There’s nothing like being on the open road with the sound of the wind rushing past your ears and the hum of your motor beneath you. However, sometimes the excess noise from riding can be painful and even damaging. Many riders choose to deal with this problem by wearing in-ear headphones such as airpods. How well does this work and is it safe?
You can comfortably wear airpods under some motorcycle helmets while riding. However, first make sure that it is legal in your area to ride with earphones. If it isn’t, there are plenty of other options for blocking road noise or communicating with fellow riders.
The success of riding with airpods under your helmet will depend, of course, on the tightness and fit of your helmet and on your own personal comfort. I’ll break down some of the details to help you make your decision before you purchase an expensive set of earphones.
Do airpods work under a motorcycle helmet?
Let’s start with the big question. Do airpods work under a motorcycle helmet? In order to answer this, you need to put on your helmet and really pay attention to how tight it is around the ears. Though airpods are quite small and comfortable when worn on their own, they can be painful if pressed by the helmet.
Not all helmets provide enough room for you to comfortably wear airpods. This is especially true if you wear a full helmet.
In addition to presenting comfort problems, a tight helmet may also impact the sound of your airpods. If your helmet is pressing on the airpods in your ears, the sound will be muted, or may even stop.
If you do manage to comfortably pair airpods with your helmet, there are still some factors to consider. For one, how do you get your helmet on and off with the wireless buds? You’ll need to find a system that works, such as holding the earphone in place while you lower the helmet on, or taking it off very slowly and carefully to avoid losing the earphones.
The good news is, most riders who choose to use airpods say that once you securely get the helmet on over the earphones, they will be stuck in place and you shouldn’t need to worry about them falling off while you ride.
One other major consideration before you make the choice to wear airpods is: are they legal? In many places, it is illegal to ride or drive while wearing earbuds.
This is a safety decision, since earbuds reduce noise around you and may lead to accidents if you don’t hear honking, sirens, or the vehicles around you. Before you try riding with earphones, take a look into your local regulations and find out what the rules are.
What are some benefits of riding with airpods? For one, they can block out noise from the road, wind, and engine. All of these loud, repetitive noises can lead to headaches and eventual ear damage.
Using noise-cancelling earbuds, like airpods, can reduce this background noise and protect your ears.
However, this is a bit of a double-edged sword. If you are listening to music while you ride, you’ll likely have to turn the volume all the way up in order to be able to hear your music or gps directions.
This can cause its own set of hearing problems, as the loud music will also be damaging your ears in the long run. Of course, this can also happen with speakers that are built into the helmet or even speakers on the bike.
How do you comfortably wear earphones with a motorcycle helmet?
If you decide to wear earphones under your helmet, you may be wondering whether there are ways to ensure a more comfortable fit. What can you do to make the process a little smoother?
The first thing is to find the smallest earbuds you can. Look for earbuds with a thinner design that don’t stick out away from your head. You also want ones with replaceable buds so you can find the proper fit.
You want your earphones to fit in such a way that before putting on your helmet you can walk around and shake your head without them falling off. You should also keep your earphones in for a couple hours comfortably. If they’re too tight, they’ll start to hurt after a few minutes.
You also want to make sure that your helmet fits well. Of course, this is common knowledge in general. No matter what speaker system you use, if any, your helmet should be a perfect fit. After all, the helmet is what protects you the most in the event of a crash.
A good helmet fit is one that fits snugly, doesn’t wiggle or jostle if you shake your hair, doesn’t impair visibility, and is comfortable to wear.
Now that you’ve got the perfect headphones and the perfect helmet, how can you make sure they work together? Start by learning to put the helmet on over the earphones.
You can try placing your index fingers over the earphones to hold them in place while you use your other fingers to lower the helmet as far as you can. Once you get the helmet over your ears you should be able to let go and finish putting the helmet on all the way.
If the earphones aren’t in place, you can try lifting just one side at a time and reaching under the helmet to adjust them until they are sitting comfortably.
The next step will be to adjust the volume. If you’re listening to music instead of just using the earphones for comms or directions, you’ll need to adjust the volume until it’s loud enough to hear over road noise but not so loud that it damages your ears.
This will just take trial and error over a couple of rides. You don’t want to be messing with the volume while you’re riding, so you need a volume that is loud enough when you’re moving but not too loud when you come to a stop or ride at low speeds.
Is it safe to listen to music while riding a motorcycle?
As we talk about the logistics of wearing airpods to ride, I can’t ignore this question. You can wear earphones comfortably with the right pair and the right helmet. But should you? Is it actually a good idea to ride with airpods or is the safety risk too high?
Blocks Noise from Other Vehicles
Using in-ear headphones to ride will block the road noise, which can be a good noise but can also mean that your driving is impaired. They will hinder your ability to listen to other vehicles around you.
In worst case scenarios, earphones might block out the sounds of honking or sirens and could lead to a life threatening situation.
While not being able to hear what’s happening around you while on the road is a huge safety risk, it can also be avoided. You can lower the volume of your music to make sure you can hear these noises. You can purchase high quality noise-canceling earphones that block out noises such as wind and motor without blocking important sounds like sirens and horns.
Even if you take this into account and lower the volume, you should always be aware of other vehicles around you. If you are in a situation where you need to hear well, turn the music off!
Damages Hearing in the Long-Run
Another safety risk that comes along with riding with earphones is the damage to your ears. This problem isn’t exclusive to earphones, but is also worth noting if you ride with an in-helmet sound system or speakers on the bike.
The fact of the matter is you’ll need to turn the volume up fairly high to hear over the road noise. However, listening at those high volumes can lead to hearing damage.
Some bikes have speed sensitive volume control. This is an excellent feature, since it means the volume will adjust automatically as you speed up and slow down. This means you won’t be blaring your tunes when you stop at a light, but you will be able to hear your music when you’re cruising.
Another way to mitigate this risk is just to limit the amount of time spent listening to music at loud volumes. Maybe you don’t need to jam out to music every time you ride, or maybe you can occasionally listen to the music at a quiet volume.
By being aware of the possibility of hearing damage, you can shorten the amount of time you spend listening to loud music and prioritize when and where you want to use earphones and when you should take a break.
Can be Distracting
The final safety risk of riding with earphones is the distraction. If you are listening to music while you ride, no matter how you listen, you are less focused on the road. This is true even in cars. When I was learning to drive, my mom had a “no music” rule for the first several months of driving.
While you should be able to multitask well enough to ride and listen, you do need to acknowledge that your attention is divided.
I once drove past a motorcycle rider who was jamming out to his music, dancing as he rode. The result was that his bike was swerving all over the lane as his body bobbed to whatever music he was playing.
If you’re going to listen to your favorite music while you ride, just remember that you are on a motorcycle and you need to be paying attention to your surroundings. And please, please don’t try to dance!
What is the best way to listen to music on a motorcycle?
So you really want to listen to music, even after reading through the safety risks above. What’s the best way to do that? Is it worth investing in some airpods? Is there a cheaper alternative? Are there safer ways to listen to music while you ride?
Beyond airpods, there are actually quite a few ways to listen to music on a motorcycle.
Some motorcycles come with speakers or can be easily modified to include a speaker. This doesn’t result in the best sound quality, but they are safer than earphones since they don’t limit your hearing as much.
Speakers are also nice because you can change the volume more easily. Plus, some built-in speakers have an automatic volume control setting that matches your speed, so you don’t have to constantly change the volume depending on how fast you’re going.
Another option is to use a bluetooth helmet. Today there are tons of options of helmets with built-in sound systems. Most of these rely on bluetooth to allow you to connect to your phone so you can play your favorite tunes, listen to gps directions, or even talk on the phone to a fellow rider, passenger, or someone else.
One of the most popular bluetooth helmets is the Sena Smart Helmet. Sena helmets come in several designs and styles, from full face to half helmets in sleek styles.
Smart helmets allow you to communicate with other riders effectively and clearly. If you’ve ever ridden in a group you know how important this can be!
A smart helmet also allows you to listen to music. With no earphone directly inside your ear, you’ll have less damage to worry about. Plus, they won’t block out the noise of other vehicles around you.
If you do choose to wear earphones, there are several options besides airpods. I would recommend starting with a cheaper pair of wireless earphones with a similar design to airpods. Earphones don’t work for everyone, so you should test out whether you find them comfortable before spending the money on a pair of airbuds.
In short, smart helmets are probably your safest options, but earbuds can work as long as your local laws allow their use.
Do you need to wear a helmet to ride a motorcycle?
I’m sure there are a few “dare dog” motorcycle riders out there who see the comfort issue of earphones and wonder if the solution is to ditch the helmet altogether. Then you only need to make sure the earphones fit well and won’t fall out.
Wearing a helmet to ride a motorcycle is absolutely essential. It has been proven time and time again that a motorcycle can save your life if your bike goes down. Many riders don’t like the idea of living in fear. However, wearing the proper gear isn’t a matter of fear but of intelligence.
Most riders will tell you that they’ve gone down a time or two. It’s almost an inevitable part of the motorcycle world. However, the severity of a crash varies wildly.
In order to make sure that your dips into the gravel are on the less-severe side, you need to be wearing proper gear when you go down. This starts with a helmet.
Invest in a good helmet that fits well and can withstand the test of time. I can assure you that saving your life is more important than listening to music, talking on the phone, or blocking out road noise.
As I wrap up this article, know that no matter what you decide in terms of airpods, the sound system you choose to use will have to first and foremost work with your helmet.