Post by anon on Jan 31, 2007 20:46:03 GMT
From: rowlf Sent: 20/03/2003
To anyone riding at high speed for long distances, thinking of intercoms or music on the move, be very careful !
At speeds over about 60 mph prolonged wind noise can cause permanent damage to your ears unless you use ear plugs. In fact at those noise levels factories would insist on you wearing ear protectors for health and safety reasons. I know we regularly subject ourselves to hearing damaging speeds for fun, but no-one ever accused bikers of being sensible ;-) Fitting speakers loud enough to be heard over that is a definite recipe for serious hearing damage, eh, pardon ?
These people www.ultimateear.com make custom made fitted earplugs with a 30db noise reduction (10 times quieter), which is a very good idea for anyone ! to protect your hearing.
They do a product called an 'ear canal monitor'
which is essentially stereo 'walkman' type speakers moulded into custom made 30 db earplugs. Quite expensive at £130 but they can adapt them to fit into the Autocom (and probably similar) intercoms. Still, how much is your hearing worth ? and hearing aids aren't cheap. Seriously !! Fit them and you should be able to hear the finer notes of Bach's concerto at 90 mph without permanent ear damage.
The standard fitted earplugs are £45 BTW. They do a single mobile phone plug if you don't want music which is about £35 for one ear.
I find that earplugs are a great safety aid. By taking away all that distracting and tiring wind noise my concentration levels are higher. Only thing is, I do often find I am riding faster, not sure if that is good or not ?
Note. These products are custom made for each individual, so you will need to make a trip to Orpington in Kent at the moment for a 'fitting'. They are in the process of setting up a nationwide fitting service though. Once moulds are made of your ears, they are given to you to keep so you can have new sets made at any time without the need to be 'fitted' again.
From: Ghoti Sent: 20/03/2003
For normal ear plugs:
Some places offer you a choice to have a 'filter' put in the ear plug. With a filter added the ear plug will (vertually) iliminate wind noise (the frequency that messes up your hearing and can cause tinitus), but you can still hear conversation (slightly reduced sound).
When I started wearing ear plugs I hated the fact that I could not hear other vehicles beside me and people talking to me and my own engine which, like Rowlf, made me drive too fast. Although I use the cheep disposable kind I have finally found a plug that cuts out enough of the wind noise and they still allow conversation with the helmet on and I can hear other vehicles and my engine.
I would recomend them but I can not remember the make and one of my friends hates them (and the ones he loves I hate) so I guess it is a case of trying different makes until you find one that suits you.
Another thing, IMHO, worth paying a bit extra for is for soft plugs. These are made from a second mold unlike the hard plugs that are made from the first mold (I don't understand it, but thats what I was told) so they cost a little more, but for comfort they are far superior.
A little note: sound is measured in db and earplugs normally state how much noise resistance they have, BUT, Db is not a linear scale - 35db is over double the noise of 30db (I think that 3db doubles the noise) so an earplug that claims to reduce 27db is only half as good as a 30db reduction.
From: martinb Sent: 20/03/2003
thanks for that. i've been looking for a product that
we can use in conjunction with our autocom system and
that fits the bill perfectly. I'll be getting 2 sets
of these shortly!
From: xantia1 Sent: 20/03/2003
To the Yamaha Club Members,
Please take note, that whilst you wear ear-plugs for safety reasons, they will not stop you from getting tinnitus, but if you have it already, it could actually increase it, also you stand the chance of getting wax in your ears ,from prolonged use of them, so if you find you are getting deaf quicker than you think you should, then go to your GP, and have your ears checked.
Cheers Xantia1
From: xantia1 Sent: 20/03/2003
Rowlf,
It` not a good Idea to keep the moulds for refittment or remakes of future earplugs, any good NHS Technician knows this, as your ear can and does change shape, Have you tried your local Hearing Aid shop, as they too can make these type of earplugs, probably a lot cheaper too.
Sorry to rub this in, but I was up to Christmas a Snr Chief Technician/Manager of an NHS Hospital.
Xantia1
From: MikeScollan Sent: 7/3/2003
Ghoti,
You are correct that a 3Db increase doubles the volume.
Likewise a 20Db increase increases the sound 100 fold.
each 10db increases the volume of sound 10 fold so 20db increase is 10x10 increase
(30db = 10x10x10 etc etc)
