I’ve taken the plung and booked an appointment to get some ear plugs made up. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and have decided to get the monitors so I can get the Autocom speakers out of my helmet. I’ll also be able to use them at work as I listen to music all day. I can’t wait to get the autocom speakers out of my helmet, they are so uncomfortable as my helmet doesn’t have ear cups for them to go in.
Foxy also got some ear-plugs made up whilst at WSB Brands recently, I believe she’s going to do an article on them very soon. She’s raving about how good they are. I need to get some made up myself, as I have a big bucket of the disposable ones, which don’t always seat properly in one ear for me.
I know loads of people that have them and swear by them, if it wasn’t for the fact that I need to go for the monitors I’d have got them a long time ago.
Hi there Midlife… Yes, I was fortunate enough to blag a free set at the WSB… They are pretty damn good mate… Haven’t had the chance to wear them out on track yet… But have given them a go around town and on a couple of rides out… They cut the sound out better that the foam ones and are extremely comfortable…They are also easy to keep clean.
Well, the ear plug arrived on Friday and I’ve spent the weekend wearing them, be it on the bike or using the monitor as headphones. This morning I took the plunge and listened to music on the bike, wow.
I’m still getting used to them but the squidgy ear plugs don’t seem to be as comfortable as the monitors. As one of them feels like it’s a bit deep in my ear, it’s also harder to take my helmet off with the squidgy ones as they are a full shell and bigger than the monitors. I’m going to keep using both pairs and call Ultimate in a week or so if there still uncomfortable.
There not a quiet as I’d expected and they seem to move around as I turn my head.
Andrew, the cleaning tool provided is for cleaning the wax out of the holes in the plugs, where the speakers or filters are. I’ve not had them long enough to need it, but will keep you posted
I’m having some squidgy ear plugs made up now. had the fitting done at the south east show for £40 the ones that let a little bit of noise through hope they fit and work well. oh can someone explane about monitors and the Autocom speakers please?
I’ve been thinking about getting this done for a while but i need to find a decent intercom system first, I’m using the £99 Naddy intercom thingy from Hein Gerike at the moment and the mic, ear peice is quite bulky and doesn’t sit in the helmet right. But I could do with a pair of those monitor ear plugs for long journeys.
The monitors are ear plugs with speakers in them, they have a standard 3.5mm plug on the end of 1.5m wire. They are half shell which I’m finding comfier to wear, easier to get in but hard to get out. There slightly more ridged than the “squidgy” material, which I don’t think make any difference.
To use the monitors with autocom you need the patch cable (£20). This is a cable which has a 3.5mm plug and a volume control on one end and 2 little square connectors on the other. To fit it you need to remove the autocom speakers from your helmet and plug the loose wire into the patch cable. That will leave you with the standard autocom cable and the patch cable hanging out of your helmet. To use them, you stick your monitors in your lugs, put your lid on, plug the monitors into the patch cable and plug the autocom cables in as you would already.
Personally, I don’t think it’s a great solution for autocom. But, I’ve found the speakers unbearable in my X-Spirit as the helmet doesn’t have ear cups. Also, I’ve found that the wires hanging from my helmet cause a lot of wind noise and strangely enough the ultimate patch cable is thicker than the autocom cable.
I’ve had a frustrating relationship with ear-plugs. I have great difficulty in getting them to fit & stay in my ears. Having tried a few pairs, eventually I gave up & looked for a much quieter lid than my old Craft RX7. Several sources pointed to a Roof Diversion R010 … which was duly purchased. Motorways are now a good deal quieter in my head and it’s a seriously nice lid!
I held out on wearing ear plugs for a long time…but the wind noise induced headaches finally became too much. I was concerned about the long term effects to my hearing, as well. I now wear the orange foam disposable types…fairly effective at minimizing the wind noise though it did take a bit to get used to wearing them.
I’ve used cheapo orange or striped yellooow ones for a while now. My hearing is precious to me and I can’t concentrate without them. 60+ is unbearable.
A lot of people say they can’t get them to stay in or find them ineffective - I lick my little finger and stick it in my ear while rolling the earplug between my fingers. Then it pops in the newly lubricated (fnrr) hole like a … you know. Then keep your finger on it as it expands and there you go. Near silence.
I had some custom ones made up two years ago at the MotoGP at Donington. I’ve got funny ears with a big flat berth on the outside and a tiny little entry to the ole hammer and tongs (or are they thongs in my ear?)
Suffice to say that they inject jelly mould into your ear like the dentist that takes an imprint of your teeth, let it stiffen up and then they send you the finished product in some sort of flexible plastic.
Tell you what, I use them on the train and on the airplane as well as on the bike. Arai’s are notoriously noisy and mine just cancel out most of the “buzz” without making me deaf to other traffic. Sleep aplenty on the plane as well.
Only downside is that you hear less of your engine and you actually start riding faster. Or is that an upside ? So I use them for long haul or track only.
The company I got mine from started off with making plugs for clay pigeon shooters and then discovered bikers. They make them with built-in intercoms as well, kinda your basic headphones with a standard plug to go into walkman, mp3 player or intercom system.
Make sure they give you the original mould as well and not only the finished product. You could actually mould a set of spares on your own I’m sure, or just bake your ordinary joggers headset into one…