I'm posting this in the New Riders forum because I wish I'd seen it last year. I'm 55 and I had mild tinnitus (ringing in the ears) before I got back into riding last year after a 30+ year hiatus. I bought a VN900, found this forum, and began learning a lot about motorcycling. I'm sure I came across ear protection topics but did not give it much thought. Well, about early Fall I realized my ear were ringing a lot more. It kind of snuck up on me because sometimes my ears would ring more than other times... I was use to that. But, they were ringing more and louder. Over the Winter I fully realized what had happened. Wind noise. It can damage your hearing and once the damage is done there's no cure, no going back. You're going to hear that ringing forever. I've made my peace with it but I'd pay about anything to fix it.
So, this year I started wearing ear plugs, the little cheap foam ones. I tried a few other styles but these work best. At first I thought I might not be able to do it and may have to give up the bike. But, after the third time I rode with them, I realized 20 minutes in that I hadn't even thought about them. Then I realized how much more relaxed I was. So, now I'm hooked. I went for a quick ride tonight so thought I'd skip them, wasn't going to go too fast. Wow... now I miss them when not there.
Anyway, New Riders looking at the New Rider forum, if you don't know about this or think it's not an issue, I encourage you to think again. Learn about it. Forever's a long time.
So, this year I started wearing ear plugs, the little cheap foam ones. I tried a few other styles but these work best. At first I thought I might not be able to do it and may have to give up the bike. But, after the third time I rode with them, I realized 20 minutes in that I hadn't even thought about them. Then I realized how much more relaxed I was. So, now I'm hooked. I went for a quick ride tonight so thought I'd skip them, wasn't going to go too fast. Wow... now I miss them when not there.
Anyway, New Riders looking at the New Rider forum, if you don't know about this or think it's not an issue, I encourage you to think again. Learn about it. Forever's a long time.