Ear plugs

[Beardo]

I've always worn ear plugs on longer trips, but since I got the Valk and started riding with the wife, I've been riding without plugs at times so we can talk when going slower. With the windshield, quiet exhaust and full helmets, the noise was bearable. But the wind noise can get tiring. It's much more relaxing with plugs in

So I found and just ordered these:

https://www.earpeace.com/pages/motorcycle-ear-plugs

They have an insert that allows some sound through but lessens the wind noise...supposedly.

If they work, it would be nice to not have to remove them at every gas stop or break. Anyone tried them or something like them?

[Jess from VA]

Most ear plugs make my ears sore after awhile.  The yellow foam ones were about as comfortable as any I ever found, but they have a shelf life and get a little groady after a few uses. (My mom would look in my ears as a kid and ask me if I was intending to grow corn in there with all the dirt.  She stopped looking after I was about 20.)

Never worn them on bikes.  Shooting, flying commercial airlines with screaming kids, flying noisy USAF transport aircraft, and cheapo motels with folks banging the headboard off the walls with loud appeals to some deity (for surprisingly long intervals).

At 64, my hearing is still excellent after 40+ years of riding.  At least one thing is still working OK.   

[lordofchaos]

There are a coulpe of different brands of earplugs on the market these days that make the same claims. I've been using NoNoise (https://www.nonoise-earplugs.com/en/) for a couple of months now and I love them. Definitely reduces the wind noise, but I can still hear things like my music and others speaking to me, including my passenger. I can barely stand to not wear them anymore due to the difference in volume inside my helmet.


NOTE: I have no affiliation with this company or product, just a satisfied customer.

[Beardo]

Glad they work for you. Hope these work too.

I've worn the rubber ones similar to those, except without the hole in them. They are the only ones that work for my ears, I could never get the foam ones to work properly.  I've had had to cut the "handle" part off of them though because the helmet pushes them into the ear resulting in soreness.

These ones just have a small tab that protrudes, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Jess from VA...too many years of open tractors and shooting without protection have left me with poor hearing. Hope to save what little I have left.

[Valker]

These work and they NEVER hurt your ear canals because they don't go inside the canal. www.earplugsonline.com

[J.Mencalice]

WHAT?  WHAT?  WHAT?
Tinnitus...you don't want it.

[Beardo]

These work and they NEVER hurt your ear canals because they don't go inside the canal. www.earplugsonline.com

Those would definitely work well, I'd think. Possibly too well though. I would like to be able to hear some still, not be totally unaware of my surroundings, and be able to pay for gas or buy a drink without having to take them out. From what lordofchaos said, the ones I ordered might just work for that. The reviews seemed to suggest that too...if you can trust online reviews.

[msb]

I use good old fashioned  cotton batten. Always comfortable and shapes to the ear perfectly without having to shove it all the way in. Shuts out the wind and the worst part of my exhaust, wearing a half helmet with Sena earpads. Still allows me to talk on the Sena with the wife or listen to music on the odd occasion I do, and also to talk to someone when we stop for gas, etc. Tried the foam and more expensive earplugs but didn't like being completely shut off... felt like I was at 30,000 ft with a bad case of sinus congestion.
Wife also uses and likes the cotton batten with her 3/4 helmet.

[F-six]

For the last fifteen years I have used custom made earplugs because I find most earplugs unsatisfactory. The foam kind muffles everything, while the Christmas-tree type with a series of rubber flanges blocks noise effectively but hurts my ears. I need earplugs that I can wear all day without any discomfort so I went with the custom made earplugs years ago. I barely notice them, can use them with my Sena headset for telephone and navigation and for most of the journey I can just forget they're there. I have worn them on many tours for more than eight hours per day. I can't imagine touring without them. The reduced noise allows me to relax a very great deal, and I can hear what I need to hear, in traffic and on my headset. I know the custom made earplugs are considerably more expensive, but it's money well spend. I can't recommend them enough.   

 

[RDKLL]

So I found and just ordered these:
https://www.earpeace.com/pages/motorcycle-ear-plugs

I ordered a couple of pair for my wife and me. there are 2 levels of protection hence the 2 sets of inserts. We were looking fr something that we coupld use on the KTM  2-up...to take care of the wing noise but still allow our Sena comms to work without running out of volume (for me). But since I am not cleared to ride yet, not test. Although she has tried them out watching TV with me and so far so good.
As soon as I can try them on the bike I will let you know.

[Beardo]

Or you could put on your helmet and drive your car/truck with your window down and head out the window. 

I'll get mine in a couple days, so no worries. I'll post how they work in case anyone else is interested.

[art]

WHAT?  WHAT?  WHAT?
Tinnitus...you don't want it.

HUH? Ringggggyyyyy. I buy my earplugs by the 100 pack from MSC industrial catalog. I have small ear canal and have to cut the bug end off. Going deaf from 52 years as a machinist working near steam turbines an such.

[jimmytee]

WHAT?

[scooperhsd]

I've still got hearing "as good as a baby" inspite of my 56.75 years and riding a bike for almost 40 of that. Yes I can hear 22KHz still. I don't get bothered on my Valk like other bikes though - my too tall (for me) windshield probably helps that. There are times when I just have to turn the sound down in the car because it hurts (too loud) - but that's more common when I'm sick with something that affects the ears / sinuses.

For hearing protection - the yellow foam ones for shooting work fine for me.

[The emperor has no clothes]

WHAT?

[RDKLL]

Or you could put on your helmet and drive your car/truck with your window down and head out the window. 

I'll get mine in a couple days, so no worries. I'll post how they work in case anyone else is interested.

Told my wife that if she didnt go with me to my ortho appt...I predicted that the doc would say I could ride....she confirmed her accompaniment

[art]

Due to my hard hearing I once told my wife either speak up or shut up, she spoke up.

[Ramie]

I've still got great hearing, the problem is my wife thinks I can hear through walls and while shes walking away from me.

[The emperor has no clothes]

I've still got great hearing, the problem is my wife thinks I can hear through walls and while shes walking away from me.

Same here. I've got to the point of saying nothing. She will eventually come in the room and tell me. Usually it's nothing. 

[Beardo]

I've lost most of my higher frequency hearing.  I have the report printed out from my last company hearing test. I showed my wife on the chart where I think her voice's frequency is. Written excuse for not hearing her.  

[Jess from VA]

I have personal experience with friends and family that have selective hearing.

The way this works, if you have good news or cold beer to share, they hear you fine.

But if you have criticism, complaints, work to be done, costs to be shared, or bad news of any kind, they don't hear you at all.   This is usually accompanied by walking away from you with their back turned.

My brother, who lost half his hearing at age four from the German measles, mastered selective hearing very early on.   And now, after 30 years in the mills, and much more hearing loss, he has a PhD in it (and hearing aids, which he does not like to wear).

My favorite part of his selective hearing is if you are talking with him about something he does not want to talk about, he smiles at you and takes his hearing aids out, puts them on the table, and that's the end of that conversation.

[The emperor has no clothes]

I have personal experience with friends and family that have selective hearing.

The way this works, if you have good news or cold beer to share, they hear you fine.

But if you have criticism, complaints, work to be done, costs to be shared, or bad news of any kind, they don't hear you at all.   This is usually accompanied by walking away from you with their back turned.

My brother, who lost half his hearing at age four from the German measles, mastered selective hearing very early on.   And now, after 30 years in the mills, and much more hearing loss, he has a PhD in it (and hearing aids, which he does not like to wear).

My favorite part of his selective hearing is if you are talking with him about something he does not want to talk about, he smiles at you and takes his hearing aids out, puts them on the table, and that's the end of that conversation.

that sounds like a pretty effective way to communicate.

[Blaineo]

I have the ear peace plugs. Like them a lot better than the foam ones. More comfortable for me

[rocketray]

several motorcycle magazines have had articles recently on the subject and yes you should be wearing ear protection...various foam plugs are rated for various decibel decrease rating at Walmart or any sporting goods stores-buy a few packs and see what works for you-in a car you are pretty sound insulated so wearing ear plugs on a bike  isn't a big deal safety wise but being subjected to...read the articles--pretty high decibels that WILL hurts your ears.....me? an open Viking header.....with that gizmo ignition box..it cuts out at 7300 rpm..I am getting the wife to catch THAT at COTA at a RIDESMART event on the main concrete straightaways..I may need some help posting THAT!

[Beardo]

For the last fifteen years I have used custom made earplugs because I find most earplugs unsatisfactory. The foam kind muffles everything, while the Christmas-tree type with a series of rubber flanges blocks noise effectively but hurts my ears. I need earplugs that I can wear all day without any discomfort so I went with the custom made earplugs years ago. I barely notice them, can use them with my Sena headset for telephone and navigation and for most of the journey I can just forget they're there. I have worn them on many tours for more than eight hours per day. I can't imagine touring without them. The reduced noise allows me to relax a very great deal, and I can hear what I need to hear, in traffic and on my headset. I know the custom made earplugs are considerably more expensive, but it's money well spend. I can't recommend them enough.   

 

The first real trip with the ear peace plugs left me disappointed. I like that you can still hear your surroundings and hear people taking, but they hurt after a while and there was a couple times, I had a real hard time getting them out. I was worried I'd have to go into the gas station and ask the clerk to help me dig them out of my ears. I don't know if my full-face helmet pushes them in further or what, but that little tab isn't enough to grab onto sometimes.

Going to do what you did and get custom molded plugs.

[davit]

I've been using these https://pinlock.com/products/earplugs/ for a couple of weeks now and they have been the most comfortable and effective I've tried yet.

Amazon has mixed reviews on them so as always, ymmv.

[John Schmidt]

At 79+ I still have excellent hearing, so much so my wife and I can't watch TV in the same room. She can be in the other end of the house and have the TV turned up so I have to shut the door so I can hear mine. She'll come into the room and ask why I'm watching silent movies, then turns it up so she can hear and it's blowing my eardrums out. Our bed is 40' or more from the thermostat and separated by two rooms, I can hear the 'stat click on/off. She didn't believe me so one day she tested me by having me sit on the bed while she moved the control to make it click. When I told her what it was doing, it blew her mind. Our church has two services, the early one is the regular service mostly attended by us older folk and is easy on the ears. The second service is referred to as "contemporary" and although I've tried, I simply cannot handle the volume. It literally hurts my ears and I usually end up leaving.

I had to chuckle at my wife's grandson a few years back. He was listening to music(?) on his cell with ear buds on and I could hear it from across the room. I said something to his dad who defended him, saying he could still hear just fine, so I decided it was time for a test. His dad went over to him, said I was going to hum the tune being played to prove it was too loud for anyone if wearing buds. He laughed, said impossible, then I started humming. He couldn't believe it, so then I tested him with the thermostat clicking on/off. He couldn't even hear the AC fan coming on. He's now 28 and will be using a hearing aid within 5-7 years. When I was flying a lot some years ago, I always used good headsets. Same as when I was in the USAF, headsets or Mickey Mouse ears all the time. On the bike for more years than most on here have lived, even as a kid I used some sort of ear plug. Today, I have some molded plugs I carry on the bike and wear them if I'm doing more than just running short errands. I still want to hear my great grandchildren when they talk to me....so I can talk with them. I want them to remember conversations with their "great gramps." 

[gordonv]

Beardo,

I've custom formed ear plugs. EVERYTHING you try will hurt or bother your ears after some time. How long, I don't know.

But msb uses cotton in his ear, and uses a half helmet and likes them. I use a full face with the visor open. Loud music and wind, especially at high speeds.

I didn't fully read, but if you are using foam plugs, there is a proper way to put them in. I learned as a shooter in the Cadets. It makes it a lot better.

Just keep on trying. Someone was selling custom pugs at the winter MC shows abut $50

[Robert]

Great suggestions from all, perfect timing for me I tried some of the foam types and they did mute the sound but to much. I am going to try some of the suggestions here. Thanks guys.

[BnB Tom]

  Most recent ad from August GUNS magazine has, what seems to be, the perfect solution for noise abatement.  Possibly only protects from the frequency produced by gunshots...  But interesting AND expensive non the less.
https://youtu.be/bPdQKr8yrvE 
   

[sdv003]

Does anyone have any experience with active noise cancellation earbuds like the Bose?  My understanding is that they do well with sounds like engine drone and wind noise.

[davit]

Does anyone have any experience with active noise cancellation earbuds like the Bose?  My understanding is that they do well with sounds like engine drone and wind noise.

I don't personally, and have heard they do well until you hit multi lane traffic such as a freeway and then the electronics can't keep up.