Please someone stop the noise

[wheatonFJR]

I said that I *DID* wear earplugs before. Perhaps it's you that needs a hearing test!

earplugs were a must.

My mistake Peter, but I got the distinct impression that you wear an RF1200 (Shoei) and although you don't find it particularly quiet, you have not felt the need for earplugs yet.

I agree with Pterodactyl's sly post, and stand by my own. No helmet is particularly quiet, and you will always need hearing protection...unless you don't use them...then you will need to be really good at reading lips and get to know sign language.

I find that with my windshield up most of the way that it is very quiet. I have an RF1200 (Shoei) and it's not particularly quiet, but I have not felt the need for earplugs yet. Of course, I am coming from an 1800 CC V-Twin and a half-shell helmet. THAT was very loud, and earplugs were a must.

 

[HyperPete]

I said that I *DID* wear earplugs before. Perhaps it's you that needs a hearing test!

earplugs were a must.

My mistake Peter, but I got the distinct impression that you wear an RF1200 (Shoei) and although you don't find it particularly quiet, you have not felt the need for earplugs yet.

I agree with Pterodactyl's sly post, and stand by my own. No helmet is particularly quiet, and you will always need hearing protection...unless you don't use them...then you will need to be really good at reading lips and get to know sign language.

I find that with my windshield up most of the way that it is very quiet. I have an RF1200 (Shoei) and it's not particularly quiet, but I have not felt the need for earplugs yet. Of course, I am coming from an 1800 CC V-Twin and a half-shell helmet. THAT was very loud, and earplugs were a must.

Yes, you are correct. I find that it is very quiet with my Rifle Windshield up. Perhaps I'll try some earplugs again to see if it makes a difference, but I would guess that the decibels are very low inside the helmet. With the windshield down it's definitely loud.

Eh? What did you say? Schpeak into the horn, sonny!

 

[Mr_Canoehead]

If you are going to try to make a custom molded set, make sure that you put the helmet on while the material cures. I have tried the custom route a few times and while I get good isolation without the helmet, as soon as I put the helmet on, the isolation degrades. My theory is that the helmet putting pressure on the head changes the shape of the ear canal just enough to break the seal.

The fuze unit might get around this issue by using both an molded outer and a foam tip.

 

[Steve in Phx]

Not being able to HEAR is only half the risk from hearing damage. Not being able to STOP your ears from ringing is another problem altogether.

Right now I'm reading this thread in a very quiet office. My ears are ringing with a high pitched squeal. They never stop ringing, 24x7. It wasn't until I found out what tinnitus is that I knew I already had some damage.

+1 WEAR PLUGS.

The foam plugs work great, but muffle my sound system so it's hard to hear certain tones from my helmet speakers.

My personal favorite is Etymotic plugs. They muffle the sound less than foam plugs but I can still hear the full range of tones.

You can get different Etymotic plugs from amazon for pretty cheap. I highly recommend these.

1) https://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-ETY-Plugs-Protection-Earplugs/dp/B0015WJQ7A/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1463509250&sr=8-3&keywords=etymotic

2) https://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-ER20XS-SMF-P-High-Fidelity-Earplugs/dp/B00RM6Q9XW/ref=sr_1_5_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1463509250&sr=8-5&keywords=etymotic

My favorites are #2, the high-fidelity plugs. They are shorter, sound better and don't stick out of my ears. I can speak to people in normal conversation with them in.

 

[Bounce]

My Nolan helmet (N104) is to loud ! Every time I go out, I have to put those little yellow marshmallow things in my ears just to hear myself think ! So could someone please stop the noise! Does some make a super quiet helmet ??? Or is the way to go with some kind of high tech ear piece? If anybody could add some "noise" on this subject I would appreciate it.

Because of overpressure when riding, even when a helmet seems quiet you should be wearing hearing protection. Take it from someone with tinnitus, you don't want to "tough it out". Use proper hearing protection all the time you ride even when you don't think you need it.

My only issue with ear plugs is that it renders the helmet comm system nearly useless.

I use in-ear monitors and actually turn DOWN my audio to as low as it can go. It's still better than the comm/music was in my Gold Wing days when I had to blast it full to get past the foam plugs.

https://www.fjr-tips.org/acc/ear/ear.html

I would guess that the decibels are very low inside the helmet.

MCNews did a side-by-side test some years back (1997?) with audiologists and determined that even the quietest helmets have low-frequency pressures that can damage hearing even if it seems there is no "noise" (outside of the freq range (dbA) of hearing and not tested when only using the dbA scale.)

https://www.mcnews.com/mcnews/articles/helmet.htm (and do a quick search for "hearing" - it's the "Noise Levels" section.).

 

[BigOgre]

I have always worn ear-plugs (still have Tinnitus btw), tried different ear-buds, settled on molded in-ear monitors and now recently went the BT route. I use the molds on long day-rides or when I want better music quality but the Sena speakers with the foam plugs work ok otherwise for shorter rides. IMO, how the speakers are mounted could make a big difference in sound level. I tried a few different ways of finagling the install before I was able to get them right up against my ears without deforming the shape of the helmet liner or causing irritation. Even the smallest difference in space or foam caused a noticeable difference in sound level.

 

[Fred W]

Another guy with tinnitus here (hear?). Mine is work environment related, but the root cause was the same: Failure on my part to wear adequate ear protection when in an extremely noisy environment. I find now that I have tinnitus, if I were to go even a short time with an ill fitting ear plug, it drives me crazy, and then later the tinnitus is amped up temporarily in that ear!

I have large ear canals, so it has been hard to find good fitting disposable ear plugs. I finally found some and ordered a case of 200. They are the 3M E-A-Rsoft Grippers. Unfortunately they are very hard to locate without the neck cords, so I just bought the corded ones and clip them off of each pair before use. I find that they do an awesome job of noise attenuation, and are all day comfortable. I can also still hear my music and intercom with them in, both the Starcom1 and the Sena SMH10 that I have in my dual sport helmet.

 

[FJR-Pilot]

• ... Does some make a super quiet helmet ???

No. As many others have noted here .... no helmet provides the level of hearing protection that is required to prevent permanent hearing loss (which you will sustain if you rely only on your helmet for noise reduction).

I had to experiment with different shaped products to find the best plug for me (and likely you will too). I tried two flavors of custom molded ear plugs and they simply did not provide a level of noise reduction and/or comfort that I liked. I have tried many different shapes of the foam type ear plugs and have settled on the shape below because it provides an incredible amount of noise reduction (NRR33). And I gotta tell you: there's a huge difference in my stress/tiredness levels after a day of riding when I do or don't wear good quality ear plugs.

Through trial and error I have found that the shape of ear plug below fits my ear perfectly and gives me far superior noise reduction over the other ear plug shapes and types.

Nice thing is if you shop carefully you can get 200 of these for about $20 to $25.

I roll/squeeze them down as tightly as I can get them until they are as thin and long as possible and then insert them as far as possible into my ear canal and when they seal I cannot hear someone talking right in front of me. I have to read their lips. Many times I have caught someone talking to me and I did not know it until I saw their lips moving and had to remove the plugs to have a conversation. They work that well for me.

 

[Hawk28]

My formula FWIW:

1. Stock windshield plus Laminar Lip,

2. Full coverage helmet, not modular

3. Earplugs, and

4 Chin curtain (such as the one which came included in the box with my Shoei helmets over the years). The mesh chin curtain is often overlooked , but it can significantly reduce the noise/turbulence in your helmet.

More vents=more noise

Even having your jacket open at collar vs closed can have some impact.

Hope some of this is of use to you.

Hawk

2008 FJR

 

[Bounce]

One thing I thought about just now when reading the subject.

No one can stop the noise if you don't use prevention to avoid tinnitus. Once you have it there's a REEEEEEEEEEEEEE 24/7 for the rest of your life.