Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > Ear plugs

[jeff st4s]

Anyone have experience of those earplugs that are moulded for the shape of your ears?
I have got some £15 Alpine ones from Hein Gericke that make some difference, the problem is when I do lots of motorway miles, using a Aria Corsair I tend to get a lot of wind noise and the constant drone it gives makes my whole head ache for hours after the ride.
I had a blast once on a mates Buell and could not believe how quiet the Aria could be, so I'm aware it's just how the wind is coming off the screen and going over my helmet (no jokes now!) that is the problem.
I thought maybe some high quality ear plugs would be cheaper than changing my lid for motorway journeys only, then having to also carry my Aria for country lane blasts seems a bit much.

[Steve-S]

Hi
I have had some moulded ear plugs for about a year from 'Ultimate ear'. I cant get on with the foam ones as my ear canals are small apparantly & they fall out. I bought a set with speakers in (for the gps) & got a discount on a normal set bought at the same time. I find the speaker set comfortable, but the normal set have been "modified" as they make my ears ache after an hour or so. Also if the plug touches the inside of your helmet, that can transmit wind roar which is why I modified mine. They seem better now, but I am a bit miffed at having to adjust them considering how much they cost. You can't replace your ear drums though, so its still worth the effort.

[jeff st4s]

Just recieved some from Ultimate Ear yesterday so will give them ago today.

[Iconic944ss]

Hi Jeff,

After recently trying some molded one that my company provided, they are simply too uncomfortable to wear with a bike helmet. Admittedly they have the speakers in and are NOT designed to be used with a helmet.

Being the cheapskate I am, I use free plugs that I get from work made by EAR. They do some with a nice rounded end that I find ok to use butI agree the difference between my (tight fitting Arai) and my cheapo Airho is huge.

From memory Shuberth make some of the quietest helmets arounds but that would pay for an awful lot of ear plugs!

Cheers - Frank

[Spen]

Originally Posted by jeff st4s

Just recieved some from Ultimate Ear yesterday so will give them ago today.

He'll be pleased.......

[jeff st4s]

Went out today, only did 30 minute stints but found them to be very good.
Found they blocked out a lot of wind noise and I felt I was able to enjoy/concentate on the ride more, I got the impression I was riding faster than normal due to less distractions.
They take maybe 5/10 minutes to get use to them being in place due to the a bit of silicon pushed in your ear, I do get a bit of ringing in my ears, due to all the gigs I went to as a youngster but that is not a problem.
I did not feel shut out from the outside world or unaware of what was going on around me, more of being focused whilst riding the bike and enjoying it more.
I know the cost me £64 (bought at Donington), but I would recommend them to anyone who suffers from a "noisy helmet" (suites you sir).
When I try them on a long motorway ride I'll the add my comments to this thread.

[Jools]

I don't know whether you've got one of the new shape ST's or the old shape, nor how big you are, but I know that I suffer from a certain amount of buffeting behind the standard old shape ST screen. I don't think that the standard screen flips the airstream over your head too well and the turbulent air spilling over the screen seems to hit your forehead.

I had a screen that I shortened myself. It didn't look that great but it put my lid in clean air and lessened the turbulence. So you might also want to consider a higher or lower screen.

Or get a Roof helmet, quietest lid I've ever worn. I still ride with earplugs but there's the inevitable time that you lose them at a fuel stop or something and the Roof lid is quiet enough not to need them.

[jeff st4s]

Originally Posted by Jools

I don't know whether you've got one of the new shape ST's or the old shape, nor how big you are, but I know that I suffer from a certain amount of buffeting behind the standard old shape ST screen.

I had a screen that I shortened myself. It didn't look that great but it put my lid in clean air and lessened the turbulence. So you might also want to consider a higher or lower screen.

Or get a Roof helmet, quietest lid I've ever worn. I still ride with earplugs but there's the inevitable time that you lose them at a fuel stop or something and the Roof lid is quiet enough not to need them.

Jools, I've got one of the old style ST's and it has a higher screen already fitted, I'm 5ft 8/9 ish (sounds like a dating come on).

The moulded earplugs are a fiddle to get in and out quick, so the chance of dropping them is less as I'll tend to leave them in.

If I still have aggro on the motorway, I'll look into changing the screen as the next part of the puzzle before buying a Schuberth, my mate has one and he loves it, but I prefer how cool the Aria keeps my head as I tend to get hot.