i took your advice and thank you.

Never in my years of riding have i wore earplugs.after reading the post i thought heck ill try it.wow what a difference.no wind noise tearing my brain out.i was able to sit back and enjoy the ride more then usual.i could even feel the bike engine which helps out when to shift.it was just a great time on the nc today.110 miles.i only stopped once for a pic.thank you again.i will wear for now on.

What type of ear plugs did you end up with? I might do the same - wind noise thru my helmet is deafening!

I noticed that today when riding if I kept the bottom of the helmet parallel with the ground the noise level really dropped. If I tilled my head a little the noise would come back. So I started riding with my head a little up. Helped a lot.

nemesis98 said:

What type of ear plugs did you end up with? I might do the same - wind noise thru my helmet is deafening!

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They are white foam from work.i think lowes or places like that carry them.

I use the yellow foam one from "3M" that my work provides for working in a noisy environment.

Any drug store should have several choices of foam (and other) ear plugs. I like the purple ones currently. The ones to look for are the 33/34 dB reduction ones - they all have ratings on the packaging. Usually the foam ones without the shiny outside you pick up on the job have lower ratings and usually lose effectiveness quickly in my experience. They are still far better than riding without earplugs though.

I started out wearing ear plugs after reentering riding as I have already suffered some hearing loss in 50 years. After buying a few packages in the drug store I went to an industrial safety supply store and bought a 200 count box of Howard Leight Max Lites for $18 or $20. I tried a few brands and found these all day comfortable. They last for two or three days of riding before I throw them away and open another package. Cheapest way to buy disposable ear protection.

I buy Hearos Ultimate Softness plugs by the box from Amazon ($12/40pr) and just stuff them in an old 35mm film case for riding dirt bikes. They are really comfortable, easily disposable, and I have had them in for 10-12 hour rides (LA-B2V). You can still hear road noise and conversation but they attenuate out the wind nicely.

ziggie said:

Never in my years of riding have i wore earplugs.after reading the post i thought heck ill try it.wow what a difference.no wind noise tearing my brain out.i was able to sit back and enjoy the ride more then usual.i could even feel the bike engine which helps out when to shift.it was just a great time on the nc today.110 miles.i only stopped once for a pic.thank you again.i will wear for now on.

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At first you feel like you are underwater, right?


But wearing ear plugs really saves your hearing.

I wear earplugs all the time. Even on city streets, the lower noise level is nice. And when you are stopped at a traffic light you get some relief from the kid playing his music so loud the sides of the car move in and out to the bass.

Chris

bendobe said:

I buy Hearos Ultimate Softness plugs by the box from Amazon ($12/40pr) and just stuff them in an old 35mm film case for riding dirt bikes. They are really comfortable, easily disposable, and I have had them in for 10-12 hour rides (LA-B2V). You can still hear road noise and conversation but they attenuate out the wind nicely.

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I used to use these to sleep when I worked graveyard shift, and they are comfortable. I used them to ride occasionally and liked them for that as well. I recently tried the silicone custom kit from Radians. It seemed like it would be okay, but they give you a lot of silicone, and I found them too large. Should have cut in half and made two pairs. Either way, earplugs help me focus and enjoy the ride.

I'm experimenting with various disposables and also Alpine Moto specific re-usables that come with 2 different attenuators for different levels of noise suppression.

Lots of reviews on Web Bike World, all useful, but truth is everyone's ear canals are different, and worse, some people's left and right ear canals are different to each other.

I'm doing well with the Alpines (did trim an 1/8" off the stem to get them to insert far enough for the stems not to catch on my helmet liner), and find them comfortable and effective. I follow their guidance on How to insert them, and find wetting them with a little saliva helps a lot. This isn't something advised by them, and I also considered using a little olive oil also.

I like the idea of disposables for hygienic reasons, but haven't found any satisfactory ones yet.