Helmets What is the quietest helmet you've ever had?

OP
OP
mnxs54
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
107
Location
Bloomington, MN
Bike
2006 ST1300
John [ear plugs 100% of time]
Yeah, John, I do too. The thing is sometimes I wear ear buds for satellite radio and that's when the noise bothers me. When the shield is fully up it's as quiet as a library but I just don't like looking through it. I know I have more of a turbulence/buffeting problem which I'm currently trying to make better. I guess I was hoping for some "magic bullet" helmet that everyone would rave about. There's just so many variables it's hard to know where to start.

I do appreciate everyone that took the time to respond. I'll report back on my ongoing efforts to make a truly great bike even better!
 

Bigmak96

R.I.P. - 2021/08/07
Rest In Peace
Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
3,868
Location
Rural Mn
Bike
04 GL1800 Past tense
STOC #
7910
:popcorn now to find the best speakers W/O breaking the bank.
 

John OoSTerhuis

Life Is Good!
Joined
May 10, 2005
Messages
5,218
Location
Bettendorf, Iowa
Bike
1991 SSMST1100
STOC #
1058
Huh. I'll admit that has never occurred to me. What are quality helmet speakers? This site never ceases to amaze me with its collective wisdom!
Well Mark, the audiophiles can chime in here with their favorites, I'm sure, but as I'm most interested in spoken-word/speech clarity (CB, GPS, XM news channels) I'll mention motorcycle specific units from J&M and EdSets.
 

John OoSTerhuis

Life Is Good!
Joined
May 10, 2005
Messages
5,218
Location
Bettendorf, Iowa
Bike
1991 SSMST1100
STOC #
1058
do all helmets get quieter as you get older.....:old1:
Heh, heh... Hi Terry. Lotta truth to that; however, I do like a bit of road/wind noise to mask the damn crickets-under-a-powerline cacophony... :)

John [tinnitus rider, not to mention the significant hearing loss from 20 years in the Army groundpounding and piloting]
 

ChucksKLRST

Team Colorado
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
2,659
Age
74
Location
Aurora, Colorado
Bike
2019 Versys 1K SE LT
STOC #
086
BTDT, Mark. The solution is quality helmet speakers AND earplugs. Really.

John
#1 on that. Ear plugs, My J&M CB power amp (model 2003) and a good J&M headset, along with my Zumo 550 with SD card full of my favorite music, and I am good to go for the duration. My bikes do not know how to go with out the music. A lot of money? Yes, but in the long run, well worth the cost.

Thanks John O for enlightening me many years ago on the virtues of ear plugs.
 
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
4,954
Age
62
Location
New Jersey
Bike
st1300 '04
STOC #
7163
The deeper the ear plugs get pushed in the quieter the helmet. Just be sure to keep the tweezers handy.
Hah I did that with the ink'd ear buds. The silicone pc was in their pretty good. LOL.
Quietest hmm prolly the 3/4 back in the day. I will say the symax is one noisey helmet.
ear bud or plugs here.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
901
Location
Huntington Beach, Calif
Bike
2004 st1300
STOC #
7468
The most quiet and comfortable helmet I have is the Arai Profile. This is over the nolan, hjc,bell. I would love a flip helmet if I could find one to fit my noggin.
 
Joined
Jul 14, 2006
Messages
11
Location
Temecula, California,USA
Bike
03 ST1300
I have always worn either ICON or SHOEI and had no idea why guys bothered with ear plugs, that is until I bought a helmet different brand "ON SALE". You do get what you pay for. A quality helmet feels great, looks great, will save your life, and is usually the
quietest. The ICON offers nice washable and breathable interiors which are well made and last years, I have the ICON Alliance and the SHOEI Quest. I am holding out for the new SHOEI with the drop down visor I think its called a GT...somthing or other. It is a high priced item at over $500 bucks where the ICON can be had for around $200
"}
"
 

ST Gui

240Robert
Site Supporter
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
9,262
Location
SF-Oakland CA
Bike
ST1300, 2010
My Neotec. Noisy with either the vents or the face shield open. Close them up and its quite quiet.

I've been looking for reusable earplugs that are comfy and come in a size larger than the average Large.

No luck so far. I have some high end in-ear earphones that are much too pricey to use on the road, but the memory foam works very well to block ambient noise. Too well for my taste, for operating a motorcycle.

My favorite pair came from a company called Sound-Off. These were soft, white plastic that installed with a half twist and were right and left dedicated. They sealed the ears well but weren't thick enough to really block out almost all sound as did my memory-foam buds. Very comfy, and I could carry on a conversation with my helmet on. Very important should I get stopped by The Man, since earplugs are illegal around here.
 

MajorTom

QuickBlue
Joined
Apr 1, 2010
Messages
646
Location
Devon, Alberta
STOC #
8781
I've used open-face, Bell full-face, HJC full-face and now Shoei Qwest helmets. The Shoei is the quietest by far (as well as being the most expensive). Having said that, I still wear ear plugs 100% of the time.

I didn't wear ear plugs when I was younger until one day back in the early 90's after I had my mandatory annual hearing test at the job I had then. I was asked by the nurse if I'd ever worked on heavy equipment. I replied, "No, but I ride a motorcycle." "Ah", she said, "that would explain your hearing loss." Unfortunately, the drop off is right in the frequency range where peoples' voices are, so it's very difficult to follow conversations in a noisy room, like a restaurant or bar. I really should have realized there was a problem when I had to turn the Walkman up to 10 to hear the tunes through the earbuds. :)
 
Top Bottom