Riding a motorcycle with tinnitus

[trsa]

So, first I would like to welcome myself to this forum, starting right away asking questions to fellow riders

I so just happen to have tinnitus (yes, the annoying ear ringing sound..) and sound sensitivity (whatever the medical terms for this is), that just got a tad worse from an accident at work, so right now I am a little paranoid about these things

Basically, I just got my motorcycle license, though I have not bought a bike yet, but I want so badly to go and ride But with this tinnitus issue, I was wondering if any of you guys out there (and I am sure theres gotta be some) who perhaps have the same condition can tell me if I should start riding at all, or if it will be a high risk of it to get worse ?

I am very cautious about these things, but I believe it would be fine taking some precautions. My plan so far is getting the quietest helmet available to humankind, what i believe is the Schuberth line (said to be 82-85dB at 100kph) and pair it with my custom earplugs (30dB reduction). It sounds safe enough for me in theory, but then again, I have no real life experience, so Im hoping for some of you to give me some advice.

Im not doing any racing anyway, just enjoying riding at the speed limit Oh man I wanna ride so bad!

Oh, btw, this being a bike forum and all, I might add that I have narrowed my bike choice to either a Triumph Street Triple R or a BMW F800GS. If you are curious as to what I am getting My english is not perfect, so hope its all understandable.

[TheSmiler]

[Moo.]

I'm pretty sure riding around at motorway speeds without ear plugs will make it worse (eventually.) As after a long fast ride i can hear my ear ringing. I've also heard from alot of riders with plenty of years experience it can dull the senses somewhat. But with ear plugs and a decent helmet, i'm pretty sure it would lower the sound considerably enough to make it safer.. As to whether it will aggravate your symptoms or not I don't think anyone can say.. Apart from you, so give it a go

Also things to consider is faired bikes vs naked bikes and which gives the best protection against the wind. (Although a bad fairing screen can make the buffeting worse..)
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[Kickstart]

Hi

Helmets commonly do generate a lot of noise which can trigger tinnitus. My hearing is certainly suffering these days!

While a quiet helmet is no doubt a help, I am unsure how quiet it really would be. Years ago one bike magazine did a test of a load of helmets at 100mph with a noise meter in the riders ear. The quietest was 105db and the noisiest 120db .

With ear plugs, try different ones. I seem to have large outer ears and small inner ears which makes it a pain to use foam ones (they tend to expand too quicker to get them into place). So I have so custom moulded ones. If I can get the foam ones into place and get them to stay there then they are more effective than the custom ones. just the custom ones work 99% of the time rather than about 5% of the time (for me).

All the best

Keith
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[EazyDuz]

One night clubbing makes my ears ring 100x more than any lengthy motorcycle ride ever has, and i dont use earplugs.
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[Rogerborg]

Hello and welcome. I said, HELLO AND WELC-

Eh, I have no hearing problems, but I really don't like wind noise or buffet, and have gone to some lengths to reduce it on all my bikes.

Custom moulded plugs do help, my cheap silicone ones (£3.40 for two pairs worth of putty on eBay) do a great job of cutting out noise.

You can also try a couple of skirt designs:

Windjammer Helmet skirt:
https://rogerborg.dnsd.me/windjammer-helmet-skirt.jpg


Stop Wind Deluxe.
https://rogerborg.dnsd.me/stop-wind-deluxe.jpg

I've tried both, and they both make some difference. The Windjammer can feel a bit like the birth process, and mine started to dissolve (is how I can best describe it) after a year of daily use. On balance, I prefer the Stop Wind Deluxe, which also gives a bit of extra weather protection.

The other thing to consider is a tall screen. If you can get the bulk of the airflow above the bottom of your helmet, the noise drops sharply.

There are taller or "double bubble" replacements, aftermarket extenders, or if you're keeping it real, yo yo dawg, you can fettle up your own custom one in any size, shape and colour from perspex (or Lexan, if you're fancy).

If you want to get really ghetto, take a long visor from a cheap open face helmet, drill some holes, and cable tie it to the top of a stock screen. Looks like arse, works a treat.
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[Vincent]

Maybe you should be looking at bikes that give most protection from the wind. I wouldn't be surprised if BMW make some of the quietest models, perhaps the Goldwings and family, (PanAm dauville's, silverwings etc), or maybe the big scooters are quiet to ride ?

Excuse my ignorance but can you hear general road noise over the tinitus?
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[Kwakki Si]

I have tinnitus also, i dont bother with earplugs, tryed em out once or twice but then all you can here is the ringing as there is no background noise to mask the sound so its fooking annoying but then i dont ride my bike that much, say once a week if the weathers nice so my ears dont take that much of a beating and wind noise is only usually a problem on a dual carrageway or motorway if your more open to the elements and these are the kinda roads i try to avoid as their boring but if im on them i tuck myself behind my fairings and it gives good protection from the wind etc, bikes a zx6r g2, i found naked bikes to be very noisy with wind.
But if your gonna be commuting every day on a bike then yeah eraplugs are the way to go but like i say it will amplify the sound of your tinnitus.
Its a funny old thing tinnitus, some days are good and i barely notice it and other days it does me head in, i think how loud your tinnitus gets depends on your mood, like if im stressed it gets loud and the more you think about it the louder it gets but if you dont think about it then its not there, yes weird.
So once tinnitus sets in does it get progressively worse??? or is it always at the same level but the more youre aware of it the louder it becomes, hell sometimes its not there until i think about it, no one seems to know much about this infliction to be fair...
Their getting very close to sussing it out so perhaps there will be a cure in a few years aye.
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[MarJay]

I have a little tinnitus, probably caused by riding bikes with no earplugs when I was younger. I always wear earplugs now. They seem to help the tinnitus too.
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Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Howling Terror]

If you're at work and it's louder than 85db, your employer would supply hearing protection, and you'd be glad of it.
Riding a bike above 40mph and you're in the 90db range...and that's not taking the noise of the engine into account.

It's the high frequencies found in wind noise that destroy the tiny hairs of the inner ear. Once gone never to return. All you can do is destroy the remaining ones or protect what you have.

People with tinnitus will also find it difficult to enjoy loud music as their ears now pickup a narrower band of frequencies. I wear earplugs to gigs now and it's lovely.

On short local trips I don't bother with earplugs..anything over hour and in they go.
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[Benson_JV]

I put my earplugs in for anything over a mile. My hearing is worth the 20 seconds of faff at the ends of each journey.
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[UrbanRacer]

I thought the standard Moldex ear plugs were rated at 35db?

[trsa]

[cimbian]

I also have tinnitus. Foam ear plugs and the like drown out so much outside noise that I found both that the tinnitus was very noticeable and that they killed the pleasure of hearing the bike.

On recommendation I bought the Alpine Moto ear plugs but they have been brilliant. I can also hear my Scala.

https://www.comfyearplugs.com/alpine-motosafe-earplugs.html

They're not cheap but they do seem to be lasting.
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Current: Moto Guzzi 1100 Breva. Previous: Honda XL650V TransAlp
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[Dave-the-rave]

Keep your visor open. That keeps helmet noise to a minimum.
Try wearing rider glasses instead. I don't get this modern
phenomena regarding earplugs. I depend on my senses to stay
alive especially when on a bike. Riding wearing earplugs to me
makes as much sense as wearing sunglasses at night.

[trsa]

[Islander]

I find that an open visor increases wind noise significantly and aggravates my own tinnitus. Decent ear plugs are definitely the answer.

[barrkel]

Naked bikes are usually better for noise than bikes that don't have a full screen that totally redirects the wind away from you - turbulent air and all that.

I have the Schuberth C3, allegedly quiet helmet. It's not that quiet on me and on my bikes; YMMV. But I wouldn't buy one again with the idea that it'll keep much noise down.

In your position, I'd be looking at custom earplugs.
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[trsa]

[barrkel]

[trsa]

[Rogerborg]

I suspect that either of the helmet skirts that I mentioned above will make any helmet as quiet as the best stock one, for a lot less money.

You won't know what works for your combination of speed, head angle, neckwear and bike screen until you try it though.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Fizzer Thou]

https://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x243/NatalieS2385/dsc02842.jpg

I used to know someone who had one of these 'things' and she still got traffic and wind noise,enough for her to decide to use earplugs.

Mrs.Fizzer has tinnitus but does not like to use ear plugs,even on a long journey whether on her own bike or on the pillion.

I do not suffer with any hearing loss despite riding for over 37 years and luckily no tinnitus,for which I am thankful.But if on a long journey abroad I will use the foam plugs.Strangely the wind noise is worse on my Exup1000 compared to the R1,which tends to direct the wind onto my chest as against onto my neck as it seems on the Exup.
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[chris-red]

How did your motorcycle get tinnitus?
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[mysterious_rider]

Hi. I have tinnitus, and it only got worse one I stubbied my end cans and removed all the baffles. It actually got to a point where my ears would hurt after a ride lasting 20mins or more. Ended up baffling them slightly (still damn illegal) and not had a problem since..

As said before clubbing is far worse. Hit the town last night and the ringing is frickin lethal right now.


Just go and ride mate.
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