Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners

You do use hearing protection when you ride, don't you?

Many years ago I didn't. Now I have hearing loss and tinnitus. So I now use hearing protection. Even when I drive my car on trips.

Over the last few years I've tried nearly everything:

- Earmuffs when mowing or in the machine shop
- Foam Earplugs
- Custom molded earplugs
- and more

Generally they all work. I have prolapsed ear canals, so the foam ones are very difficult for me to use. And they get dirty with my heavy ear wax. Earmuffs never work when riding. The custom made earplugs worked well, but after a few years they no longer fit well.

Which brings me to my current solution: Silly Putty
My doctor turned me on to Silly Putty years ago. I take a piece about the size of my thumbnail and seal the ear canal with it. If you have heavy ear wax like I do, then wipe the area clean before putting the SP in place. For me, SP works as well as any of the other solutions I've tried. It's cheap ($1.29 at Office Depot) and lasts a long time. Much easier to install properly than foam rollups, cheaper than custom earplugs and very functional.

Try it, you might like it.

Mike

.....so what do you do if it flows down into your ear canal? I would imagine body temps make it more viscous, sounds kinda crazy to me....

Body temp is enough to gently soften Silly Putty. It does not flow.

The doctor that gave me the idea got it from patients that dive and need to keep water out of the ear canal. Even diving 15-20 feet the water pressure doesn't push the SP in.

Been using SP for some years with no issues. I still use the big earmuffs when mowing the lawn or using machine tools.

Seriously, if you don't like the idea, don't do it.

Mike

Hey Mike, a different way to protect your ears, one I never thought of. My mom was not keen about me sticking silly putty in my ears when I was a kid playing with it. LOL.

A question for you, I would assume you do not wear your hearing aids (if you have them) while riding. Do you leave them home or carry them in a case?

It is hard to tell younger folks about the dangers of loud noise. I wore hearing protection from day one on the bike as well as shooting sports and I am 80% deaf in the right ear and 20% in the left. So, when a younger person asks me what good my hearing protection did, I just tell them "It worked because I am an old man now and when I was your age, I had good hearing. If I hadn't used it, I would be deaf at your age."

I would love to find a hearing aid that would block excessive noise and still work as a hearing aid. St.

I don't use hearing aids. My dad did and I hopeI never get there. The ringing is bad enough.

Mike

Yeah I have the tinnitus as well in one ear the worst. Sucks, deaf in one ear, other than the ringing, partly deaf in the other. Some of it is genetics but how much due to neglect. Had a conversation with a young man regarding the volume of the background music in the gym I go to. I have asked it be turned down. He smiled and that was that. I pray he doesn't have the problems I do now when he gets to be my age. St.

A number of years ago I got a custom molded set made at a MotoGP event, but after almost a decade they're tired. I hope to get a new set made at an audiologist.

Not cheap but they pop in easily, fit comfortably and work really well. I've tried a DIY kit as well but sadly didn't work nearly as well, as it can't be safely pushed down the ear canal.

I'm on my second set of Big Ear custom molded ear plugs. I was told when getting the second set that the ear canal changes shape over time, so custom ear plugs won't fit after a while. Maybe he was just selling me on the need for a new one. But the new one really sealed well!

I also asked my audiologist which would be better - molded or foam type. He said they probably weren't that much difference.

I may just go to foam ear plugs in the future. I've had these Big Ear plugs for over 6 years now.

I had a supply of foam ear plugs from my employer for a long time. When I retired I started buying the big bulk box of them.

while they may not be perfect, they are better than nothing. Funny now if I try to ride without plugs in, I get annoyed by the noise. LOL. St.

I've got a big box of the foam earplugs. Anybody can have two pair for the price of the stamp.

Mike