[Catiken]

How many ppl listen to music when riding? do u have one ear listening and other for the road?

 

[Oni]

The sound of the bike is music to my ears. I personally don't listen to music while riding. It's an unwanted distraction.

Some of my mates do. They have 1 ear for music, other ear for bike. That said i think on the 899 you will need both ears for music otherwise all you will hear is the bike.

 

[northerner]

I regularly ride with music. Quality in ear earplugs are a must however.

 

[Genie]

I ride with music through the Sena SMH-10R bluetooth headset, although I don't have it blasting, just enough volume so that I can hear it. like previously said though, your main focus needs to be on the road, and listening to the engine.

After hearing my new ride for the fist time the other day, I will definitely be purchasing some quality ear plugs (such as "Earmold", Welcome to Earmold Australia®)

I like to be 110% focused on the bike, you need to be, with all those crazy cagers out there!!!!

 

[Catiken]

I was thinking about getting the LG neck bluetooth ear buds.. and have one plug in my ear..

Any other good blue tooth device? something low profile.. not bulky..

 

[jumpman]

Well, each to their own perspective. Personally, I'm not into the idea of listening to music while riding. Probability of zoning out and losing focus / concentration is there. For me it's the good'ol earplugs and the sound of music the bike makes!

 

[draggin]

i think its personal preference
i dont feel like its as safe. but i know many riders who listen to music while riding.

 

[T-wizzle]

I never ride on the streets without my playlist of music to listen too while I'm cruising, hitting the canyons or mountains, but trackday nope! I listen on both ears

 

[Rowan]

On the last few group rides the guys who went down had ear phones in and both said they were distracted by the additional noise in their helmet.

When I'm touring and doing long straight distances I'm listening to podcasts, but once I'm in town, or on the twisties I'm focused on my riding and no music.

I have a Cardo Scala G9 / paired to the Zumo GPS / paired to the iPhone. Its the best way. I get a call, I can answer it while riding by touching the GPS. The G9 is voice activated so I can just say Music Off or Music On and it does what it's meant too.

Handy kit.

 

[Infinwin]

I've thought about it, but when I strap up and go ride I like to be free of all the normal bothers in life. I'm assaulted by media enough throughout the day. No Bluetooth either, just me, the road and my trusty steed!

 

[warlord]

I've had bluetooth headsets for a couple of years now and they're invaluable. I often don't like listening to music when I ride but every so often... it's nice. Then there's the ability to get your navigation in-helmet or receive phone calls.

I tend to pay more attention to my riding then to any phone conversations so generally people know if they call when I'm on my bike they'll hear a whole of silence and engine noise on my end.

My preference is really to have ear plugs in since traffic noise can be loud and hearing damage from wind noise (even in a helmet) is real risk, and has a cumulative effect. My choice for navigation prompts and music is to use bluetooth with my fitted earbuds so I can block noise and use the volume at a much lower setting.

Originally I felt that earplugs, music, and earbuds would be a detriment to riding but the truth is that I find the constant wind noise much more fatiguing.

 

[krissrock]

wind noise much more fatiguing.

very very true. before I sold my bike, I started wearing earplugs just to protect my hearing as I was reading more and more articles about hearing loss from riding.
I bought a Bluetooth system and rode with both ear buds and the music. I could still hear everything outside. Cars, horns, sirens...no problem. The music was great company when riding alone. Not a distraction at all. if anything, listening to my own breathing and heartbeat from the earplugs was a distraction

 

[warlord]

very very true. before I sold my bike, I started wearing earplugs just to protect my hearing as I was reading more and more articles about hearing loss from riding.
I bought a Bluetooth system and rode with both ear buds and the music. I could still hear everything outside. Cars, horns, sirens...no problem. The music was great company when riding alone. Not a distraction at all. if anything, listening to my own breathing and heartbeat from the earplugs was a distraction

LOL. I took a test where they allowed and provided earplugs in order to reduce distractions but I had to take them out because all I could hear was my breathing and heartbeat. They were really cheap plugs though... no issues like that with fitted ones.

 

[jarelj]

Anyone know of a helmet bluetooth system that allows you to plug in your own earphones rather than using the helmet speakers that come with them?

 

[warlord]

Anyone know of a helmet bluetooth system that allows you to plug in your own earphones rather than using the helmet speakers that come with them?

Actually I do. I just ordered a new BT headset the Sena SMH10R. The adapter to use earphone was just another $5. The newer model which has features I'll never use but comes with a built in earphone port is the Sena 20S.

I've only been looking at Senas and Scalas because they've got the best reviews...

 

[krissrock]

a real shame there aren't many companies baking these right into the helmets.

I was really interested in Schuberth's helmets and their BT add's... But the SR-1 is the helmet I want and apparently it's like their only one that isn't designed to take their own BT add on

 

[jarelj]

Actually I do. I just ordered a new BT headset the Sena SMH10R. The adapter to use earphone was just another $5. The newer model which has features I'll never use but comes with a built in earphone port is the Sena 20S.

I've only been looking at Senas and Scalas because they've got the best reviews...

That's great, thanks! I've had pretty much all of them (Scala, Sena, Twiins, Chatterbox, Midland, Nolan, and probably others I can't remember), and they all have pros and cons. I actually had the Sena SMH-10R already last year, but got rid of it and replaced with the Midland BT Next because I wanted to try it. The Midland is actually really nice, and it's the only one I know of that can pair with all of the other brands for intercom. However it doesn't have the earbud capability so I'm going to ditch it and go back to the Sena!

I really wish someone made a really NICE setup for motorcycles, with integrated earplugs for wind noise reduction. It's just retarded to me that we have to use in-helmet speakers cranked up to hear them at the same time we have loud wind noise to deal with, it's a wonder we're not all deaf!

 

[warlord]

That's great, thanks! I've had pretty much all of them (Scala, Sena, Twiins, Chatterbox, Midland, Nolan, and probably others I can't remember), and they all have pros and cons. I actually had the Sena SMH-10R already last year, but got rid of it and replaced with the Midland BT Next because I wanted to try it. The Midland is actually really nice, and it's the only one I know of that can pair with all of the other brands for intercom. However it doesn't have the earbud capability so I'm going to ditch it and go back to the Sena!

I really wish someone made a really NICE setup for motorcycles, with integrated earplugs for wind noise reduction. It's just retarded to me that we have to use in-helmet speakers cranked up to hear them at the same time we have loud wind noise to deal with, it's a wonder we're not all deaf!

Actually, my understanding is now with the 5.0 firmware update is that all the Sena ones have this feature (universal intercom) as well.

But yeah, I just wanted OEM earbud compatability, a slim profile, and a quality brand. I have just been using a cheap no name one for years and it pisses me off everytime I need to use it for anything other than music streaming (intercom, pairing, etc); but it does have a handy grip mounted remote. Also if you already have and like the Sena smh10's you can pick up the earbud clamp to add an earbud port to it for $35. Probably good to know since some people really like it's jog dial.

Anyway, sounds like you have a lot of experience with these headsets. Should've asked you what you thought of them, LOL.

 

[PSIcho]

Just wanted to chime in here as well as I've been riding with in-ear earphones for a while. Since I normally do long freeway commutes to my riding spot, 90mi. one way, I found using in-ears as the best. These attenuates the wind noise a lot similar to earplugs, therefore, I only use enough volume to have background music so I can still hear everything around me. In fact, better than not wearing anything at all. Also, after using several different ear tips, I found the triple flange works best as it doesn't come off easily while putting the helmet on and provides enough attenuation. Lastly, the Klipsch S4i and variants to be the best bang for the buck in terms of price and sound quality which I usually wait for sales that places it under $40 (MSRP $99).

Although, once I get to the twisties, I then turn it off to concentrate purely on riding.

 

[Howard]

Music

You can't ride like I do (knee scraping on the road) and listen to music, period. If you want to relax, do it on a sofa or a cruiser.