Study shows helmets can damage hearing
University researchers have proved that motorcyclists are constantly bombarded with damaging acoustics when they rideWhen you go riding with your mates, how many of you wear ear plugs? "I have a standard exhaust, it's not that loud so I don't wear ear plugs," a friend of mine said when I posed the question to him a couple of weeks ago.
However new evidence suggests that earplugs are can be very beneficial for all types of riders, whether they ride a motorcycle with a loud Yoshimura, Vance & Hines or Akrapovic exhaust pipe or not.
The University of Bath and Bath Spa University in the UK have released research that suggests the noise of the wind hitting and subsequently flowing around a motorcycle helmet is loud and consistent enough to cause damage to the inner ear.
Researchers at the UK university have been testing their theories with dummies, attaching microphones at different locations inside the helmets, which prove that the sound "generated by air whooshing over the riders' helmets" regularly exceeds safe levels - and even at legal road speeds.
The motorcycles helmets were placed on top of mannequin heads inside a wind tunnel to recreate highway cruising speeds and the results have raised a lot of eyebrows.
Simply put, the new evidence suggests that it can be dangerous to one's hearing to ride without earplugs, and the news is sure to spark debate among motorcyclists as to the pros and cons of wearing earplugs when riding.
For the record, the majority of staff at the Bikesales Network regularly wear ear plugs when riding both test bikes and their personal bikes.
The study into have been given credence after being reproduced in the "Journal of the Acoustical Society of America" and the scientists from the University of Bath and Bath Spa University are planning to conduct more research into the phenomenon, using riders in the real world to record noise intensity levels.
One of the interesting findings by the study are the areas of motorcycle helmets that cause the most damaging frequencies, which occur near the chin strap and underneath the helmet. Tests were also conducted to see if the helmet angle affected noise levels.
The research team at the University of Bath and Bath Spa University are hopeful that its ongoing studies will influence the way helmets are designed, to ensure the ear of all motorcyclists and scooterists are better protected from damaging noise.
What are your thoughts on the issue, do you wear earplugs when you ride? Leave a comment below.
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