I have a question for all of you touring guys/gals.

When you have the fairing with the built in radio and large speakers mounted up front and sometimes in the rear seat, can you really hear the radio? Half helmet? 3/4? Full face?

It seams to me you really can't hear it or else you must sound like a teenager with his woofers turned up going down the highway. I don't really hear those radio when someone passes me by. Do you really enjoy it that way?

I use ear plugs and was wondering.

Thanks,

 

Put headsets in your helmets,never fails.

 

The only time i use my radio is when I'm stopped. I enjoy listening to the motor & wind more.

 

I have my stock stereo on, usually playing mp3s through my zumo, almost every minute I ride. I don't have very good hearing, but I can hear the radio very well at speeds up to about 90 mph. The tunes add alot to the riding experience for me.

I either wear a half helmet or none at all. The only reason I am even considering a speaker upgrade is for better sound quality at high volume.

Dennis

 

Could you please give an example of how much volume you need? It just seems to me that you would have to really be blasting the thing in order to understand what you are listening to.

 

I wear 1/2 helmet and hear mine just fine. I've been told at times that people riding behind me can hear it too...guess I need louder pipes..don't want to be sharin my tunes with them lol

 

I wear a half helmet and ear plugs and hear the radio just fine. Actually hear it better with ear plugs in because it cuts out all the wind noise and allows you just to hear the tunes( or motor whatever your preference). At my last hearing test i was informed I should be wearing plugs and it is not because of motor noise but the high pitch wind noise over extended periods of time is what causes damage.

 

I can hear it up to about 70 MPH.....after that it's just noise.

 

I hear mine just fine at all speeds with half helmet. Better with ear plugs. I do use my volume button in town at stop lights to try not to annoy people with my choice of music. Not everyone understands Jimi. On really cold days I use a full face with my mp3 player clipped to my jacket and scullcandy ear plugs.

 

I don't have any way to measure the decibels, but I can tell you that the volume is much higher when I am riding highway speeds than it would be if I was sitting in the garage listening to music.

Go to a stock 08 SG, turn the volume all the way up and then back it off three or four indicator bars on the volume. That's where it usually is when I am riding at highway speeds. The stock HK stereo also has automatic volume control. It turns the volume up and down as the speed increases or decreases according to one of the three possible pre-set choices I made when setting up the stereo. It works very well coming down, but I often have to bump the volume down a notch or two after it turns it up for me.

Dennis