Headphones/earbuds while riding

[HillCountryRider]

In the group I ride with several of the riders listen to music and have their earbuds in...what's your personal take on this?

I'm going to trying it on my ride into work today and see how I like it...I'm thinking I won't as I like to hear the traffic and my bike.

 

[danieljardim]

In the group I ride with several of the riders listen to music and have their earbuds in...what's your personal take on this?

I'm going to trying it on my ride into work today and see how I like it...I'm thinking I won't as I like to hear the traffic and my bike.

I waited until I was more relaxing riding and started wearing earbuds. Didn't like the wire hanging around I bought a bluetooth helmet. It's great.

You can still listen to music, bike and traffic at the same time

 

[JT]

Because I commute same boring streaight line everyday i started listening to music but I did find that evey so often ill get into a song and 90% into the song and not all there on the road so I stoped preyyt quick. it wasent so much that I would not see a tune and hit a brick wall but more of being aware of your surrounding and being ready to react in an emergency.... at freeway speeds if you zoning out and something happend by the time you try to react its probably to late.

 

[xJoshuaDrakex]

I listen to music almost everytime I ride. It never affects me from hearing my surroundings. It makes the ride even more enjoyable. The only downside is the stock iphone headphones I have sometimes hurt my ears. Get a comfortable set and you'll be all good.

 

[LS6TT]

I do, I use the over the ear kind, the buds have a tendency to get ripped out. I run the wires down the back of my shirt to control them.

 

[UselessPickles]

Good ear buds with noise isolation are great because of the added benefit of hearing protection from wind noise. Typical ear buds are bad because they don't block wind noise, then you turn the music up very loud so you can hear it over the wind noise. That's a good way to destroy your hearing. Prolonged exposure to the loud wind noise also contributes to fatigue, which can cause you to make stupid decisions, or simply not notice/react to something, while riding.

Look for ear buds with triple flange tips and that actually have noise isolation ratings like these: Etymotic Research, Inc. - Earphones

I'm not sure if those will fit comfortably under a helmet. I had their now-discontinued er-6i, which had a smaller body, and they were very nice. They sounded great, blocked a lot of wind noise, but still let me hear important sounds (although, at a reduced volume). The best thing is that you can hear music very clearly on the freeway because the wind noise is greatly reduced and the music is at a comfortable volume that doesn't strain the speakers and cause distortion to the sound, and at a volume that is non-distracting background music that I can completely ignore when necessary.

Only down-side to those are that, just like ear plugs, they will become uncomfortable after some amount of time. If you don't do long rides or multiple day trips, then they'll be fine. If you want the ultimate in comfort, get some custom molded in-ear speakers. I was able to get a pair for $220 + $25 for a local audiologist to make impressions of my ears + the cost of shipping the impressions to the guy that made the custom speakers. It was well worth it for me.

 

[HillCountryRider]

Well, I rode in and I didn't really like not hearing all the traffic and when a crappy song came on I was forced to listen to the entire song. Maybe it's time to get a handlebar mount for my phone??

 

[SpawnXX]

Don't let a police officer see wires hanging out from under your helmet, or if you ride without a helmet only use one earbud. You can get pulled over and ticketed in some states if not most/all states for it. It's illegal when driving on 4 wheels wouldn't see why two would be any different. IMO, if you want to put speakers on your bike, go for it... or if you have speakers in your lid, keep it down to a level where you can hear street noise; ie, vehicles trying to gun it, slam on their brakes, etc. In my opinion, music is a big part of my life, and I listen to it so much that I can hear tracks going in my head from just memory. Music also obviously stimulates people...sometimes that can be good and sometimes that can be bad in certain situations. Just don't end up roadkill or kill someone else because you were jamming to some killer tracks and couldn't use defensive driving/riding to it's full potential. Ride safe broham. :thumbup:

 

[danieljardim]

Well, I rode in and I didn't really like not hearing all the traffic and when a crappy song came on I was forced to listen to the entire song. Maybe it's time to get a handlebar mount for my phone??

Or delete the crap song from the phone

 

[MNGreg]

In MN you are legaly allowed to have 1 earbud in. 2 is a no-no.
I like having music sometimes, but sometimes I just like quiet except for the road noises. I have found with wanting to fly out of the office, I dont like music on my work commute. For my fun riding on weekends, the earbud goes in. I liked the music initially on the way to work because it seemed to make the time go faster, but then in that same result, I wondered if it maybe caused me to zone out.. so I stopped on my work commute since with to/from work and lunches people are already crappy drivers in those times.. dont want to do anything to increase possible risk. On the weekends, I control where I go and they are usually quiet county rds so I feel ok w music.

 

[tatty2012]

I love what I did with the headphones I got. What's nice about the speakers in the lid is that they aren't super loud so you can still hear your surroungings. Vs. earbuds that cancel out most of the outside noises.

Another thing about the speakers is that I don't have to worry about them staying in my ears when I put my lid on.

In my Motorcycle Safety Class (Team Oregon), the instructors said it was a good idea for earplugs or headphones because of the wind noise factor.

I've always been a fan of music. Music actually helps me focus on my riding. Keeps me in my zone...

 

[Nastybutler]

When I ride the 6R for anything besides really short in town trips, I use a set of Ultimate Ears earbuds. They do a good job of blocking noise and sound good without having to be cranked up.

 

[UselessPickles]

Don't let a police officer see wires hanging out from under your helmet, or if you ride without a helmet only use one earbud. You can get pulled over and ticketed in some states if not most/all states for it. It's illegal when driving on 4 wheels wouldn't see why two would be any different. IMO, if you want to put speakers on your bike, go for it... or if you have speakers in your lid, keep it down to a level where you can hear street noise

In a car, you already have the doors, windows, etc blocking a lot of outside noise. In a car, it makes sense that anything that plugs your ears will probably prevent you from hearing important sounds.

On a motorcycle, isolation ear buds or ear plugs reduce outside noises, but they are still the same or louder than you would experience while sitting in a car with doors and windows closed.

There's also the hearing protection aspect. Ear plugs or good noise isolation ear buds protect your hearing on a motorcycle. Speakers on your motorcycle or in your helmet just damage your hearing even more than normal wind noise, because you have to turn the volume up high enough to overcome wind noise. I have permanent ringing in my ears from a 2-day motorcycle trip without ear plugs. I will never ride without hearing protection again.

This is one of those situations where logic/safety overrides the written letter of the law for me. I understand the purpose of that law, but it is not relevant to motorcycles.

 

[Deathdiesel]

If you want the ultimate in comfort, get some custom molded in-ear speakers. I was able to get a pair for $220 + $25 for a local audiologist to make impressions of my ears + the cost of shipping the impressions to the guy that made the custom speakers. It was well worth it for me.

Got pictures of these? Never heard of this before, but if your talking about just custom IEMs, then many many places make them.

Westone ES5
JHA Pro Music Products | Custom In-Ear Monitors by JH Audio

 

[RooKie]

I do the same as Nastybutler. I have the noise blocking ear phones while I ride and I play music at a low volume. I can still make out the music and clearly listen to the traffic around me.

Blocks out excessive wind noise and ads a bit of audio joy to my ride. WINNING!

 

[tatty2012]

Speakers on your motorcycle or in your helmet just damage your hearing even more than normal wind noise, because you have to turn the volume up high enough to overcome wind noise.

I can agree with you on this one, but my ears are already shot from the systems I've had in my cages.

I had the volume up yesterday with the speakers in my lid, could make out the lyrics and music and still heard road/wind noise... So it wasn't actually very pleasant.

 

[BKP]

In Georgia, you're not allowed to wear headphones for anything but communication... music is taboo -- not with one ear, two ears, or vibration osmosis...

 

[UselessPickles]

Got pictures of these? Never heard of this before, but if your talking about just custom IEMs, then many many places make them.

Westone ES5
JHA Pro Music Products | Custom In-Ear Monitors by JH Audio

Yeah, in-ear monitors, in-ear speakers...

Only difference is that these are specifically designed to fit comfortably in a helmet. Nothing sticks out of your ear except for the wires. I'll post a picture later along with contact info for where I got them.

The brand is "Ear-ific molds". As far as I can tell, it's just one guy in Georgia that has worked with a lab over the years to to develop a motorcycle helmet friendly design. He doesn't appear to have a website any more, and all transactions are handled over the phone or via mail. A bit "old-fashioned" in that respect, but I'm very happy with the results. They are significantly less expensive than other brands of in-ear monitors marketed to bikers (Big Ear, for example).

 

[Chevyfazer]

In Georgia, you're not allowed to wear headphones for anything but communication... music is taboo -- not with one ear, two ears, or vibration osmosis...

Never knew that, good to know if I get pulled over with my headphones in.

 

[UselessPickles]

I use my GPS as my source of music (has an MP3 player on it), which also connects to my phone via bluetooth. So I do use my ear buds for communication. The cop doesn't need to know that I also listen to music