I wear them on trips over 30 miles, sometimes on shorter trips. I have never had problems hearing, especially after the ride The benefits are lower fatigue levels, saving your hearing, and additional safety due to not being drained or fatigued.

 

almost always use ear plugs. big benefit in terms of less fatigue and no ringing after the ride which leads to hearing loss over time. No problem hearing horns, sirens etc.
I have tried some ear bud options but can't ignore that its a distraction - just something else going on, or changing songs, volume, or one bud shifts and you get more wind noise and then have to adjust volume etc etc - but on a long boring ride I have used them.

 

I use earbuds on my infrequent longer trips and enjoy them very much. I am VERY attentive to what's going on, so I haven't found that I lose awareness.
When I'm doing serious curvy road scratching I ditch the earbuds for earplugs.

 

I use a chatterbox, i know here in washington as strange as it sounds but ear bud headphones are illegal but it is ok to wear earbud or ear plugs as long as no music is being played. Here the white cord hanging out of your helmet gets you pulled over, check your state laws first. It is legal to wire your HELMET for sound , as long as it is attached to the helmet.

 

i began wearing earplugs while driving my semi years ago. Once you become acclimated to the noise reduction, there's no going back. You simply know it's a marked improvement.

You can concentrate better and longer, your focus is sharper, your bike even sounds better, and it basically enhances the whole riding experience. You can buy a whole container of them at walmart for about 10.00 and they work well. you can dispose of them or wash them, but it is impotant to take the time to learn to install them correctly or the sound of a leaking earplug is annoying enough to make you stop and reinsert it. For example, to get mine in, I need to pull my earlobe down and back to get the one in. Sometimes I need to wet it slightly with saliva to get it to go in the whole way. Wear them correctly for a week and you'll be a convert.

 

I used to wear ear buds,,,, but switched to speakers. much more comfy.

And no I have no trouble hearing outside noises. I mostly only turn the music on for longer trips down the slab. Listening to the motor on spirited rides, and listening for cars in town.

 

As a note, I run earplugs with my comm speakers in my helmet. The noises that plugs are eliminating are not the ones you want to listen to. Mainly the wind buffeting, which is the main cause of helmet noise.

 

I allways wear ear plugs when I ride. It helps to minimize the wind noise. As previously said it will help you concentrate more, with less distractions. I enjoy the sound of the engine, so thats all that I need. I have not had any problems hearing any emergency vehicles.