I'm new to owning a motorcycle. I was wondering if anyone had a mp3 player on their bike. and if so how do you listen to it, with speakers or something in your helmet? Sorry for the newie question and thanks for any help.

I use an MP3 player with some Skull Candy in ear headphones. All shoved inside my helmet. It all works just fine. It has a little slide switch on it where I can turn the volume up and down. I just put it on shuffle and stick it in my jacket. The volume is set pretty low because it blocks all the other sounds out. Seems to cut down on wind noise and exhaust drone. It's hard to hear your friends at a stop light, but that's what the volume switch is for.

Hi Lisa -

I don't listen to music on the ninjette, but I've got an ipod on another bike. The simplest way is to use in-ear headphones. The ones that seal do a reasonable job of hearing protection from the wind, as well as allow decent music fidelity. Some recommended ones are the Etymotic ER6i's. I own a pair of those, but don't find them particularly comfortable under the helmet; it's really a preference thing that works for some folks and not others.

Another way to do it is with helmet speakers, and that's what I use on my BMW. I run the iPod, GPS, radar, and rider/passenger communication to an electronic gadget from Autocom under the seat that combines them together, and then a single cable goes to the helmet. With it I can make/receive cell calls, as well as hear all of the gadgets. Works great, and isn't as expensive as might be assumed, if you want to end up running more than just music on a bike.

:) some of us prefer not to be reached when on our bikes. An interesting product though, link perhaps?

You never have to answer, and can always feign being out of cell coverage. :) Nice when you need it, though. It's the Garmin Zumo GPS that allows it. The Zumo 550 has bluetooth, which pairs with the cell phone. The Zumo is wired to the Autocom, so when a call comes in it shows the incoming name/# on the screen and mutes the rest of the sources if you choose to answer it. You can also dial out using the Zumo.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=135&pID=15000 for the Zumo 660
http://www.autocom.co.uk/ for autocom's main site. They have a US site as well, but it's all shockwave-based and it's pretty shoddy.

Assimilated much?

Thank for all the info. i think i going to try the head phone idea. My husband wants to try and run the world from his bike. lol

Assimilated much?

:confused20: a Borg reference? I don't get it...

Borg? You are wired to a GPS, Autocom, and a cell phone which allows you to see who is calling and dial out among other things. That's pretty assimilated in my mind. No offense, just observing that you are slowing become Terminator.

I haven't taken a phone call I haven't wanted to in years. Come to think of it, I haven't had to do anything I haven't wanted to in quite a while. ;)

I use this...works great (http://www.chatterboxusa.com/cbxbiokit.html)....I pair with my phone which streams music through A2DP.:thumbup:

I haven't listened to music while riding in quite a while. I think maybe it's because I've been getting so much flak from people saying "Isn't that dangerous?" or "That's illegal! You can't hear sirens!". I do know that if you're on the highway for extended periods of time, you better have music or you'll get bored/tired very easily. Exhaust + monotonous wind noise = lullaby! :D But now that I know others do listen to music without worries, I'll be less inclined to leave my MP3 at home. Anybody else worry about the safety issue?

I was pulled over at a Motorcycle safety thing and the Police commented on my earphones. I just told him what I do: I often have music playing, About half the time I do have music playing, I like to listen to what is going on around me, but get rid of as much wind noise as possible. If I have music playing, it is at such a low level that I can still hear everything around me, infact I have it lower than I do when I am just walking around on the street or sitting at my desk listening to music.

I surprised you can actually hear it, even with a QC pipe.

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13992

I surprised you can actually hear it, even with a QC pipe. I have got the Sennheiser cx300 and they are noise cancelling, and do a really good job at it, reduces the noise a lot. Infact, I am using them here at the F1 and they do a better job than the ear plugs they are selling here :p

I use an MP3 player with some Skull Candy in ear headphones. All shoved inside my helmet. It all works just fine. It has a little slide switch on it where I can turn the volume up and down. I just put it on shuffle and stick it in my jacket. The volume is set pretty low because it blocks all the other sounds out. Seems to cut down on wind noise and exhaust drone. It's hard to hear your friends at a stop light, but that's what the volume switch is for.

+1 on the Skull Candy, the gel earplugs are noise canceling in design just by themselves. I have a 4g card in my Blackberry, just leave the ringer on Quiet and not get disturbed while riding at all. Sides, the wife knows if I am on my bike, to not call me anyways, I won't answer :thumbup:

I'm new to owning a motorcycle. I was wondering if anyone had a mp3 player on their bike. Sorry, Lisa, but if you are new to motorcycling, you should be putting 100% of your attention on riding and the other vehicles around you.

Once riding becomes second nature to you, perhaps then you could consider listening to music while you ride.

Hi, first post here, but might be able to help out. The scala rider Q2 has bluetooth for your phone, and rider to rider communication. The cool thing is, the speakers mount in the helmet, but not in your ears, so you can still hear pretty much everything around you. Also, it has an FM receiver in it, so you can listen to local stations. It works really well. I'm sure with some thinking, you could get an MP3 worked in there.

Those do work well (or so I've heard from people who've had them), but they are a little on the expensive side, so those of us who aren't interested in all the extras, just wanting to listen to music, probably don't want to spend the money. Thanks for the input though.

On another note, welcome to the boards! Make sure to head over to the new members thread and tell us a little about yourself! ;) :D

I love listening to my ipod when I'm commuting but usually I don't just because my skull candy earphones are such a hassle and fall out easily. Sometimes I can get them to stay for the whole 30 min trip but most of the time they just slip out and there's nothing more frustrating than a loose earphone dangling nearby, tickling the outside of your ear and now delivering muted, low-quality sound for the rest of the trip or until you decide to pull over.

When I do finally get a good fit they restrict my body movement - I'm focusing on moving as little as possible so as not to upset the delicate placement of the earphones.

Anyway, sometimes it's fun to just whistle or sing really loud inside the helmet. And as far as cyborgs go...they're cool and all, and I've accepted that we will probably all turn into them some day. But I'll always be on the side of those who wish to retain their good old natural human body.

Sorry, Lisa, but if you are new to motorcycling, you should be putting 100% of your attention on riding and the other vehicles around you.

Once riding becomes second nature to you, perhaps then you could consider listening to music while you ride.



I second that comment 100%

I love listening to my ipod when I'm commuting but usually I don't just because my skull candy earphones are such a hassle and fall out easily. Sometimes I can get them to stay for the whole 30 min trip but most of the time they just slip out and there's nothing more frustrating than a loose earphone dangling nearby, tickling the outside of your ear and now delivering muted, low-quality sound for the rest of the trip or until you decide to pull over.

When I do finally get a good fit they restrict my body movement - I'm focusing on moving as little as possible so as not to upset the delicate placement of the earphones.

Sounds like your helmet is no longer fitting as well as it should. The padding around your ear should easily hold the earphones in place. Unless your helmet is cut with an opening around your ear in the foam, that is meant to allow you to put earphones in the helmet without having to cut the helmet up.

Yeah my helmet has a space in the padding next to my ears. Mostly what affects the earphones I think is the nature of whatever clothing I'm wearing on my torso. Certain combinations of shirts/jackets will pull on the earphone wires which run to the inside left pocket of my jacket. It's a shame, because the earphones themselves fit very snugly in my ears and cancel outside noise really well.

I cant even get ear phones in with my helmet. It was the only size that didn't come off in the fit test!

Head Phones = Illegal
Fussing with cords = Dangerous

I just picked these up at the Vancouver Motorcycle show and they work great.

http://www.torkworld.com/x2.html

The speakers are totally flat and velcro inside your helmet, you have an external volume control and the music is in the backround. You can still totally hear the road. I absolutely recommend.

I had a nice long ride home and listening to Garbage really made the time fly.... anyone else remember the '90s?