM of the ETY ones are in the center of the earplug so won't stick out of your ear at a goofy angle depending on how they were rotated when you inserted them (the stem could rub up against part of your helmet in some cases). Compare the location of the tab you would hold onto when inserting/removing the ER20's, with the "center post" on the ETYs.
 
I may start to wear plugs as my hearing gets worse and worse. On my 3rd pair of hearing aids and I'm finding that loud noises (including wind) affect me more and more
 
Too late, she just joined the forum, i used to be on the fire dept and kept the last page on my pager so I could play it back to get out of a situation, after a while she caught on
 
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