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Had my first ride with fitted ear protection today. Very relaxing. I swear, the engine ran better, too.















Just like my Kombi when I wore ear foamies in it. Until it spit the #1 sparkplug.

Much nicer than disposable, I take it?

I had a Mazda 323 that spit a plug once. On the interstate. Not pretty. Damn POs/mechanics. Made a hell of a racket, and dropped power down to near nothing.

The foamies wouldn't stay in place after putting the helmet on.

I've been wearing the fitted ones for lawn mowing and the difference was not as dramatic. It still sounds like all the mowers and the string trimmer are ready to ventilate the crankcases at any time.

I hate lawn mowers, for the same reason Chuey hates monster trucks and most Harleys.
The noise.

Since I moved, I no longer have a need for lawn care equipment. I love it.
I used the same ear plugs for my mowing (and snowblowing) as I did (do, eventually) for riding.
My landlord's tractor is pretty quiet.
The next door neighbor (on my side) is of the school of thought, that if it is loud, it must be better. Of course, that follows to his lawn tractor, as well.
But the grass will quit growing soon.

I think Chuey lives in Southern California because there are probably no lawns to mow.

I remember speaking to Trish at the local independent BMW shop many years ago about my concerns about the engine noises. She reached under the counter and gave (maybe sold) me a set of ear plugs. I recon she saved me hundreds of dollars that day. I now use custom moulded plugs ... makes the ride easier.

I've finally found the right kind of foamy for me .... now I have a foamy addiction, I can't ride without them . It's not the engine noise it's the roar of the wind in my helmet, with that gone it's .... good.

I once pulled into a rest area, removed my earplugs and only when I pushed the bike to another parking place without them did I hear the bad transmission bearing. I no longer wear them. Of course I lost a lot of high frequency hearing over the years. Impact printers may be to blame for some of it and birthdays for the rest.
Bob

I won't ride without them! I use the disposable ones and they work fine. I've tried custom molded, but they never work for me. The bikes do run better with them in!

The disposable ones work fine for me too. I wear them if I will be going faster than about 40 MPH for any length of time. Tones down the wind blast considerably. I also wear hearing protection while mowing the lawn, and using my shop vac which is louder than a jet engine.

I've heard that in some places it's illegal to wear earplugs while operating a motor vehicle.

I'm happy with the disposable Hearos.