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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!tekcrl!teklabs!donch
From: donch@teklabs.UUCP (Don Chitwood)
Newsgroups: net.cycle
Subject: Re: bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz  (noise)
Message-ID: <3206@teklabs.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 24-Sep-85 13:08:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: teklabs.3206
Posted: Tue Sep 24 13:08:11 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 27-Sep-85 03:01:19 EDT
References: <526@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 27

Several years ago I ran into a person at Portland State University
who was writing his masters thesis on audiology.  When he found out
I was a motorcyclist, he began raving about permanent ear damage
from "those loud things."  He claimed that he could take a random
sample of people and tell who was a motorcycle rider by the 
PERMANENT hearing suppression frequency signature. In other words
he would check hearing sensitivity throughout the audible spectrum
and had noted a characteristic range of frequencies that were suppressed
in bikers.

The point he missed, to my thinking, is that the noise is from the wind,
not at all from the machine.  The engine/exhaust noise on a bike
becomes completely dominated by wind noise as speed increases.

For years I've used the cylindrical foam ear plugs available at any
drug store or safety equipment shop.  To use them, you first roll
them into a compressed cylinder, then insert this small cylinder into
your ear canal.  In a few minutes, the foam has tried to expand to its
full size and in the process drops the noise level considerably.
On my bike, this technique helps spare me from the buzzy ear syndrome
and almost certainly from permanent hearing damage.  I can still hear
cars, people talking, valve clatter, etc.  They are also very benign
and are highly recommended by safety people and doctors.  The box I
bought this weekend said it was good for a 29dB noise reduction (there
was more qualifying information but I don't recall it.)  They are also
washable and cheap, so keeping them clean for throwing them away to
avoid ear infections is no problem.


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