Gyrobob
Serious Thumper
Offline
Posers ain't motorcyclists
Posts: 2571
Newnan, GA
Gender:
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With the noise levels present in a helmet just from wind noise at 70mph, anyone who thinks his ears are not being harmed is a fool. I shudder to think what the Harley types are doing their ears, since you are not allowed to drive a Harley without getting rid of the stock exhaust system.
I've lost a lot of hearing, especially in the left ear,.. mostly due to too much time in F-4s. So,.. I am very concerned about not losing anymore. I researched it a lot, and got some opinions from doctors. My only action available is to lose the rest of my hearing as slowly as possible.
The ear plugs with the best protection are the soft foam kinds that roll up skinny, get inserted, then expand. I use the EAR plugs that have a 33db reduction. These are also the most comfortable and have the best frequency attenuation curves -- meaning they don't change much of what you hear, they just lower the decibel level. This is important to me because I can better hear the bike, traffic, etc.
Often I see people using the foam earplugs with 3/4 of the plugs hanging out the side of their head. Worthless. The DB reduction when used like this is about 2,... about the same you'd get by sticking a post-it on your ear. When used properly, the outer end of the foam plugs will be fairly flush with the outer ear,.... in other words, fully inserted.
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