Riding with music

My Senna got busted, helmet abuse. Went without music for a week and did not like it.
Now using wired Iphone earbuds with phone inside jacket. Gorilla tape over the ear to hold them in and block wind/noise.
Works pretty well for now.

Interesting different takes on riding and music. Plus some mention they like to be able to take/make cell calls while riding. That is something I will never do. To me, my riding time is solely mine alone and I will NOT submit to a cell phone while riding. I usually carry my cell phone in my inner jacket pocket so I can feel it ringing when a call comes in. So I wait until I have stopped somewhere to check if i need to respond. Cell phones are far too intrusive to me to have it interfere with my riding. That, and since these days nearly half the calls on my cell phone are crap/robo/BS calls I rarely answer my cell phone at any time and let it go to voicemail anytime I don't recognize the number.

I kinda enjoy being a cell phone curmudgeon.

As to carrying a cell phone in my jacket breast pocket, a fellow riding instructor once told me "never carry anything in your riding gear you don't want forced into your body" as in the result of a crash. Something to think about.

I used to say the same thing until i witnessed a hit and run and after checking there were no serious injuries, followed the car that caused it from a great distance. I didn't want to get close, so I didn't have the license number. But I also couldn't call the police to let them know where he was going. So I pulled over to call them and let them have a description and where he was last seen and direction. They never found him. If I had a hands free phone, I could have been a lot more help. Since then, I've thought of several other scenarios that having a phone in an emergency might be a good idea.

But here's the thing. I still don't take calls unless it's my wife. She knows only to call with something important. I can answer or call with the touch of a button on my bars. Or ignore it. Or even turn it completely off.

Choices are a good thing.

And it goes back to the music. Some like it, some don't. Hell, I've been known listen for a while and turn it off for a while. Nothing wrong with options.

Been listening to music while I ride since I started back in '08 when I was 17 on my first bike. Graduated from noise cancelling ear buds to a Sena headset, much better in my eyes. Can still hear traffic and other things around but have music at all times. I find when I ride without music my mind wanders a bit too much and I can get distracted.

I hate telephones and being on the bike is one of the few ways I can avoid them. I remember when I got my first bluetooth headset and synced my phone to it to listen to itunes, I was riding in the mountains and all of a sudden I hear someone saying hello, hello, I didn't know the phone was also synced and it scared the crap out of me.

I don't care for it through earplugs, as I don't like losing the ambient noice completely, but since I got my '18 GSA with the TFT instruments and media player interface I pretty much always listen through my Sena's helmet speakers. Most of my music listening is done on my Sunday morning rides, and it's one of my favorite parts of being on the bike. It's great to download a couple of new albums and hear them in their entirety, as it's about the only time I can get a few hours to myself to do that.

in the early years (new '73 CB750) no music. I was never a fan of "Sharing" my music with others by using speakers. In the early '00s I started using gps on the bars. I found looking at the device distracting. Never a great thing on a bike. Eventually sprang for a comm set for my helmet . I always associated them with 'wing riders who took thier significant others. I found I actually preferred having the audio directions verses the visual. Once I switched to Bluetooth a few years ago never looked back now I put together a play list for riding. I find I like the tunes in the background while riding. I personally find it very relaxing. Although I understand the "only the sound of the wind crowd" also. There are times when I just want that zen moments and I turn off the music. Mostly when I really need to consintrate on the road, like on a very twisty road.

Re: Cellphone use on a bike. We complain endlessly about cagers being distracted with cell phone use, etc., and now suddenly it's ok for use while riding, and if you don't agree you're not a good enough rider?

That's funny!

Somewhat similar experience...... Thought the Walkman was a good idea when it first came out, so bought one in Singapore before an overnight flight.. Within a few minutes I realised ambient sounds were more important to me than creating my own zone. I sold the Walkman within hours of landing in New Zealand, to the first person that wanted to buy it. Now I listen to music in the background around home a bit, but enjoy it most live at a concert , a pub or whatever.

Now into my 6th decade, I've been riding bicycles on the road since I was seven, motorcycles off road since I was eleven, and on the road since I got my licence a couple of weeks after my 15th birthday........ Have come to realise how important hearing is to ones general awareness of what is going on around me on the road...... And have learned to be wary of folks who are wired for sound. They often seem somewhat distracted, and unaware. Yeah, it may feel relaxed, but on the road we have an important job to do, to concentrate on. The safety of ourselves and others is at stake. It is not a time to chill and zone out.

Around town, in heavy traffic, on my motorcycle I usually wear a shortie helmet because it doesn't impede my hearing or peripheral vision. The odd time I drive a car, around town it is with windows down, and radio off.

For longer trips on the open road (more byways than highways) I have a 3/4 helmet, which attenuates wind and motorcycle noise to some extent, but still allows some awareness of surrounding sounds....... It is a long time since I did a long car journey, but that was in a 1991 Honda Civic, which did not have air-con, so mostly windows down in then too. I did have the radio on for the open road legs, but off when going through towns.

I don't do high speed (over 55 mph) highways and motorways, but if I did I would learn to like wearing a full face helmet, and use earplugs....... but still no sounds other than those of the road.

Been more than 40 years since I was involved in an accident on the road. A SMIDSY, not my fault, but I realised I could have avoided it had I been more aware, and heard what was coming from behind at high speed. Lesson learned.

Is there a decent set of helmet speakers or ear thingys that work? Mine are poor enough that the volume is high enough to blot out everything. Suggestions or experiences? My Aria XD3 sucks for noise so that doesn’t help.

I listen most of the time but I have found that if the weather is coming on and I want to hear it but somebody does something stupid around me there is a space of time when I don't hear anything.

I bought these, and they work great. They do make putting the helmet on a little tricky until you get the hang of it though.

Sena 20s bluetooth in my helmet and about 600 songs on a SD card in my Garmin Zumo, media player in "shuffle/random" mode.... I'm sure there's a few people who think I'm a nut tapping my hands on the bars or feet on the pegs sometimes...but I'm in it for me and love riding to music I enjoy.

No crazier than me singing CCR at a light with my C4 on and the chin bar up! Since I can't carry a tune in a bucket, it must be a real pleasure.

I do not ride listening to music but I do hear this song in my head every time I mount up for a day on the road.

From the year I got my first road bike.

https://www.plugfones.com/product/guardian/
with
https://www.amazon.com/Jumbl-Bluetooth-Hands-Free-Streaming-Receiver/dp/B00UUDZLB0

Worked well to block out noise and hear tunes and GPS.

I’m exactly the same... tried it twice for like 20min... can’t do it... find it utterly distracting

First off, we're talking hands free. I use voice dial, never take my hands off the bars. Also, I only make phone calls very rarely, mainly emergencies. I don't even like talking on the phone much even off the bike.

What the idiot in the picture is doing is beyond stupid. But you know, common sense ain't that common these days.

Not for me. Tunes or an audiobook in the cage on a long commute or road trip, is nice. On a bike I find it way too distracting. If I’m in a hurry to get somewhere 3 states away I’d probably take the cage anyway.

I enjoy riding with music sometimes, makes freeway droning tolerable. But I play stuff I already know, and at a pretty low volume level. I think since I'm already familiar with the music, my brain kinda "makes it louder" so I can enjoy the music while still being aware of ambient noise. I've tried podcasts and talk radio once or twice, but find it too distracting.