There's been a number of posts lately recommending earplugs, so I tried them. I wear a FF helmet and never had any problem with noise but I tried those little foamy ones you role up and stick in your ear. It was like going deaf. I couldn't hear the engine or anything around me. I rode as far as the first garbage can and tossed them.

For those of you using them in a FF, what type do you use and can you hear anything while using them?

 

why are earplugs even needed?
i wear them when shooting but never riding, that would mess up my hearing and i use that all the time on an unconscious level just to hear traffic next to me and what not

 

I wear earplugs or earbuds(for music) everytime I ride. I wouldn't go on a long ride without them, the wind noise, even with a FF helmet is almost deafening after a while. You get used to not hearing everything as loudly as you normally would but you CAN still hear everything. I work in a shop so I just use whatever foam earplugs we get here, they all seem to be mostly the same to me.

 

I use Howard Leight Max earplugs. I've been using plugs for 20 years, and these are the best I have found. I get mine on Amazon.

I find that once you're used to them, you actually hear MORE of what's around you. It cuts the wind noise, and let's me hear my exhaust, intake, and stereo way better.

 

You can get special ones that only block out certain ranges of noise. Do a google search and you'll find a ton of info.

+1 on the earbuds for long trips. I don't wear em around town, but on the highway I'd go nuts without them.

 

I don't use a FF but know a few friends that do and don't use them they are fine without, I use a half helmet and the I only use them when riding around town for the wind noise in my ears bug me when I go on trips I use my I-pod I like to listen to music when riding on long trips.

I guess if it doesn't bother you then I wouldn't worry about it.

 

You can get special ones that only block out certain ranges of noise. Do a google search and you'll find a ton of info.

+1 on the earbuds for long trips. I don't wear em around town, but on the highway I'd go nuts without them.

 

And traffic around me. I am so used to them that I can't ride faster than 35 without them or my ears hurt from the wind noise.

I already have moderate tinnitus, and I don't want it to get any worse.

 

I use the foam ones the OP didn't care for, but I only use them on road trips and mainly on the interstate. As for "why", it really reduces fatigue when you've been on the road for 8 hours. I can still hear my motor well enough to know if a problem should develop, but there's no more wind noise at all.

 

I wear the foam ones but they are a hemishpere mounted on the end of a plastic stick. I have a curved ear canal and they are the only ones that i can find that will seal and stay in...Like others have said reduces fatigue and with tinnitus, they can only help.