[chrishillwashere]

How many of you do it? How do you do it? Earbuds? Did you customize your helmet? Do you only do it if it's a long trip? Are you completely against it? Have you ever gotten harassed by the cops for it?

Chime in, I thought about it the other day but didn't know how safe it would be. Not that I'm the safety king. The guys from DFW can attest to that after seeing my riding shoes! haha
:arsenal

 

[WRX Boy]

Being the paranoid old guy, no way in hell would I ever listen to music inside my helmet (be it earbuds, speakers or whatever) while riding. I don't trust the cars enough as it is. No way I am going to take one of my senses for avoiding them out of the equation.

 

[MrDude_1]

theres a couple ways.
first you can get good fitting earbud speakers... i have a KOSS set that works great.

then you can get helmet speakers... they fit under the padding near your ears, usually with velcro.

and last, theres speakers and a stereo turned up.



if you have a reasonable volume, you can still hear everything around you with either of the first two.. if you crank it, obviously you cant hear jack shit.
if you wear earplugs anyway, then theres no real diff. if you normally go without hearing protection, and have an exceptionally quiet helmet, and quiet bike, then you will miss things you normally hear.

its upto you.. i do it on long trips.. i mute it all for traffic, and with them muted they no longer effect my hearing...

 

[Gerg]

I have a great pair of earphones/earplugs from Etymotic (http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6.aspx) that I use with my iPod. They're great for listening to music, and they are also great at being regular earplugs, so if you don't have music on they're just a great pair of earplugs.

Because they are so good at blocking wind noise, etc., you don't have to crank music up to the loudest it can get just to hear it.

Never had a problem hearing what I need to hear to stay safe.

 

[specterunseen]

I have a great pair of earphones/earplugs from Etymotic (http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6.aspx) that I use with my iPod. They're great for listening to music, and they are also great at being regular earplugs, so if you don't have music on they're just a great pair of earplugs.

Because they are so good at blocking wind noise, etc., you don't have to crank music up to the loudest it can get just to hear it.

Never had a problem hearing what I need to hear to stay safe.

Heard good things about those.

I personally haven't bought them yet. Right now I wear Macks silent ear (kind of like putty).

Cuts the wind noise etc in half. Won't ride more than 5 mins without them. They make it SOOO comfortable.

 

[LilMoney]

I tend to look like a idiot when I start banging my head.. so I just leave that for the car!!!!!

 

[chrishillwashere]

I tend to look like a idiot when I start banging my head.. so I just leave that for the car!!!!!

haha, I always wind up singing the song that's in my head while I'm riding. I've hit a couple of high notes in side the helmet and made my ears ring. haha

 

[chrishillwashere]

I have a great pair of earphones/earplugs from Etymotic (http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6.aspx) that I use with my iPod. They're great for listening to music, and they are also great at being regular earplugs, so if you don't have music on they're just a great pair of earplugs.

Because they are so good at blocking wind noise, etc., you don't have to crank music up to the loudest it can get just to hear it.

Never had a problem hearing what I need to hear to stay safe.

Ahh, I've been wanting to get the iPhone headset that they make.

Right now I don't think my headphones will fit under my helmet, haha.

 

[MrDude_1]

haha, I always wind up singing the song that's in my head while I'm riding. I've hit a couple of high notes in side the helmet and made my ears ring. haha

same here....

 

[Jer_Orr]

I have a great pair of earphones/earplugs from Etymotic (http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6.aspx) that I use with my iPod. They're great for listening to music, and they are also great at being regular earplugs, so if you don't have music on they're just a great pair of earplugs.

Because they are so good at blocking wind noise, etc., you don't have to crank music up to the loudest it can get just to hear it.

Never had a problem hearing what I need to hear to stay safe.

+1 I wouldn't recommend anything else!

 

[H20holic]

Wal-Mart has JVC "sponge" earphones for $20. They are GREAT, you roll em' up and insert em' into your ear and clearly they form to your ear.

 

[Nanotech9]

lots of us wear ear plugs while riding to protect our ears... they cancel out most noise anyway, so no reason not to fill the void with some music.

also, wearing ear plugs will reduce fatigue on longer rides (like an iron butt ride) and make your ride more enjoyable.

several of use use the earbuds that have memory foam on them... you squish them like an earplug, and then stick them in and the seal out all the sound, and then you dont have to turn your music up hardly any at all.

 

[Sinner73]

I couldn't live with out it . if im going to hit the canyon i turn them off when i get there but when commuting or just riding aroung town I love it . I use the skullcandy ear buds . there great and suction to your ear . I cant use the other style cause they hurt my ear . Ive been looking for a while for some helmet head phones with blue tooth so i can eleminate the cord but havnt found any yet

 

[mcjasonb]

i have a 4 gig ipod nano that i strap to my right arm and i have helmet speakers. i always use them unless i am going on a very very short ride. it makes everything just that much more fun.

 

[chrishillwashere]

I found an old pair of skull candy earbuds and tried them out today. They wound up pulling out of me ear in the helmet and lodged between my ear and the ear pad (very very uncomfortable). I gotta get some of those helmet speakers.

 

[reppans]

This is the set-up on my GS... MP3, voice capable GPS and Radar detector all run though a sound mixer to sound isolating earbuds (Shure). My SM has an MP3 + radar mixed on a tank bag set-up, again through the Shure ear buds, and also a non-voice GPS attached to the bars. Definitely use sound isolating ear bud speakers, it's really no extra work if you use earplugs on a bike, and you can use minimal volume to avoid long term ear damage.

Love listening to music though the twisties, music rhythm is really complementary with corning rhythm. However, my number one priority is always the radar detector... won't ride without it.

 

[chrishillwashere]

This is the set-up on my GS... MP3, voice capable GPS and Radar detector all run though a sound mixer to sound isolating earbuds (Shure). My SM has an MP3 + radar mixed on a tank bag set-up, again through the Shure ear buds, and also a non-voice GPS attached to the bars. Definitely use sound isolating ear bud speakers, it's really no extra work if you use earplugs on a bike, and you can use minimal volume to avoid long term ear damage.

Love listening to music though the twisties, music rhythm is really complementary with corning rhythm. However, my number one priority is always the radar detector... won't ride without it.

wow, that's one intense setup! :arsenal Looks like you have all bases covered and then some. I have mine stripped down as much as possible.

 

[suicidalgecko]

mine is a dirtbike with street tires

 

[rotgg]

I have a great pair of earphones/earplugs from Etymotic (http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6.aspx) that I use with my iPod. They're great for listening to music, and they are also great at being regular earplugs, so if you don't have music on they're just a great pair of earplugs.

Because they are so good at blocking wind noise, etc., you don't have to crank music up to the loudest it can get just to hear it.

Never had a problem hearing what I need to hear to stay safe.

i have these ear phones they are the best and are super tough i use them every day i read on one of the forums that a guy even washed them in the washing machine and they still worked

 

[CDNSXV]

The only way to fly is with a set of noise blocking earplugs like the ER6i as linked to above. They act as earplugs and block out the wind noise meaning the music doesn't have to be ridiculously loud to overcome the outside noise.

without a set of these types of earplugs you are risking hearing damage both from wind noise and from excessively loud music required to overcome the wind noise.

FWIW there is an updated version called the ER6i which has better noise reduction.