The variety of engine noises that I've been hearing since day one when I picked my bike up from the dealership have virtually disappeared. Along with a whole host of other noises like wind noise, etc.
I gave the CB a good cleaning on Sunday. Later in the evening I took it out for a spin to get the chain warmed up before my final task of applying chain lube. It just so happens that I got a new helmet this weekend and that warmup ride was my first chance to try it out. Well, the new helmet is so much quieter than my old helmet that from an aural standpoint, about all I noticed from my CB1100 was the subdued note of the Staintune exhaust. The difference between helmets is not subtle.
I know that my engine still makes the same plethora of noises that it always has, but I would be hard pressed to realize this if I had been using the new helmet all along. Sans helmet, with the bike running, I can hear almost every noise the engine is making, but they all sort of blend together like a mechanical symphony so little stands out. It seems that my old helmet filtered some noises but by the same token also tended to emphasize others. The new lid just tends to quiet everything down.
Just another reference point to note and more food for thought in the discussion of noises that our bikes make.
I wear earplugs most of the time. I'm 66, have ridden motorbikes since I was 16 and would like to keep my hearing
I don't let any of my bikes warm up for 4 or 5 minutes, I start out on them as soon as they are able, and for Erics CB, that's almost immediately. I'm not a worrier, I don't overthink things, I enjoy riding.
Machines like motorcycle engines make noise, vibrate, buzz, chug, snatch and so on. Mostly because they follow their riders input. Sounds come from the oddest of places. The subtle ones are the trickiest of all. Pretty near everyone here has very nearly new if not new motorcycles. A few have accumulated a goodly number of miles. There have not, to my knowledge, been any reports of engine failures from this model or any similar ones. I say, ride 'em, enjoy 'em, and unless it's a noise of catastrophic nature, ignore those little sounds in one's head just like psychiatrists advise - but, that's just me
Motogeezer1949 very well said! I agree , I am also 66 but my hearing has started to decline in recent years.
(04-12-2015, 10:07 PM)Motogeezer1949_imp Wrote: [ -> ]I wear earplugs most of the time. I'm 66, have ridden motorbikes since I was 16 and would like to keep my hearing
I don't let any of my bikes warm up for 4 or 5 minutes, I start out on them as soon as they are able, and for Erics CB, that's almost immediately. I'm not a worrier, I don't overthink things, I enjoy riding.
Machines like motorcycle engines make noise, vibrate, buzz, chug, snatch and so on. Mostly because they follow their riders input. Sounds come from the oddest of places. The subtle ones are the trickiest of all. Pretty near everyone here has very nearly new if not new motorcycles. A few have accumulated a goodly number of miles. There have not, to my knowledge, been any reports of engine failures from this model or any similar ones. I say, ride 'em, enjoy 'em, and unless it's a noise of catastrophic nature, ignore those little sounds in one's head just like psychiatrists advise - but, that's just me
I'm with you, Geezer! By their nature, air cooled engines are mechanically noisy. My very first bike was a Kaw KZ400. That engine sounded like someone was rattling pots and pans in there. Several months later one of the exhaust pipes rusted out and I never noticed the engine related noises after that
Speaking of noises in your head, in aviation we have a phenomenon called "automatic rough". When flying a single engine plane over water (beyond gliding distance to land) the pilot will invariably hear odd noises coming from the engine that he's never heard before. Once you're back over land, the noises disappear.
So Guth, what's the new well-insulated helmet?
Is this sort of like turning up the radio in a car when there's a noise?
So. Finally ran out of gas?
(04-13-2015, 09:00 AM)Papa Weeley_imp Wrote: [ -> ]So Guth, what's the new well-insulated helmet?
I ended up the Shoei GT-Air.
(04-13-2015, 10:07 AM)JustJohn_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Is this sort of like turning up the radio in a car when there's a noise?
Not a bad analogy - certainly makes it a lot easier to fall in line with the "don't worry about it" camp. I don't know if ignorance truly is bliss as they say, but a quiet helmet sure doesn't hurt.
The difference it makes is definitely a perspective changer. In general, when someone utters words along the lines of "my CB1100 doesn't make that noise", a better phrasing might be "I can't hear that noise coming from my CB1100". Just because you can't hear it doesn't mean that it isn't there.
But as others have pointed out above, I suppose that unless you are experiencing something that seems extremely wrong, it's probably not worth getting too worked up over.
I put in a new set of foam earplugs everytime I go for a ride. Even though my Shoei RF1100 is a fairly quiet helmet, I don't enjoy the noise fatigue of riding without earplugs.
I was very pleasantly surprised with the significant noise reduction achieved by switching from an old, cheap HJC helmet to a Shoei J-Cruise.