Who listens to music when they ride??

I can't drive without listening to music. My IPOD is great for those long drives or even just driving around town. A lot of people I drive with don't listen to music and I respect that. The only time I have it cranked is on the highway everywhere else it's turned down so I can hear the music and the potential hazards that surround me. If I'm riding with buddies and we're cruising through town I pause it until we're on the highway, just because most riders talk while we ride around town or at stop lights (whether it's that hot chick that just walked up the road or your next stopping grounds). I also have the IPOD in my mesh jacket in a position where I can pause and play without having that hassle of trying to find the buttons. Everyone is entitled to there own opinion whether they like music when they ride or not, you just have to know when and when not to listen. If you want to listen to music do some adjustments before you ride so it's easy to access in case of potential hazzards.

Safe Riding
Cheers

 

I don't listen to music but I do wear ear plugs all the time. The reason I don't listen to music is that I haven't found a set of ear buds or plugs that a) stay in place and b) fit well enough that you can keep the tunes at a reasonable volume and not have them drowned out at speed. I've seen the molded ones and may try that one day.
As far as worries that ear plugs will drowned out some sound that may save your life, no way. Good quality ear plugs will let you talk to your buddies at a stop light and still keep you from loosing you hearing from repeated high db noise. Ride enough with no hearing protection and you'll be missing things all the time 'cause you'll be half deaf.

 

Ever since 1992, I have been in professions that required me to pay attention to many things at once. Keeping eyes on a partner or obstacles in a landing zone, talking on one radio while listening to another, manually manipulating things( wheter it be door switches, iv pumps, defibrulators), at the same time recoding these events( witing or typing). All of these events had some amount of life or death attached to them. I am good at this. Not infallible. But I think I know when to worry about the volume or the brake.

 

Kenny G, lol, it would probably be more along the lines of Disturbed or Buck Cherry, IF I listened to music while I rode. What I said was that good ear plugs can prevent hearing loss and still let you hear whats going on.

I have heard that the custom ear plugs with speakers in them can provide a good level of noise attenuation and let you play music a low enough level so you can hear your surroundings. I don't think that I would jam out in heavy traffic regardless. Now for trips I would like a set of $$ earbuds so I could jam while slabbing it. And Yes, I think you can listen and ride at the same time. In fact tunes might help from keeping bored on a long ride. Ride Safe and Rock On!

Action

 

I'm either listening to music or wearing earplugs. Some people have the ability to separate the music from other things. Personally, I have been riding, studying and working with music in my ears since was at least 12. For me, it ELIMINATES distractions. Not sure how to explain it but I actually concentrate and work much more efficiently when I have music piped through my ears. Nothing too loud, just enough to channel my concentration. It's worked like a charm for me.

I can understand how some people don't agree but then again they'll never be inside my head to understand. My personal feeling is that if I wasn't able to predict/perceive/know a car or other obstacle was around me, I'd already be dead long ago. Our perception and situation recognition is what saves our asses, not our ears. There's only one situation I can think of that hearing might, MIGHT, save you is when your sitting still at a light or something. Otherwise, wind noise and engine noise is all you'll hear anyway. Just my opinion, don't flame me for what works for me.

If you're looking for wind reducing headphones, look no further than these: http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6.aspx - These work as well as an earplug rated at 29 decibals if not better. Shop around, you can get them much cheaper through ebay, etc.

 

I wear earbuds that seal well and listen to music on low volume on my way to work. It is 43 miles each way with 3 stoplights after the first 6 miles. I have ridden it with/without music and I like the music on this ride to be honest. My worry is not the cagers,because there are very few of them, it is the deer. I do not think it's as safe, but at constant 60 mph it is nice to have.

 

but i must contribute...


To add my 2-cents, i do listen to muzak while riding, not all the time, but when i do.. I am required to feel out the bike in some situations, and BTW sight superbly overtakes hearing when concerning safety on a BIKE i.e. @ an intersection. learning to ride in southern California, (if you know>you know) I could go on for hours about Dumb CAGERS and their lack of um. alot...but as we all know everything you DO on a Bike deals with a Risk Factor. If i split this lane, pass this car, do this wheelie, pull this stoppie...and so on. I hope to be that Extremely small percent that NEVER GOES DOWN. Thats where wisdom, discernment, maturity, skill all seem to play there part. Its a good ride with tunes though, IM one that Always has music of some type playing at home, in the truck, when im working (when i can). but i can chew gum, walk, talk, piss, and do a jig at the same time(just not all in that order).

in response to RAT and his comment of not being willing to help a rider after going down... I think you have lost sight of the fraternity of riders, not to say you shouldn't perpetuated his downfall; but it seems to me that there are many misguided young riders that could benefit alot from a cup of coffee and great advice and encouragement from a salty ole' dog like you. but you don't have to be a part of the solution.(you can keep complaining).

to the inquiring minds alike-
I piked up a pair of SURE in-ears with the variable sized plugs for costume fit, totally worth it, there is a technique to be had with pulling the helmet over to lobes, but i can be done, and upon using it for my ride from riverside to Monterey-bay with them in, will have them in on long trips playing the NANO or not,**also for those with the map viewing tank bags, the touch-screen players can be operated with reasonable ease...note for rat you might want to pull of the road before attempting...j.k. ;P...(i paid $99 @ target) it was the only SURE product they stocked, go figure.


-lane splitting to Panic at the Disco, gives a good pace.

 

This topic will always have arguments for both sides :boxing:

I have observed some good points though :

Rat, are you saying that your hearing loss was a direct result of your refusal to wear hearing protection ? And if so, then why do you still refuse to wear hearing protection all the time ?

If you already have a significant hearing loss from riding without hearing protection and yet continue to ride without hearing protection which would stand to reason even further hearing loss, how does that give you "maximum awareness" when progressively you'll have even more hearing loss ?

 

On a personal protection note, you cannot deny the fact that muffler ear leads to hearing loss...

 

i got to have some tunes. i have thoses small speakers that mount in the helment. i heard that in calif. ear buds are not legal not sure if that is true or not.

 

Well the sad story about that is; i moved to Atlanta, a few months ago...but ear buds prob, not legal in GA either. just a guess. neither is my well...never mind.

 

Fair enough.
That was the decision I made based on the situation and my perception of the rider (slider?).
I just felt embarrassed for him and myself, and simply felt some level of humiliation.
The rider jumped to his feet almost instantly and was clearly uninjured.
I recall that he had no jacket or gloves and a ratty helmet, and a sportbike that seemed to have had a long and adventurous career as a local pavement testing device.
In other words, it was clearly not that rider's first crash.

I honestly didn't think that he seemed like he would be receptive to input; he seemed to be showing off ( a failed 'stoppie' perhaps?) and was apparently unfazed by the incident.
Sometimes your gut feeling just tells you not to waste your time.

In group rides I often ride sweep just to critique and offer advice to newer riders, which is always well received in that context.

I do appreciate the "salty ole' dog" comment"
But I hope my comments don't come across as complaining - more like "been around the block a few times", and hopefully "salty old dog" sage advice...!

 

I have a set of them. (I guess I need to be categorized as future statistic too...:mod: ) they were worth every bit of the 350 paid for them. they block out wind noise and you don't even need to turn up your (insert applicable device) up all the way. I have mine at half volume most of the time. before I used to use earplugs, helmet speakers, and a inline amp. this worked but it was like trying to listen to music through a wall- you could tell which song was playing but there was not enough there to enjoy. I tried out listening to my favorite tunes while on a spirited twisty run and decided that it would only be good for non-spirited runs because you really need to focus on the ride. ever notice while your concentrating on finding an address you turn the radio down in your car? that being said I will still use my ear speakers on the slab commute (four hour one way trip to visit dad).

 

I'll clarify.

After more than 25 years of riding, and something approaching 1/2-million miles, I have lost some hearing in my right ear (DOT tests confirm it; I drive a truck for a living).

I believe it to be the result of frequent long-term extended exposure to primarily wind noise.
In the research that I've done (not extensive) it seems that "white noise", even at low perceived volume/db levels can cause permanent damage.
This is primarily the result of hours of riding at highway speeds.

In-town noise of other traffic and the bike's own exhaust are less contributory.

I noted "the exhaust side" more for irony than to suggest causation.
Most of my bikes have had exhausts exiting on the right side.

I now use ear plugs on every ride that I expect to ride above about 45-50mph, for more than about 5 minutes at a stretch; essentially longer fun & group rides, or anytime I get on the freeway for more than 1 or 2 Exits.

For commuting, I believe that the risk of further hearing damage is much less than the risk of not adequately hearing my surroundings.
The threats are much greater on surface streets than highways, where wind noise drowns out any sound a threat might make anyway.
Lower speeds in town cause minimal wind noise, and ambient sounds are better discerned.

Low speed trundling won't really make the hearing loss worse; high speeds will.
It's the wind noise that does it, not exhaust or traffic noise.
Hearing loss is caused not only by volume (decibels) but also by duration of exposure.
Loud sounds can be tolerated without hearing damage if the exposure time is short (except for extremely loud sounds, over 130db, I think); lower volume/decibel sounds of the right (wrong?) frequencies over sustained exposure time will cause damage.

 

Where to start......
I am in the Navy. I work on very LOUD fighter jets. we are required to wear earplugs AND earmuffs. I spend quite a bit of time on flight decks where 20+ Jets are turning at once. combine all this in to one moment and then toss in a radio headset in the earmuffs to listen to the Flight deck controllers direct traffic on one of the top ten most dangerous places to work in the world, and make it night time. there's over 100 people on that deck and they don't get knocked down because they can't hear. they get knocked down because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. they hear everything that's going on, and they know exactly what's about to happen to them- whether or not they can get out of the way. all of these folks would line up to tell you that tire screeching/horns/engines can be heard over earplugs- because just like your eyes at night, your ears ADJUST to the changing conditions, and to earplugs.

next: If you drive a car and listen to the radio (drink coffee, even look at your cell, talk to your passengers) then you are just as guilty of creating a hazard for motorcyclists as the other cagers. the only way you wouldn't be is if you were driving your car EXACTLY like you ride your bike. I doubt anyone on this forum could claim to do so without skepticism.

Also: I really hope you have never had an aftermarket pipe because that's just as "bad" as having in earplugs.

finally: do you have any statistics or documentation to support your statements? there's plenty to support squids wearing flip flops as stupid and dangerous, but I have yet to see any on music or ear plugs. lets stop with the stereo-typing and labeling of fellow riders and save that for politics. you don't like the idea of listening to music while riding. not a problem. that statement is respectable. let's keep emotion from dictating a force fed opinion to the masses. 98% of the folks on this site are very adult like so they should be given the benefit of the doubt that they will only do things that they are experienced enough to handle and are comfortable with, and understand the actions required to offset any risks involved; just like you do when your out their "riding hard" through a sweeper. all this comes down to is everyone else being comfortable with listening to music, while your not. why does this make them a more of a future statistic than you and the risks you take?

"maximum awareness" is a state of mind. not a physical state. just ask the Pilots who fly the jets I work on- they wear earplugs while flying too!