Anr for motorcycles

[RobertGary1]

As my tinnitus has gotten worse I’d probably have to give up flying but for the protection provided by modern anr headsets and my new panel of static free radios.  But I don’t see the same for motorcycles. My bike sit idle as I fear the days of ringing from a 10 minute ride. I’ve used the orange plugs but think I need something active. Anyone else have this issue and found something that works? Maybe ride around with my Bose a20?

[Hank]

A set of QT Halos will fit under your helmet much better. 

[exM20K]

I haven’t found anything that works better than correctly sized and correctly “installed” foam plugs.  The better ones are good for 30+ dB of protection, which is very good.  As they expand in your ear canal, you should hear the ambient volume go down a bunch.  If not, they are not installed correctly.

Perhaps you could get a ser made be an audiologist and get more protection.  I had a silicone set made at a motorcycle show, and they were useless.

-dan

[Bolter]

I have used the typical Howard Leight orange plugs for +20 years and a few hundred thousand miles.  Buy in bulk.  I say this more for the people who ride and don't use ear plugs.  Once you have reached the sensitivity that ear plugs no longer help, I don't know what to do.  ANR without a good fit on your ear seems like it would much less effective.  

Can you look at reducing the noise created rather than suppressing it?  What do you ride?  Can you stand up, crouch down, move your head around, see if there is a spot that is quieter, then get a windshield that height?  Maybe a Laminar Lip add-on will help?When I ride a Goldwing, the wind protection is so massive and effective, I don't close my helmet or bother with ear plugs, and can chat casually with my passenger.  On my BMW R1200ST, I get great wind protection, but the air is so turbulent coming around the fairings, it is the noisiest bike I have ever had.  

Of course some helmets are quieter than others.  I hear Schuberth is supposed to be better than the more popular Shoei and Arai options, though I have not tried one.  I find that in winter when I wear a neck gaiter/scarf, it closes the bottom of the helmet and quiets things down.  A lighter weight cloth may accomplish the same thing for you all year round.  

That said, since having a baby, I have stopped riding.  Anyone want a BMW R1200ST with lots of extras :-(  

-dan

[Yetti]

Buy a BMW and a good helmet.

[steingar]

Really good full face helmets reduce road noise quite a bit.  Combining that with really good ear plugs might help.  What will help even more is riding behind a good windshield.  There was very little wind noise on my old Goldwing.  There's a lot on my naked sport bike.

[WaynePierce]

I've used a full face helmet for years, one of those where the face flips up or down. For long trips I use the yellow expanding sponge ear plugs that work pretty well. I used to ride a HD Road King with no windshield, now I ride an HD Ultra with the batwing and windshield that is much quieter. Also since I started using this one I have gotten an in helmet headset for conversations with my wife, behind me or for the music.

[Matt Ward]

I ride a Triumph Bonneville with a Shoei RFSR and the Cardo Bluetooth. It’s extremely quiet. Would something like pumping music or even ambient noise through the Cardo help?

[Brandt]

17 hours ago, RobertGary1 said:

As my tinnitus has gotten worse I’d probably have to give up flying but for the protection provided by modern anr headsets and my new panel of static free radios.  But I don’t see the same for motorcycles. My bike sit idle as I fear the days of ringing from a 10 minute ride. I’ve used the orange plugs but think I need something active. Anyone else have this issue and found something that works? Maybe ride around with my Bose a20?

https://www.amazon.com/Bose-QuietComfort-Acoustic-Cancelling-Headphones/dp/B00X9KV0HU/ref=asc_df_B00X9KV0HU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312068849209&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=45849039382553705&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016721&hvtargid=pla-405661590408&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=67623312452&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312068849209&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=45849039382553705&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016721&hvtargid=pla-405661590408

[RobertGary1]

5 hours ago, Brandt said:

https://www.amazon.com/Bose-QuietComfort-Acoustic-Cancelling-Headphones/dp/B00X9KV0HU/ref=asc_df_B00X9KV0HU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312068849209&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=45849039382553705&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016721&hvtargid=pla-405661590408&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=67623312452&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312068849209&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=45849039382553705&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016721&hvtargid=pla-405661590408

That does make me wonder about an Apple Airbud pro. My wife wears hers under her headset in the plane and it cancels out even intercom. But now she won’t let me borrow it.

Anyone tried that?

[Brandt]

1 hour ago, RobertGary1 said:

That does make me wonder about an Apple Airbud pro. My wife wears hers under her headset in the plane and it cancels out even intercom. But now she won’t let me borrow it.

Anyone tried that?

Can’t speak to Apple. I have tried the Bose corded above. They work. The Bose Bluetooth ones are also great generally, but they stick out more, which might be a problem in a helmet. 

[EricJ]

I haven't ridden motorcycles in many years, but I used chatterbox in-helmet intercoms for many years when instructing for auto racing, and those were pretty old technology.   Is there not something similar these days with anr?   Their website doesn't show anything relevant, but I did find this:

https://vehq.com/noise-cancelling-motorcycle-helmets/

I'd be surprised if there's not a solution somewhere.   If not it's a huge opportunity for somebody to fill!

 

[jrhillma]

I ride an older BMW K100RS; full face (not modular) helmet is part of my ATGATT regime. I've used Decibullz moldable earplugs for the last three years and they make a significant difference. I can still hear music and nav directions from my in-helmet speakers (via bluetooth to phone), but they drastically reduced wind noise. Every once in a while I forget to put them back in after a stop. I don't get very far down the road before I pull over and insert them. I don't know how people who ride helmetless with no earpro do it. The fitting process is pretty straight forward, requiring only hot water. 

https://www.amazon.com/Decibullz-Earplugs-Comfortable-Protection-Shooting/dp/B00WIXL6IM/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=moldable%2Bear%2Bprotection&qid=1630118097&sr=8-1&th=1

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard jrh!

Great insight.

Best regards,

-a-

[steingar]

On 8/27/2021 at 9:28 AM, Matt Ward said:

I ride a Triumph Bonneville with a Shoei RFSR and the Cardo Bluetooth. It’s extremely quiet. Would something like pumping music or even ambient noise through the Cardo help?

Put a big windshield in the Bonnie and it'll be quieter.

[Matt Ward]

1 hour ago, steingar said:

Put a big windshield in the Bonnie and it'll be quieter.

Never!

[jlunseth]

I shot sporting clays for years and competed quite a bit. If you wear ear plugs alone you still risk some hearing loss because sound is conducted through the bones behind your ear. If you want the best hearing protection bar none, that would be a good set of shooting ear muffs worn with foam plugs underneath. The problem is that you would hear practically nothing and in shooting, or on a bike, you need to hear. There are muffs made for shooting that have built in electronics, so they suppress high decibel sound. You would have to try them out to see if they work for engine noise. Not quite as good in terms of protection are electronic ear plugs that completely fill the ear canal so not much sound gets in, but they have electronics that let sound through with a high decibel cutoff. Again, you would have to try them out to see if they work. The early versions suffered from wind noise problems, they were useful on a sporting clay range but not so much out in the open fields. Lots of squeal. The best and cheapest solution are foam plugs, they keep out most sound. However, aren’t muffs and plugs illegal to use on a bike, they are in some states. I ride a road bicycle quite a bit, I need to be able to hear, it is a life saver.

[exM20K]

10 minutes ago, jlunseth said:

There are muffs made for shooting that have built in electronics, so they suppress high decibel sound. You would have to try them out to see if they work for engine noise

They don’t.  At least on my riding mower, they never engaged the ANR.  Howard Leight headset, kinda low end.  The ANR is looking for spikes, so when it is constantly loud, they do nothing.

+1 on the foam plugs under electronic muffs for shooting.

-dan

[jlunseth]

1 hour ago, exM20K said:

They don’t.  At least on my riding mower, they never engaged the ANR.  Howard Leight headset, kinda low end.  The ANR is looking for spikes, so when it is constantly loud, they do nothing.

+1 on the foam plugs under electronic muffs for shooting.

-dan

These aren’t ANR muffs. The muffs themselves block the sound. The electronics let you hear despite the muffs. They might let you hear the cars around you. Most of them had wind noise problems though, although in the last few years some have been developed that are not as bad.

[N201MKTurbo]

My wife bought some cheap dollar store blue tooth ear buds a couple of years ago. They will stay in at way too fast and you can hear the radio fine with no wind noise and they don’t come out. I would highly recommend.