I have been wearing earplugs for 4 years now. Can't ride without them anymore.
Started out with the drugstore foam ones, went with custom made for awhile but now use foam ones from earplugstore.com. Very comfortable and the price is right.

 

Been wearing plugs since I was riding in the back of fire trucks and ambulances. I wear them riding, while mowing the lawn and snow blowing and when my son was collicky last year. Your hearing never gets better, it is cumulative. I get custom molded plugs done by an audiologist now. They are FAR more comfortable than any of the disposables out there. I pop for the slightly more expensive silicone plugs and they are so comfy you can wear them all day. I have gotten several sets done at motorcycle shows/rallies that have travelling audiologists with boothes there. You won't regret getting custom molded plugs

 

Thanks Guys
All your suggestions are extremely welcome, I went and purchase a pair of ( PROTECT ) units and will give them a try. I will also get the ears check by a professional as soon as the silly season is over.

Merry Christmas to all out there in Forum Land
GlennsGlide

 

I'm 34 and have degenerative hearing loss and severe tinitusstemming from my mother's side of the family.

I need to wear two hearing aids to function almost normally. I'm considering going to a 3/4 helmet to help eliminate any of the high pitch wind noise (this is my worse function area) and also to accomodate a headset intercom for me and the OL. Even though my hearing aids supposedly clamp and subduethose frequencies, I'm not taking any chances.

My point: Most audiologist's offices do custom plugs these days. Swimming, protection, etc...
If you're looking for something custom fit, you can visit ony locally and prices aren't too bad.

Like others have said, you only get two ears, take care of 'em. And to the haphazard young 'ens who think they're too cool for volume control; you'll pay a high price later on, protect it now while you can. You have no idea how fortunate you are to start off with a good set of ears.

 

So... this begs the question... do ear plugs, hinder listening to the stereo in a RG or SG? I have always ridden with ear plugs. I'm thinking about buying a SG or RG and I really like the idea of the stereo and music to listen to on down the road. I'll continue to wear ear plugs - so does one just crank up the tunes to hear 'em? Or is there some other creative solution like ... speakers in the helmet??

Grazi
Scott

 

Well, for me, when wearing my half helmet with ear plugs, I can hear the stereo better. I do up the volume a bit but not too much.
When I'm wearing the 3/4, I did install the helmet speakers which works great. We started using the intercom system so that was another reason.
Only problem with the helmet speakers, with ear plugs, cannot really hear anything. I think I will try the foam ones and see how that works.

 

I have an iPod and wear the ear phones to listen to the music. Don't have to maximize it's volume, either. The times I took the windshield off, I couldn't hear it, so I guess riding without the shield and nothing in your ears may be a mistake.

Hack

 

Ditto on these guys!! And they're the nicest people I've dealt with, too!!

 

You don't need to be an "old fart" to have hearing lose, by the way!. Young kids now seem to be on that very path dealing with "Ear buds" and I-pods!
Your best bet is dealing with the dispoable foam items, wear them correctly you'll be well protected! As far as the custom made guys go, you will find that they lose their effectiveness in about three years time! Things change as time goes by, that includes silicon within the plugs and your
ear cannal shape. There is differance between foam plugs, this deals with comfort I've found that the closed foam types (for me any way) work better for all day wear. One of the after effects of wearing ear protection , is that after a long days ride I find myself far more relaxed and a lot more focused!

 

I use the soft foam disposable ones by AO Safety and they work very well for me. They cut out 32db which pretty much elimintates wind and the percussive part of the motor and still lets me hear sirens etc. It is such a relief after a long ride to be able to hear clearly.