That's the side effect of wearing a FF with a windshield or fairing in my experience. I've played around with it and found that the bigger the windshield, the worse it gets. Must be more surface to bounce sound waves back is my guess. Try raising yourself up off the seat and into the wind a bit to see if that booming diminishes. If so, go shorter on the windshield.

Adding to this after doubling back to see more discussion - I use a Shoei Quest. Overall I think it's not a great helmet. Certainly no better than the Scorpion 700 it replaced. In fact, on my bikes that do not have a windshield or fairing, the helmet has a piercing air noise on the right side. This does not change when I change out from clear to tinted windshields. Ear plugs barely help.

And has been mentioned, ear plugs don't help the "booming" noise either. The booming disappears when I wear a half helmet. This is the most comfortable way for me to ride. But I would prefer the protection of a ff helmet more often. It also is better in rain and cold.

So to me there are three types of sound discomfort that happen -

1. Wind noise. Simply the wind rush hitting your head and it's loud.

2. Buffeting. Your head is in turbulent air usually associated with some sort of windshield or fairing. It physically moves your head around and creates pressure. Ear plugs do not help. Only aerodynamic aides like fork fangs etc reduce this effect. But every cure has a side effect. In the case of fork fangs, it creates a back pressure on your neck, which can cause fatigue. Not to mention a wet neck in the rain!

3. Exhaust noise. Usually it gets overwhelmed by wind noise on an unfaired bike. But with a fairing and ff helmet, wind noise is reduced and exhaust sound is amplified. Ear plugs do not help much.

My solutions to the above point by point -

1. A good helmet and good ear plugs. No other way around it.

2. Fork fangs or some other aero aid for the type of bike you ride. Example, Cee Bailey wings on a BMW GS.

3. Lower windshield to get more clean airflow over helmet and less surface to reflect exhaust noise. This balanced with fork fangs has been a nice balance for me. Ymmv

 

I don't mind the Big Head look with a 3/4 helmet. It makes me look taller and more imposing off the bike! Not so keen on the big/loose half helmets that sit above the ear. They have no fit any more and I am sure would move around your head if you slid or dragged on the ground.

One of my pet gripes is shops that let chicks and, yes, 90% of the time it is chicks, go out with helmets that sit on the back of their heads with their foreheads complete exposed. Probably a size too small.

Head on collision with anything, and they're going to split their faces. Their skull is going to take the complete blow. Big problem in urban scenarios were there is so much "street furniture", iron fences, posts, stones etc.

Noise? May be something cutting the air shearing it and causing eddies or "rotors". See, Kármán vortex streets.

It's all about high and low pressure areas and the FF creates low pressure zones under your ears, I guess pulling air in, the edges cutting it.

This is an animation of vortex street created by a cylindrical object, you could easily imagine that to be a helmet, no?

 

Thats a great post. Agree with all of the above.

 

So this thread inspired me to pull the old Scorpion 700 out of the box and try it again. I rode my naked bike (no wind protection at all) and I was astonished at how much better it was than my Shoei. No high pitched whistling sounds, just the expected wind noise, which was tolerable. At the same speeds (about 60 MPH) wearing the Shoei Quest, I want to pull over, tear it off my head, and throw it in a field. I'll have to try it out on the SGS and see how it does with the exhaust noise.

Last night's experiment got me to thinking about my helmets and how they work on the bikes. Here's what I have so far -

1. Half helmet - works great behind the 10 inch Windsplitter on my 14 SGS. I don't even need ear plugs. I rode 300 miles a few weeks back wearing the half helmet just because I didn't want to endure the noise from the ff. Not an easy decision considering I had to ride through Chicago and into Indianapolis. On a naked bike the wind wants to tear a half helmet off my head at highway speeds. It's not an option imo.

Full face helmet - Once I got to Indy it started to pour, so I pulled over to eat and change. I felt fine with no ear ringing. Due to the rain I tossed on the Shoei. The balance of my ride was 100 miles to Cincinnati. Just wearing the ff helmet for that short ride gave me ear ringing that lasted into the evening. I wore ear plugs so the noise was reduced, but that resonance pushes past ear plugs and creates a loud humming. As one person offered, it goes to the bone. Sure feels like it. On an open bike it's the best option for me even with the whistling Shoei. But the Scorpion is better yet. With ear plugs I'm good for the day.

3/4 helmet - Sunday I went for a 300 mile ride around the state on the SGS. It was a great time with friends. For whatever reason I opted to use a 3/4 helmet I had with some motocross goggles. We needed to make a gas stop so I didn't put in the ear plugs. The 1st 20 miles at speeds between 35 and 60 MPH were tolerable but not great. No whistling, but definitely not as quiet or comfortable as the half helmet. Not surprisingly, it fell somewhere in between half and ff noise levels. I stopped and put in ear plugs and it significantly improved the wind noise, but the exhaust resonance was still there.

In the end each person's results will likely be different because there are so many variables - helmet fit, helmet quality, height, windshield height, exhaust, wind direction, traffic, etc. It's very difficult to pinpoint specifics because what works for one, may not work for another.

As far as the Shoei vs the Scorpion - There must be something wrong with the Shoei. They wouldn't sell one Quest if everyone had the same experience as mine. Also, the Scorpion is a more snug fit for sure, which I'm sure has an effect on sealing out noise.

 

I cant remember where I read it, but the bone comment came out of a scientific paper. It's called "Bone conduction" and there, of course, headphones already using it. Skull, jaw and cheek bones. It's used in some extreme military communications.

A pretty new science but possibly originally invented by Beethoven.

How do you think it is being passed thru?

I've never thought of it possibly being a component until now.

Yes, those new scooter half-helmets suck as far as lift off half strangling you. I blame the mass maket, "I don't like it" pandering. Those old Bells didn't. Ditto, their old snugfit 3/4s.

 

I agree 100% I have had numerous 3/4 and full face helmets and all have more noise with and without ear plugs than a half helmet. I look at those helmets like putting my head in a drum or a pail. I have had Nolan, Arai, HJC etc helmets and all were much more noise than a half helmet. Also have tried many different windshields with different heights and still have the same noise results with the 3/4 and full face helmets..

 

I'm no scientist, but....Holiday Inn Express etc. I think it's a sound wave that actually vibrates whatever it contacts and creates a resonance. To me the end result is a very low frequency hum like a sub woofer.

My half helmet is a Zox Retro. It was cheap, but I bought it for it's narrow profile which is less affected by turbulence. My Bell classic before that was not as effective in mitigating windshield turbulence. The Zox, despite it's low cost has actually been a really good helmet that stays as snug as any half helmet I've used. I'll buy again.

Looking at your build my guess is your bike is pretty loud relative to stock. My 107 was much harder to deal with as far as noise levels. I spent a lot of time (and $$) trying to reduce noise levels trying different exhausts and my solution was a new bike.

 

I think it's a good thing folk go, or can admit to going, for quieter pipes. All the talks about the fastest/loudest/bestest pipe (of which I am guilty too).

I've been reading some of those papers/articles I linked to and others, one of them specifically featured an H-D but omitted wind noise, and noise also adds to stress, tiredness and distractedness.

What surprised me was the corellation between motorcycle riding noise and industrial noise. We are way over the limits.

I have tinitus that I put down to my riding as a kid with loud bikes and crappy helmets with no visors etc. It's no legacy to want.

I guess companies are slaves to high numbers. Is there any that actually advertizes a pipe that is "as quiet as stock but with far better torque between 2,000 and 4,500 rpm". It's probably what we all need rather than want.

 

Most companies don't commit to numbers. I wanted black slip-ons for my SGS. It was very difficult to find anyone stating sound levels. Finally I found that Supertrapp had Db levels on some of their products. I bought the Stouts which were advertised as EPA compliant at 92 Db. They're okay, but I prefer the stock slip-ons for long rides.

Not surprisingly, Supertrapp made the quietest slip on for my 2/1 on the 107 bike. It wasn't bad, but it choked off a lot of HP vs the D&D Factcat that was on there. That pipe definitely was too loud - like a jack hammer on my head.

 

Its common for many to wear a FF thats larger then it should be. My Bell fits snug, ear pads pressed firmly against ears, and no extra noise with faring. A few times a year when its cold I install the chin guard and notice less noise and air flow into helmet. Try the chin guard installed to see if it helps.