[kkim]

Originally Posted by Alex

Glad you posted the "old fart" message Kelly, because if you hadn't I would have.

The exhaust noise has nothing to do with this. Unless you're riding a big twin with open headers, or perhaps a MotoGP bike, the exhaust noise when you're at highway speed isn't going to be particularly damaging. The wind noise absolutely will. There isn't a helmet out there that is quiet enough to prevent hearing damage after a decent distance on the highway.

I use earplugs on every ride other than a trip down the street to fillup the bike at the gas station. Once you start riding with them, you'll kick yourself for not starting earlier. It makes riding that much calmer; the windnoise causes a bunch of stress that you don't notice until it's gone. It's less tiring. And it's orders of magnitude safer for your long-term hearing. Even for those who listen to music while riding, I've found that the best fidelity is with helmet speakers + earplugs. Blocks out the windnoise. If you just use earbuds, in most cases you have to turn the volume up to max for it to be usable on the highway. So you're blasting wind noise and music noise into your noggin.

http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/foearplinlaq.html

We've always got a box of 200 pairs of E-A-R Classic yellow foamies in the garage, and we order a new one whenever it's looking a little low. $24.

uhhh... what did you say??? speak up, sonny!!