Loud pipes and earplugs

[midden]

I'm just interested to know   

[Hugh Mungus]

I can't get on with ear plugs. I had to wear them for work and found them painful after a while - I know there are better one's these days but I buy a decent helmet which is quiet. I've had noisy helmets before and hated them.

[midden]

I can't get on with ear plugs. I had to wear them for work and found them painful after a while - I know there are better one's these days but I buy a decent helmet which is quiet. I've had noisy helmets before and hated them.

I tried ear plugs and also don't get on with them, they mess my balance up if I walk a little way with them in and head feels like it wants to explode.  Must be the 90's Lemming in me 

[fazersharp]

I dont have a loud pips but in any case anything over 40mph and the wind noise takes over.
I have big struggles with earplugs for lots of reasons and have tried many and still nont get on with them but find that riding with them is a less stressful. You don't realise the stress effect that wind noise has. If I was commuting in a city I would not bother with plugs as that does not generate the wind noise.       

[Dudeofrude]

I can wear then easily enough( in fact I wear them at night when the missus has a chest infection, so I don't have to listen to her haha ) the problem I have is remembering to put them on before I go out. I did manage it for a few weeks but that was a while ago. I keep telling myself I should as I'm still relatively young so I still have chance to save my hearing ??

[tommyardin]

I can't get on with ear plugs. I had to wear them for work and found them painful after a while - I know there are better one's these days but I buy a decent helmet which is quiet. I've had noisy helmets before and hated them.

Hi Hugh,
What would you recommend as a quiet helmet, I have had mine for 5 years now and would like to change it.I


have a LS2 Convert, it is a great bucket that opens right up to form a open face helmet, the good thing about it is the opening front swings right over to the back of the helmet and does not stick up in the air like some do, so does not catch the wind wrenching your head backwards at higher speeds some of the opening buckets can give you neck ache for this reason, the only problem with the LS2 Convert is it is not a quiet skid lid, a fair bit of buffeting noise and wind rush.

[YamFazFan]

What would you recommend as a quiet helmet

[celticbiker]

If by loud you mean louder than standard.
As for earplugs you should never ride without them. Ear protection is mandatory in the workplace if the ambient sound reading is above 85db and most helmets are way in excess of that. I personally wear a pair of -35db every time I ride. They only cost about £8 for 50 pairs.

[Trebus]

As Fazersharp says, wind noise is the problem rather than exhaust.

[Hugh Mungus]

I have a Shoei Neotec flip lid, it is slightly louder than my previous Shoei non-flip lid but still pretty quiet.


In the past I have used AGV which were ok.
A Caberg flip lid which was the noisiest helmet I've ever had - after one 400 mile trip I wanted to chuck it away but the bike shop in Penzance didn't have anything better so I had to ride home wearing the flipping thing, wish I'd had earplugs on that day. It was replaced with Shoei full face lid and what a difference!
I bought a cheap helmet at a bike show (can't remember the make), the wind noise was bad enough but there was also a high pitched whistling noise which drove me nuts. I took a sledge hammer to it. It took several attempts to do any serious damage to it.

[tommyardin]

I can wear then easily enough( in fact I wear them at night when the missus has a chest infection, [size=1.45em]so I don't have to listen to her haha[/size] ) the problem I have is remembering to put them on before I go out. I did manage it for a few weeks but that was a while ago. I keep telling myself I should as I'm still relatively young so I still have chance to save my hearing ??

Think I am going to get some, do they do them that are comfy 24=7  :lol

[tommyardin]

I have a Shoei Neotec flip lid, it is slightly louder than my previous Shoei non-flip lid but still pretty quiet.


In the past I have used AGV which were ok.
A Caberg flip lid which was the noisiest helmet I've ever had - after one 400 mile trip I wanted to chuck it away but the bike shop in Penzance didn't have anything better so I had to ride home wearing the flipping thing, wish I'd had earplugs on that day. It was replaced with Shoei full face lid and what a difference!
I bought a cheap helmet at a bike show (can't remember the make), the wind noise was bad enough but there was also a high pitched whistling noise which drove me nuts. I took a sledge hammer to it. It took several attempts to do any serious damage to it.

So what would you say was the quietest the AVG or Shoei? The trouble is you can only try a skid lip for size and comfort other choices are FF or flip and colour, they would not be open to you squirting off down the road with one on to try it out.
no one wants to spend 400 or more to then find out it a wind tunnel

[Dudeofrude]

I have a Shoei Neotec flip lid, it is slightly louder than my previous Shoei non-flip lid but still pretty quiet.


In the past I have used AGV which were ok.
A Caberg flip lid which was the noisiest helmet I've ever had - after one 400 mile trip I wanted to chuck it away but the bike shop in Penzance didn't have anything better so I had to ride home wearing the flipping thing, wish I'd had earplugs on that day. It was replaced with Shoei full face lid and what a difference!
I bought a cheap helmet at a bike show (can't remember the make), the wind noise was bad enough but there was also a high pitched whistling noise which drove me nuts. I took a sledge hammer to it. It took several attempts to do any serious damage to it.

I'm guessing your on about the Caberg Duke? I have the same one..... noisey as shit but 5 star sharp rated so hard to destroy ?
My Shark Speed R is marginally quieter

[midden]

If by loud you mean louder than standard.
As for earplugs you should never ride without them. Ear protection is mandatory in the workplace if the ambient sound reading is above 85db and most helmets are way in excess of that. I personally wear a pair of -35db every time I ride. They only cost about £8 for 50 pairs.

Yeah louder than standard........The ones people seem to fit so they can be heard by everyone and their granny.
I've only tried gel earplugs which completely seal the ear  so maybe foam ones will be worth a go

[stet]

Going by the reviews, the Shoei NXR is one of the quietest helmets around: https://www.shoei-europe.com/uk/products/NXR

[ponkster]

I've got a loud pipe on one and a very loud on the other - don't get on too well with ear plugs but do force myself to use them on long motorway trips.

I found the foam ones had a habit of popping out mid journey - one in and one out is worse than none at all! Recently been using the rubber 'Christmas tree' type which have stayed in and seem comfy enough when I remember to put them in.

[Robbie8666]

Going by the reviews, the Shoei NXR is one of the quietest helmets around: https://www.shoei-europe.com/uk/products/NXR

just read this review  seems like a good lid!!

am tempted to get one when I next change later in the year!

[stet]

I tried on a medium size at Fowlers, Bristol and it seemed quite comfortable with decent visability, although being new, a bit snug.

[nick crisp]

I've never ridden with ear plugs, but only a couple of bikes I've had have been what I would actually term properly loud. The Fazer's can is louder than standard, but not annoyingly so, even with no baffle. Never to the point where it has bothered me anyway.
As has been said by others, wind noise is likely to be the worse problem, unless you have a lid that keeps the noise out well. But a large part of that is surely down to a good fit? Also, since discovering the HJC RPHA, I get a lot less buffeting than I've ever had with any other helmet, and this reduces the noise considerably, through smooth airflow.


I know ideally I ought to use earplugs anyway, but I just don't like having them in when riding - I have tried them once or twice, and it's not for reasons of discomfort that I don't like them. I'd just prefer to be able to hear better what's going on around me. I gave up on having music on whilst riding for the same reason. Particularly, I like to be able to hear clearly what the bike itself is up to. I know I don't need to hear everything that well, but I just prefer it. I don't think my hearing has been damaged that badly by riding without; more likely to have been damaged by how loud I have music on headphones at home!

[Jamieg285]

I voted yes/yes, but I'd love to be able to properly hear the loud pipes.  I only wear them because of the wind noise.

I'll do short rides without plugs in, so I can listen properly to the bike and make sure there's no new rattles/noises I can't hear when the plugs are in. 

I'm currently wearing a Shark Skwal, which is supposedly designed to be quieter.  I didn't think it was that good, over the previous HJC IS-11, but maybe that one was quiet too?  I would advise against the Skwal though, the visor has a tendency to snap when you remove it for cleaning ;(