Forum

[jefrs]

Enough fin rubbers have departed from mine by their own accord to conclude they make little difference to the general noise output. Personally I like to hear everything around me and wish helmets let more sound in, I just don't understand earplugs.



I originally thought they were to prevent metal fatigue of the aluminium fins but apparently fin breakage is completely unknown. So the rubbers serve no practical purpose, they're just nannyware.

[ric]

Just wish I could fit some of them to my injector solenoid - it's louder than my tappets! (admittedly they're fairly quiet)

[Rattlebattle]

Jefrs, earplugs are to stop hearing loss caused by wind noise when riding. Whilst one might not need them with an open face helmet and riding at moderate speed for short distances, one certainly does when riding at speed a modern bike with a fairing unless one can find a windscreen that lets the rider sit in totally still air, something I've never achieved. Hearing loss is cumulative and non-repairable; ignore it at your peril.

[papasmurf]

Rattlebattle, I agree. I always ride with earplugs, because of the risk in the long term of hearing loss if I don't.

http://www.hearingtestlabs.com/motorcycle.htm

[2cvandy]

Oh dear, I have to confess I never wear earplugs, tried em once many moons ago and found them uncomfortable. But then I've been riding Harleys for the past 30 odd years, so maybe I've only been traveling at moderate speeds? Can't say I've noticed any hearing loss though, in fact everywhere I go TVs are too loud, and I can hear restaurant conversations 3 tables away, in fact at times it's bloody annoying having such acute hearing, maybe I should try riding faster? Oh, and I've only owned 1 full face helmet, an AGV "Ago" bought around the early 80s I think, I couldn't get on with that either,,,,,,,

[PeteF]

Noise, of course, depends on speed. I don't notice anything under 60mph and as I very seldom go any faster these days, I don't bother with plugs. Fairings and screens seem to increase wind noise but I don't like them anyway. Full face helmets seem to be very variable in the noise they cause. Has anyone found a particularly quiet one??

[ric]

I've a Shoei GT-Air,
definitely the quietest helmet I've owned BUT only when the attack angle into the wind is correct.
This angle naturally presents itself when riding a sports bike, but on a sit-up-and-beg you need to tilt the helmet down to substantially reduce wind noise which I find limits my distance vision a little and also gets uncomfortable after a while.
Might be fine on the GT, certainly brilliant with my other bike but certainly not one to recommend on any other Enfield model unless you pair it with some earplugs.

[devon john]

the quietest helmet i have owned is the DAVIDA open face

john

[ChrisD]

Hi 2cvandy and others. I have an alloy barrel on my 1996 535cc and it transmitted a lot of noise from…..– well, I don’t actually know where from but I’m told from topend stuff. I’ve tried using a stethoscope to determine exactly what makes the noise of clashing alloys but that doesn’t focus the noise source enough. So I added a set of the outside rubbers from our hosts, which noticeably reduced the noise. Yesterday I was chatting to a rider about his rebuilt R65 and noticed the rubbers they use between every second fin are like thick tap washers. Painted silver you don’t notice them as they look like part of the alloy fins, especially since they're in matching positions. So I’ll try that method next. Cheers, ChrisD

[2cvandy]

Hi Chris, love your description of the noise these engines make as "clashing alloys", that sums it up perfectly! First time I rode mine I thought "surely it isn't supposed to sound like that?", and that's with the rubbers in place. But having trawled youtube to listen to some others (yes, I know, how sad), they all seem to sound the same, rubbers or not. So I've come to the conclusion that "they all do that sir, it's a feature of the model", and I've stopped worrying about it. Like the "tap washer" idea though, I have a couple of mates with air-cooled Be ems so I'll have a closer look.