If music be the food of love…. play on thanks to custom-made ear plugs with speaker system!

OK I admit it – there is at least one thing I am not that great at! Yes I know, it’s a real shock, but the truth is that I just cannot sing! – “What the hell has that to do with two wheels?” I hear you ask. Well anyone who’s been on the back of a bike for more than an hour will probably agree that at some point you get a bit bored… the mind wanders…. you begin to talk to yourself – and if the journey’s really boring or you’re cold and miserable, you may even start to sing to cheer yourself up.

Hmm does any of that sound familiar lol? Well I can only take so much of my own high pitched warblings and for my sanity use my Ipod on my bike. I’ve always used ear plugs since hearing on CBT all those years ago about the dangers of going deaf or worse still tinnitus developing in my old age!

At first I had those soft squidgy plug things that always seemed to pop out of place if I even yawned and definitely came out when I pulled my helmet off. Then I moved onto in-the-ear head phones from various websites including ones you cut down to fit your own ears. These were a disaster as I have never felt anything so painful – if  I ever get round to remembering where they were from I will be sure to let you know.

Fortunately I was introduced to the wonders of custom made ear plugs from Ultimate Ear by someone who had bought them to sleep at night as her son snored the house down! On researching their product they also did various products for bikers including my beloved ones for using mp3 players.

Ok they are not cheap – the bikers squidgy starts at £59 and a whopping £170 for those who want audio on the go. But the amount of miles I do on my bike, coupled with the cost of constantly trying to find a good alternative made these bad boys a no brainer! And let’s face it – if you enjoy biking that much, and believe in good quality kit for your body and your head, then surely it makes just as much sense to take care of your ears 🙂 There’s lots of science stuff on their web page to explain sound ratings!

I am on my second set of them since I managed to stand on one in my heavy motorcycle boots and this was shortly after zipping the cord up into my jacket and shredding it. AND I had also noticed that one wasn’t fitting quite right after I had a whopper of an ear infection about four years after they were made that seemed to change the way my ear was shaped. Fortunately Ultimate Ear continually evolves their product and has introduced kevlar into their cords so that it has a lot more protection. They also recommend that you get new ear plug moulds made if it’s more than three years I think. Anyone who knows me has probably heard me rave on about how good this product is and, in my opinion, definitely money well spent 🙂

Now there are two schools of thought regarding ear plugs with access to music. One is that shock horror – they are a distraction and you can’t possibly be concentrating on the road. The other is that they are an excellent asset adding to your relaxation, help to pass the journey – oh and those of us who use them don’t tend to be stupid enough to have them up so loud they can’t hear the traffic, sirens or even the engine going tits up!

I’m amazed at the people who have seen fit to lecture me about using ear plugs, let alone ones with music – da da dah😨!! Get with the times people is my response. After all what the hell are gadgets like Autocom, StarCom, or even blue tooth systems for? Hmm let’s think about that one – rider to rider or rider to pillion conversations, listening to directions from the satnav, music from the radio or an mp3 player and even responding to a phonecall! (Personally I don’t answer my phone on the bike, but that’s more to do with the fact that I just don’t like using phones in or on moving vehicles.)

Of course it behoves one to ensure that one’s choice of listening material is appropriate to one’s style of riding 🙂 I do find  a little rock and roll can have an effect on the throttle lol! Just as well I tend to go for ballads and easy listening ;-). I do recall being stopped by an officer of the law when filtering past a line of solid traffic – and a solid white line!😱 He did point out that I wasn’t going to get in trouble because I was doing it very smoothly, very slowly and in control of my bike. The kind man then asked me what I was listening to … and with complete honesty I replied “A bit like my riding Officer. It’s Whitney Houston with ‘It’s not right but it’s ok’ !” I do recall he was chuckling as he sent me on my way 😂

Ride safe

(September 2023 – the above post was written many moons ago and I’m still a fan of Ultimate Ear. I’m just about to get my fourth pair so I’ll update on them when I get them sorted. – Prendy.)