It's not the bike noise that's damaging...it's the wind noise that will damage your hearing. I want to be able to hear my grand kids swear at me under their breath....so I can kick their little whippersnapping butts.
It must have been Rider Magazine that did some type of helmet test a while back on wind-noise. I say that because that's the only MC mag I read. Anyway...Their conclusion was that even the best helmets with the best fit have about 100db or more hitting your ears at 70mph. That's a lot of noise, and over a long day's ride, there will definately be some damage to the ears.
I second that. I have had several custom pairs made by an audiologist, thats all I use now. Perfect fit, long lasting, easy to insert, maximum noise reduction. Most recently I bought custom earbuds with speakers from www.bigearinc.com. Had molds made at the International Motorcycle show. Their website has a list of where they have booths at shows (motorcycle and gun shows, by state) Had custom earplugs made and a set of BE-2 stereo earplugs with dual drivers and passive crossover, not cheap, but the last pair of earbuds I will ever buy....phenomenal. I use with my ipod directly (on level 2.....very low) and plugged into my autocom. No more pushing huge volume past earplugs..............
I agree it's worth the investment. There's a chain of hearing aid stores in Ontario called 'Listen Up Canada!' that will custom fit, molded plugs and put them on a tether for you for about $70 bucks Canadian. For another $30 bucks they'll give you a second pair. I use them on the bike, at sporting events (like Monster Jam & SuperCross) camping, cutting the grass etc. They call them 'Sentinels'. I'll never go back to foam.
These are what I use as well. With these babies snugly in its amazingly quiet....I actually think its TOO quiet for anything but long slab rides. I've had car rides with more wind noise. I have at least a half dozen pair in my tank bag just for those times.
...I can say they are the quietest disposables I've ever ridden with.
I too find those to be my favorites....check this site for a great price...not related at all, just passing on what I think is a good deal....OK, so we went out today for about 3 hours today.
I took a pair of these guys to see what they'd be like. Tough to judge a book by it's cover here, because they are simple foam disposables. BUT, they are flagged as 33 db units. I can honestly say I noticed the difference. Hands down they beat my normal orange disposables for quieting noise.
I found them a tad difficult to get into my ears. When compressed they return to their normal state much quicker than my normal orange disposables, so your aim had better be true or you'll end up not getting them seated just right. Other than that, they were super comfortable and still allowed enough high frequency sound through for me to be aware of what was happening around me. They did a great job quieting the dragster we rode by at a local car show where we stopped for lunch, too - man, that thing sounded great!
I can hands down say these will be kept around as my disposable of choice. No idea if they were attenuating at 33db, but I can say they are the quietest disposables I've ever ridden with.
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