Earplugs for motorcyclists

A full-face helmet covers your ears, but barely reduces wind noise. In 2011, researchers from the University of Bath and Bath Spa University showed that much of the noise under the helmet is created at the chin bar and the bottom of the helmet, where the air flows past your neck. The sound of the motorcycle itself plays a smaller part.

On the motorway you are therefore quickly above 90 dB. If you hear a ringing after a long ride, or everything sounds muffled for a while, your ears have had too much noise. If the ringing in your ears does not go away, have your hearing checked.

To find out how to prevent permanent ringing in your ears, read how to prevent tinnitus.

• Traffic, such as horns, sirens of emergency services and cars next to you.
• Your own motorcycle. You would rather hear the revs and gear changes than only feel them.
• Your intercom or satnav, with directions and conversations with your pillion or group.
• When you stop for fuel or a break, you want to be able to talk without taking your earplugs out.

That is why we use a membrane filter instead of a solid plug. The wind noise gets quieter, but speech and signals stay clear.

Whether you are allowed on the road with earplugs is explained in can you wear earplugs in traffic?

If you want to stay below 80 dB, motorcycle earplugs need to reduce sound by at least about 14 dB at 100 km/h and about 18 dB at 120 km/h. Under a helmet you hear around 94 and 98 dB of wind noise at those speeds, according to the figures published by Kassa. The WHO assumes that you can listen to 80 dB safely for 40 hours a week.

The Earplugs for motorcycling come with a 16 dB SNR filter as standard. With the rule of thumb of noise minus SNR, you end up at roughly 78 dB at 100 km/h. If you ride a lot on the motorway or often faster than 120 km/h, choose a DM 25 with 20 dB SNR. That also brings you to around 78 dB at 120 km/h. If you mostly ride on back roads, less protection is fine too.

See these figures as a guideline. The actual noise depends on your helmet, windscreen and riding position. According to Dynamic Ear, the attenuation of a filter in custom earplugs can vary with the fit. All values per filter are on the filter page. What SNR means exactly is explained in SNR, HML and dB values explained.

Whether your motorcycle earplugs stay in for the whole ride depends on the filter, the fit under your helmet and how they work with your intercom.

A solid earplug also blocks traffic, sirens and your own motorcycle. With a membrane filter everything gets quieter, but you keep hearing those sounds. Choose the level of protection based on how fast and how long you ride, as described above. The filter is interchangeable, so you can still adjust it later.

A helmet presses on your ears and slides along your head as you put it on. A foam earplug can move as a result. A custom earplug follows the shape of your ear canal and outer ear, so it stays in place.

Silicone is soft and gives a little when the helmet lining presses against your ear, which is comfortable on long tours. Hard acrylic is firm and easy to clean. Bring your own helmet when you have your ear impressions taken. Then you can discuss straight away with the hearing care professional where the helmet presses.

The earplug sits in your ear and the speakers of your intercom sit in the helmet. If you want voices, directions and music to sound as natural as possible, choose a DM filter when you design your earplugs. It reduces high and low tones by almost the same amount. Do not turn your intercom up louder than necessary, because that sound also reaches your ear.

For touring riders, commuters, scooter riders with a helmet and track riders. For race teams and clubs we also make sets in your own colour or with a logo. You can read more about this at Audibling Business.

Want to use them at a concert or when travelling too? Read how to choose one pair for several situations.

• Kassa (BNNVARA) on getting hearing damage without noticing (in Dutch)
• University of Bath and Bath Spa University (2011), via Hearing Review
• WHO-ITU, Safe listening devices and systems
• Acoustic specifications of the filters (H, M, L and SNR) from Dynamic Ear Company, as on our filter page.

Written by Thijs Worm. Last updated 5 October 2026.