Engine noises gone

[Guth_imp]

Most of my riding these days is commuting in the city where I do not wear earplugs. I do carry earplugs with me for use out on the highway.

[cbdtran_imp]

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.

your brain blocks out noises that is no longer stranger. You live next to a mountain for yrs and you don't perceive it no more but new cows appear next to it

[Wisedrum]

Most of my riding these days is commuting in the city where I do not wear earplugs. I do carry earplugs with me for use out on the highway.

Same with me.
When riding for short time, not going fast, whatever this means, I want to hear
the surrounding, where I'm driving in, especially the CB noises, which aren't so many.

Taking longer trips with mostly higher speeds involved, I don't always
like to listen to the symphony, the wind creates. There is much more satisfying and calmer music than this.
So, I put in some earplugs an leave the "Shhhh" outside,
as good as the plugs can handle the job in combination with a jet helm and listen to the soundtrack, which also can be silence, in my head.
As a musician, you have always some music in your head. Surprisingly enough, it's often the same melody, that catches you in a loop
like a mantra. Maybe motorcycle riding animates this phenomenon on longer trips.

Wisedrum

[ClassicVW_imp]

All my bikes get a little quieter each year ....

[the Ferret]

I hear ya (just not so well anymore)

[Flyin Frankie_imp]

Motogeezer1949 very well said! I agree , I am also 66 but my hearing has started to decline in recent years.

Mister Geezer and others,

Do it while you're healthy. I'm 77, and the reason I got off the Dyna was weight. the Harley, not mine. I'm sure enjoying the CB. 2000 miles in 2 months. More than I rode the Dyna AND the N/H in last four years.



black standard, 2014. just starting, crash bars, fork brace, Parabellum fairing/shield.

I hear ya (just not so well anymore)

Hello Ferret. Thanks for your reply. I'm enjoying the forum, too. Interesting to see what other folks are doing to their CBs. And I thought Harley was the only "kit " bike. By that I've said for years that when you buy a Harley, you get the base bike. Then you buy all that chrome, etc. I'm not a chrome fan, but I do like paint.

frankie

I hear ya (just not so well anymore)

Hello Ferret. Thanks for your reply. I'm enjoying the forum, too. Interesting to see what other folks are doing to their CBs. And I thought Harley was the only "kit " bike. By that I've said for years that when you buy a Harley, you get the base bike. Then you buy all that chrome, etc. I'm not a chrome fan, but I do like paint.

frankie

[quietguy_imp]

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