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Whenever I'm riding, I wear ear plugs. Period.

I'm 49 and have been told that my hearing is declining. I just started riding and though I only ride a little Honda 250, I want to make sure I can hear for as long as possible.

I'm also a musician and need my hearing. I wear gear to protect my body. Ear plugs are just another piece of equipment.

Mike

Yeah I just recently started riding with ear plugs and I feel it is much better experience to me. I can still hear my engine and cars around me but it blocks out the annoying windnoise as well as my exhaust at highway speeds. The baffles on my exhaust were drilled out and at freeway speeds it can get annoying after a while.

Only drawback for me is that when I'm riding with friends it makes it very difficult to hear them when we're stopped at a light.

One of the veteran riders on my other regular MC forum home is a machinist. He wears ear protection every day at work.

At a his annual physical, he was told he was losing his hearing... This at first puzzled both himself and the doctor.

Then, on his way home, he realized that during his many years of commuting by motorcycle he never wore earplugs. Ah HA moment.

He now wears earplugs for every ride because once the hearing starts to decline, it can decline steeply.

I wear earplugs EVERY ride, because the helmet comm system I have is set for earplugs IN: Unless I don't hook up, breathing or a muttered curse is painfully loud without earplugs.

P

I just came from a ride today hitting at around 60 - 70 mph and I too noticed that I had a lot of wind noise that bothered me. I assumed originally that if you had a half helmet, you'd automatically would wnat to wear ear plugs but I have a full face shoei and didn't think that the wind noise would affect me so adversely. But for those who have a full face also, what if you were riding with a friend and had ear plugs in your ear and co uldn't hear them =\. What's there to do? And it must be inconvenient even though it'd save your hearing... Maybe I too must invest in earplugs.

you can still hear when wearing earplugs, they don't cancel all sound which would probably be even more dangerous. at highway speeds it is pretty dangerous to ride side by side (illegal in many jurisdictions) and tough to hear anyway. this is why most riding clubs have a set of hand signals they use to communicate.

when you roll up to a stop and have to talk to your buddy, just yell a bit louder.

me screaming at my friend at a light...

me: HEY! LOOK AT THAT HOT CHICK IN THE CAR NEXT TO US!
friend: HUH? THAT FAT LADY IN THE RED CAMRY?
me: NO YOU IDIOT! THE HOT CHICK IN THE CIVIC!!
friend: OH YEAH, I'D LIKE TO TAKE THAT HOME AND SHOW HER MY SNAIL COLLECTION
me: WHY'S EVERYONE LOOKING AT US? LIKE THEY'VE NEVER SEEN BIKERS BEFORE...
friend: YEAH, LOSERS...

Make sure the ear plugs fit properly...when I first bought my new bike I bought a pair at the stealer and noticed after a week of riding that my ears were ringing when I went to bed. (could have been from the wife as well)

Went to Walmart and bought the highest DB rating (Hearos Blue 33db) foam plugs and the ringing has gone away. Glad I saved my hearing.

Unless your ears are already screwed up, you should be able to hear normal conversation, bike noises, traffic, etc.. with the plugs and your helmet on. I've spoken to other riders when stopped and had zero problem hearing them. If it's that important to hear what they are saying pull over and shut the bikes down. You'll hear them fine then.

SAVE YOUR HEARING WEAR EAR PROTECTION EVERY RIDE....hearing loss is permanent once it's gone it never comes back and hearing aids S%CK...ask my buddy who wears them (if he can hear you..not)

I wear them on longer rides and for highway speeds. In town, I cant really tell the difference with or without the plugs. The Shoei is a pretty quiet helmet in the first place.

I have noticed that my Scorpion EXO 400 helmet is pretty noisy as far as wind noise goes.

One thing that may be an option for those who are worried about talking to friends and such is active noice cancelling earphones. I don't know how well they work as I haven't tried them, but I imagine that a good set would be able to cancel out atleast some of the harmful noise. Then at stops you just switch them off.