Riding With Music
 

I know a few guys who ride with an earphone in one ear,so they can listen to their mp3 player. I never tried it,I just think it might be too dangerous.Does anyone else ride like this?

I choose not to ride with music on my bike.

I've tried ear buds and didn't like it but many of the folks I ride with seem to like it.

I ride with music.I put it on my motorola droid phone. Works good. The only thing I do is only use one earpiece. So I can still hear motor and road noise/sirens

That`s how a few of my friends do it also.I might give the one ear bud a try.

I have speakers built into my helmet. Works great.

Lots of strong feelings on this, eg, safety, tunes or wind and motor, etc. I use buds sometimes; probably compromises safety a little because of focus and harder twisting when a rocking song plays.

Is the music distracting in traffic?

I used to ride with ear buds all the time and never had a problem or felt they were dangerous. I wore them under a full face helmet so I never had to turn the volume up super high and I could still hear the important stuff like car horns and sirens (I got pulled over so many times lol). Best thing to do is try it out and see if it's for you

I feel its distracting. Riding tends to clear my head and helps me think. Besides that, I like the sound of the motor. JMHO

I have the earphones/buds that fit to my iphone, great for long rides.
Just don't have it too loud and you can still hear traffic
Scouser

I have been riding with earbuds in both ears for a long time..To me it is not distracting at all..I hear everything around me. I also ride with a half helmet as anything bigger was a distraction for me..

On longer rides, I'll wear earbuds with an ipod. On anything under 200 miles, I don't. I haven't found it very distracting.

I don't do the music thing on my bike or cage

no earbuds. i bought a cheap set of helmet speakers on ebay works perfectly with my 3/4 helmet

I use earbuds when not in heavy traffic, I can still hear surrounding noise and don't find it distracting. I use them mainly when doing open road riding.

Just bought these to put in my new FF... http://www.edsets.com/speaker-only_kits

For me it all comes down to where you're riding. With the traffic where I live in NY, no way would I ride with ear buds, but when I ride out west on wide open roads, definitely yes.

I have speakers in my FF helmet, which I wear in bad weather or long trips.

I hacked up a set of headphones to make speakers for my half-helmet.

I also have 4 speakers on the scoot that I use most of the time, with or without a lid.

I find none of them distracting, nor feel any safety concerns.

I don't as of now, but that doesn't mean I won't in the future. Just have to find a way to keep the phone charged up is all. Not a lot of places to put a power source, that won't take away from the bike. Plus I'm not fond of being tethered to the bike. I know I'll jump off the bike and forget about it some time.

I agree... I bought the bike to get away from everything and relax.

I ride with them in both ears, sometimes. Not a problem. Do you really "hear" cars? I "see" them.

You make a good point.

Never saw the need for music while riding.

I used to, buy don't have the need anymore with my RG!

I enjoy the four speakers on my Ultra Classic. I plan on adding about 6 more as I upgrade the stereo system.

I sometimes ride with earbuds and a MP3 player. Have never had a problem hearing traffic around me or sirens. It's a hassle though when riding with others and pull to a stop light and they want to talk.

I have tried ear buds and helmet speakers and never felt comfortable with them. I have no problems using the speakers on the Ultra Limited though.

I've been riding with ear-buds in for about 13 years for my daily commute and other solo trips. The gel buds work best. Trick is setting volume so that you essentially cancel out the wind noise + a little more so you can hear the audio, but can still hear sirens and other things that you'd hear driving in your cage. Hearing the motor is not a problem with the volume at this level and I've never found it to be a distraction. However, I use headphone/earbuds that have a remote / inline volume control so that I can quickly dial down the music so that I can have a conversation without removing my helmet or digging out my iPod.

I've had in-helmet speakers wired to stereo/GPS/Bluetooth phone/intercom before on my BMW R1150RT... I prefer the earbuds with just the iPod for non-touring.

:icon_playingball:
In big traffic No ,on open roads yes but I get tired of am/fm and listening to my pipes is more fun. Can't find good balance with radio volume and keeps getting harmonics anyway which is more trouble than its worth.

I have a MP3/FM radio I use sometimes. I can still hear sound 'around' me.

I don't use it when I'm riding in a group. only when solo riding.

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That way everyone at stoplights, etc. can enjoy your taste in music.

I actually turn it down. Ive got my woman trained to talk to me at stop lights and gas stations on the bike and during commercials when we watch tv. :)

I wear buds in both ears.

I use the sound reducing ones that are like ear plugs you can hear music through. That way I hear it great without turning it way up.

On longer rides I use one ear bud in the right ear. I have the kind that seal the ear like ear plugs; That way it doesn't have to be super loud.

I used to ride with one earbud, which worked okay except I had to start out with it fairly loud so when I hit top speed I could still hear it over the wind noise (no helmet). When I did use a helmet, sometimes the earbud would dislodge, and I wouldn't have museic the rest of the ride.

Then I got a SG so don't need any earbuds to enjoy my music at all times.

Not me...I like the sound of the engine, enjoy listening to the cadence coming from the pipes, and other sounds of being out there on the road. Since I don't wear a lid, and sometimes ride with a mini fairing...other times no fairing...I have the wind rush.

Besides..."hearing" my surroundings if almost 1/2 of my senses of what's happening around me. Intersections, stoplights..even just riding down the road..even though my eyes pretty much catch it all, I want my hearing at 100% to "catch" that rare thing that is sneaking up on me that my eyes may have missed. Not having hearing would lower the effectiveness of my 360* radar system.

If I wanted music on the bike...I would go with a headset in a helmet...but then I don't wear one. But at least that would allow other outside sounds to come in, versus earbuds. Or...I'd have to get a bike with a full fairing..so I could do a stereo system on the bike. But I can't stand thumping ground shaking blasting music when kids pull up to stoplights in their urban mobiles forcing everyone in a 3 block radius to hear their music...so I'd be worried about an exposed stereo system on a bike doing similar things to the people unfortunate enough to be stuck next to me at a stoplight.

Me neither, the only noise I want to hear when I ride is my engine, what's going on around me and the quietness of my thoughts....If I want to arbitrarily ride with music, I'll jump in my cage...That's just me.

I will not ride with anyone if I can hear music playing,Period! Not the place for it as far as I am concerned,the wife feels the same way.To each his/her own.

have ridden with music but chose not to anymore, why? I really enjoy the sound of the motor with the whole bike working together. The current craze is music but to me it just adds another reason for general public to complain about the loudness of bikes when that goofy pirate on the loud bike with the crapy sounding music blasting away, borne to be bad.....