Well, this sucks. I rode with full face helmet before, but that was on sport bikes some years ago. I never experienced this before. This is my first HD and I rode all last season either without helmet and then migrated to half helmet. Everything was fine and I did not experience any issues with that.

This season, I migrated to full face helmet. I bought Shoei X14. It has a chin curtain, and it's sealed on the bottom as best as it could. Every time I ride, I have this horrible ear ringing. It's almost as the sound of exhaust just bounces around inside the helmet. I have never experienced that before with FF helmet.

What gives? Anyone experienced this? It's not like my pipes are super loud. They are RH.. nothing crazy. I can probably get past this and continue, but I am worried that my ears will be damaged. I know that maybe earplugs would help, but then I would feel totally deaf to what's happening outside. Is this just a conditioning thing and I need to spend some more time with this helmet? It fits me great and I love how it feels. It's just that damn ear ringing.

 

Sounds like early stages of tinnitus. I would really urge you to go visit with a hearing specialist. Or at least try wearing a set of ear plugs your next ride to see if there is a change. Ringing afterwords is a sign of hearing damage IMO.

I have experienced ringing after the fact like you’re talking about but related to hunting. I do a lot of dove and waterfowl hunting so when the hunts are good, it’s A LOT of shooting. And I’ve always hated wearing ear pro while hunting as it’s hard to hear the birds coming. But I’m 28, and I’ve noticed some hearing loss. Used to be no problem to go shoot a 4 man limit of ducks, or hunt doves with a large group of guys and not think anything of it. Now I go shoot a limit by myself and later that evening or maybe the next day I will have ringing in my ears 50% of the time. It’s not a nice feeling or sound. I’ve got custom molded ear plugs and even wear ear muffs over those when I target shoot. But haven’t done that while hunting and I am and going to be paying for it. For my last hunt a few weeks ago for snow geese (can make for some high volume shooting. We had 9 guys) I finally broke down and bought the electric ear muffs. Still not great for hunting but the hearing protection is worth it along with still being able to hear some. At least until I can save up for something like Tetra electronic plugs ($$$$) and hopefully save the remaining hearing i have. Also hearing loss is a contributing factor to dementia and Alzheimer’s.

 

Invest in a good set of earplugs. They have different dB reduction ratings, so perhaps consider ones that have a lower dB rating (usually used for concerts and by musicians so they can still hear the music).

Hear loss is cumulative, and permanent. The tinnitus may be early symptoms of permanent loss.

 

Damn... thanks @2500hdon37s .. I just looked it up and as with any google diagnosis.. I got all of the symptoms! lol. I probably messed my ears up with headphones. I listen to them loud during workouts, plus they are noise canceling and I read that they are actually bad for you.

I am going to make an appointment with a doc and see what they say.

 

Sucks getting old.......get to someone in the hearing field and get checked out.

 

Earplugs. I hate ‘em, never wore them on naked bikes with no helmet, but wind buffeting at highway speed in a half helmet and traffic ahead causes turbulence it beats my ears to death. It’s not the exhaust in my case.

 

That is an amazing helmet , it's probably the lower frequency of the Harley exhaust note , and wind noise.

I own the same helmet for my sport bike , I never wore ear protection on the GSXR .
I find my Harley calls for ear plugs....yes it SUCKS to have to wear them , but l find it an necessary evil .

I have tinnitus , and it is not reversible...so they say , so my advise to you is slow it down ( with ear protection) now before it's too damn late .

 

at speed the wind noise can be just as and in some cases more damaging to the ears than exhaust noise. It’s louder than you think, multiplied by the time we ride!

 

WHAT DID YOU SAY?

 

Ear plugs are your friend, I also have tinnitus.
I have to wear masking earring aids if I want relief.

Worked in a paper mill for years, so was quite used to them anyway.
Riding for years I always wore them because of the wind noise, my hearing was always very good.
Then one incident, took all of that preservation away.
Once you get used to the wearing of them, I think you can hear the important stuff better.