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508 Posts
I'd like to start a new thread on a topic that was sandwiched into a discussion about what helmets people choose to wear.
I'll take the liberty of quoting Covert, who posted the following:
"I agree on earplug use- the laws that pertain to earplugs were written by people who have never even SAT on a motorcycle, and I hate to sound like Biker Rebel Guy, but that is a law I will break for the rest of my life. The damage caused by high-frequency wind noise is serious, cumulative, non-reversible, and, while it's not exactly "damage", wind noise also contributes to fatigue. You have to get the RIGHT earplugs- the attenuation should focus on the "bad" frequencies, not ALL frequencies. You should still hear cars, horns, sirens, your engine coming apart... "
Now, here am I, a newbie to riding any bike that goes more than 35 MPH (at least until I pick up my Burg 400 next weekend), so hearing damage from buffeting noise never quite occurred to me as a problem before. This is an unpleasant idea both to me and to my fellow-rider/husband, who already has less-than-perfect hearing thanks to Uncle Sam's toys that go BOOM.
Can we acquire hearing protection that cuts out the bad frequency noise but leaves the good frequency stuff still audible, as Covert suggests? That would seem to be the ideal. Will simple foam ear puffs do the job? What do all you wise folks use?
I'll take the liberty of quoting Covert, who posted the following:
"I agree on earplug use- the laws that pertain to earplugs were written by people who have never even SAT on a motorcycle, and I hate to sound like Biker Rebel Guy, but that is a law I will break for the rest of my life. The damage caused by high-frequency wind noise is serious, cumulative, non-reversible, and, while it's not exactly "damage", wind noise also contributes to fatigue. You have to get the RIGHT earplugs- the attenuation should focus on the "bad" frequencies, not ALL frequencies. You should still hear cars, horns, sirens, your engine coming apart... "
Now, here am I, a newbie to riding any bike that goes more than 35 MPH (at least until I pick up my Burg 400 next weekend), so hearing damage from buffeting noise never quite occurred to me as a problem before. This is an unpleasant idea both to me and to my fellow-rider/husband, who already has less-than-perfect hearing thanks to Uncle Sam's toys that go BOOM.
Can we acquire hearing protection that cuts out the bad frequency noise but leaves the good frequency stuff still audible, as Covert suggests? That would seem to be the ideal. Will simple foam ear puffs do the job? What do all you wise folks use?