Earplugs - really?

developer · Feb 28, 2018

From 16 to about 40 I rode motorcycles - a few wailing 2 strokes and many across the frame four cylinder 4 strokes, with rather loud (and by today's standards, illegal) exhausts.

After a 15 year break I return to find that I must wear earplugs or I'll be deafened by the noise, both wind and exhaust, by the time I pass the corner shop at the end of the road :confused:

What's changed?

Micky · Feb 28, 2018

developer said:
From 16 to about 40 I rode motorcycles - a few wailing 2 strokes and many across the frame four cylinder 4 strokes, with rather loud (and by today's standards, illegal) exhausts.

After a 15 year break I return to find that I must wear earplugs or I'll be deafened by the noise, both wind and exhaust, by the time I pass the corner shop at the end of the road

What's changed?

Your ears ...

younger06 · Feb 28, 2018

Speak up man......I can't hear you.

younger06 · Feb 28, 2018

Never wore earplugs.

My hearing is probably my only sense that still works as it should.

ShakeyBMW · Feb 28, 2018

What’s changed?

Our knowledge of the effects of sustained noise on high frequency hearing and a desire to protect it.

I SAID, OUR KNOW.................

Jacal · Feb 28, 2018

Wish my hearing was ok...BUT.... wear them or not, it's your choice, if I had the choice again :blagblah

Posh Pete · Feb 28, 2018

Giles · Feb 28, 2018

My hearing has really suffered. Working on bikes in some shape or form for the last twenty years and I now struggle to have a conversation in a noisy pub and have to lip read a lot of the time! Do yer self a favour and wear them every time you ride ... :thumb2

(apart from anything, your concentration levels will be better and you won't get tired on a bike - noise is incredibly 'tiring' ...)

sagalout · Feb 28, 2018

I find earplugs make GS’s run a lot smoother!

PhaedrusMC · Feb 28, 2018

developer said:
From 16 to about 40 I rode motorcycles - a few wailing 2 strokes and many across the frame four cylinder 4 strokes, with rather loud (and by today's standards, illegal) exhausts.

After a 15 year break I return to find that I must wear earplugs or I'll be deafened by the noise, both wind and exhaust, by the time I pass the corner shop at the end of the road

What's changed?

Nothing.

You won't know about your hearing damage till later in life.

mw3230 · Feb 28, 2018

PhaedrusMC said:
Nothing.

You won't know about your hearing damage till later in life.

Exactly. Wearing ear plugs is easy, inexpensive (generally) and a simple habit to get into. Why take the risk?

Phil-H · Feb 28, 2018

developer said:
From 16 to about 40 I rode motorcycles - a few wailing 2 strokes and many across the frame four cylinder 4 strokes, with rather loud (and by today's standards, illegal) exhausts.

After a 15 year break I return to find that I must wear earplugs or I'll be deafened by the noise, both wind and exhaust, by the time I pass the corner shop at the end of the road

What's changed?

Fairings and screens

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk

Blackal · Feb 28, 2018

Having spent decades in machinery spaces with large turbochargers screaming - I'm glad I wore earplugs or ear-defenders from day one.

Lots of lads didn't - and now suffer either from hearing loss or tinnitus.

Wind-roar on motorcycles will affect you to a lesser extent, but if you really want to be a rebel - go without plugs

Giles · Feb 28, 2018

Blackal said:
.... Wind-roar on motorcycles will affect you to a lesser extent.....

Yeah but that depends on whether you ride a BMW or a KTM ....

Engineer · Feb 28, 2018

developer said:
From 16 to about 40 I rode motorcycles - a few wailing 2 strokes and many across the frame four cylinder 4 strokes, with rather loud (and by today's standards, illegal) exhausts.

After a 15 year break I return to find that I must wear earplugs or I'll be deafened by the noise, both wind and exhaust, by the time I pass the corner shop at the end of the road

What's changed?

Eh? Speak up can’t hear you.

bristolsaint · Feb 28, 2018

I've lost upper ranges in both ears, in part corrected by hearing aids which I have to wear all the time. I struggle with crowds as I can't tell who's talking; everything just becomes "chatter". Parties are out as I feel excluded. My wife always sits next to me when we socialise so she can fill me in on all the bits of conversation I miss. I need subtitles to watch television. I don't bother with cinema. When I was working, colleagues knew to tap me on the shoulder to let me know they were talking to me if I was engrossed in something.

And then there's the tinnitus. Constant 24 hour a day hissing in both ears. It further muffles sound for my already defective ears. It keeps me awake and wakes me when I sleep.

All this, according to my audiologist, is due to riding motorbikes in the 70s and 80s before earplugs became the norm.

So, your choice. Wear earplugs or don't. To prevent further damage, I wear them.

Sea Dog · Feb 28, 2018

Blackal said:
Wind-roar on motorcycles will affect you to a lesser extent, but if you really want to be a rebel - go without plugs

You forgot to add that he might be able to get NHS hearing aids, in which case the rest of us can pay for his cavalier approach.

developer · Feb 28, 2018

bristolsaint said:
All this, according to my audiologist, is due to riding motorbikes in the 70s and 80s before earplugs became the norm.

That's good enough for me, thanks.

MikeO · Feb 28, 2018

Phil-H said:
Fairings and screens

This is the culprit - continual buffetting noises from fairings and screens is what is doing your mid-range hearing the most damage.

As an ex-Fighter Controller in the RAF, my high-tone hearing is degrading - as expected. It is a known occupational hazard, probably not unconnected to spending hours controlling aircraft in an electronically jammed environment (a favourite trick was for the jammers to play a continual ear-splitting shriek over the frequency you were controlling on - happy days

)...

Jacal · Feb 28, 2018

bristolsaint said:
I've lost upper ranges in both ears, in part corrected by hearing aids which I have to wear all the time. I struggle with crowds as I can't tell who's talking; everything just becomes "chatter". Parties are out as I feel excluded. My wife always sits next to me when we socialise so she can fill me in on all the bits of conversation I miss. I need subtitles to watch television. I don't bother with cinema. When I was working, colleagues knew to tap me on the shoulder to let me know they were talking to me if I was engrossed in something.

And then there's the tinnitus. Constant 24 hour a day hissing in both ears. It further muffles sound for my already defective ears. It keeps me awake and wakes me when I sleep.

All this, according to my audiologist, is due to riding motorbikes in the 70s and 80s before earplugs became the norm.

So, your choice. Wear earplugs or don't. To prevent further damage, I wear them.

I feel for you mate....I have the same but only in one ear, riding motorcycles over 50 years, the majority without plugs as caused it....BUT.... according to expert opinion it can be caused by a short prolonged noise, not just over prolonged use.
Why would you take the chance, hearing loss is life changing.

Earplugs - really?

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