We talked to the hearing protection experts at Auritech about why protecting your hearing should be just as essential for motorcyclists as wearing a helmet.
If you’re new to motorcycling, you’ve probably spent hours comparing helmets, read endless reviews of jackets and boots, and tried to decode the alphabet soup of armour ratings. You’ve likely witnessed debates about tyre compounds you didn’t know existed, and calculated the merits of PCP versus Hire Purchase versus cash buy more often than you care to admit. But there’s one risk almost no beginner thinks about – mostly because you can’t see or feel it: Noise.
Not the glorious bark of your exhaust or the rumble of a big twin. The real threat is far sneakier: wind noise. The relentless, high-frequency roar that hits your ears the moment your wheels start rolling. And the reason why it’s so sneaky: it’s doing damage long before you realise anything’s wrong, and once the damage is done you can’t undo it.
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The slowest crash ever
When we talk motorcycle safety, we talk about events and how to handle them: crashes, near misses, moments when things happen fast. Hearing damage isn’t like that. It doesn’t show up with the drama of bent levers or scraped fairings. It’s quiet. Slow. Creeping.
Ride after ride, year after year, wind noise chips away at the tiny hair cells inside your inner ear. When they’re gone, they’re gone for good. No repair shop. No aftermarket parts. No ‘I’ll fix it later.’
For many riders, the first sign of hearing damage is a ringing in the ear that doesn’t fully disappear after a ride. Later, it’s struggling to follow conversations in noisy environments. Eventually, for some, it becomes a permanent companion: tinnitus.
You’re over the limit
Ask most non-riders what’s loud about motorcycles and they’ll point to the engine. Ask seasoned riders what actually ruins hearing and you’ll get a different answer.
At around 40 mph, wind noise overtakes engine noise as the dominant sound assaulting your ears.
When you hit motorway speeds, that wind roar can hit 100–115 decibels – equivalent to running a chainsaw next to your head (unwise on so many levels!). And the thing about riding a bike is that you’re potentially exposed to the wind noise for hours at a time.
Now consider that long-term hearing damage starts at around 80–85 dB.
It’s not close. It’s not borderline. It’s way over the limit.
Even the quietest helmets can’t fully fix the problem of wind noise. Some reduce the roar a bit, others barely make a dent. Swap riding positions or screens and the noise profile shifts again. You can’t outrun it, and you certainly can’t ignore it.
The tinnitus time bomb
With Tinnitus Week taking place 2-9 February 2026, let’s get real: tinnitus isn’t just an annoying whistle. It can wreck sleep, add stress, and mess with your concentration. And riders are at higher risk than most.
In the UK alone, nearly a million motorcyclists regularly ride without any hearing protection. That’s a million potential cases of preventable, permanent hearing damage. Think about that before your next ride.
It’s understandable that the problem gets overlooked. Probably because tinnitus isn’t dramatic. It doesn’t burst into your life like a crash. It just settles in one day and refuses to leave. But when it gets you, it gets you for life – that’s it. So, getting serious about hearing protection is vital.
Earplugs are PPE
We treat helmets, back protectors, gloves, and boots as non-negotiables. They are key components of our motorcycling PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). Earplugs should be the same.
When it comes to choosing earplugs, there are plenty of options available, from cheap foam plugs to fancy fully customised ones. For most riders, reusable filtered earplugs like Auritech’s Universal Biker Earplugs are often the best compromise. They reduce overall noise levels, particularly damaging high-frequency wind turbulence, while still allowing riders to hear engine feedback, traffic noise, navigation prompts and emergency sirens. This selective filtering helps maintain awareness while dramatically lowering risk.
An added bonus many riders report is improved long-distance comfort and reduced fatigue. Constant high noise levels exhaust the brain, even if you don’t consciously notice it. Cutting the noise can make long rides feel less draining and help riders stay alert for longer.
Self-preservation
Hearing loss doesn’t care what you ride, how far you go, or how old you are. It accumulates quietly, consistently, and permanently.
Protecting your hearing doesn’t dull the experience of riding—it preserves it. You can still love loud bikes. You can still love speed and freedom and the wind in your face.
You can still love the conversations in the café afterwards. And with proper hearing protection you can still hear those conversations in years to come.
Don’t let the wind take something you can never get back. So, suit up. Helmet on. Gloves tight. And make sure you put those earplugs in. Your future self will thank you every time the world still sounds sharp, vivid, and alive.
Fact checking hearing protection
If earplugs are so important, why don’t more riders wear them? Turns out, there are persisting myths about hearing protection that people take as facts. We talked to the experts at Auritech to do a bit of a fact check on them…
Myth 1: “I bought a quiet helmet, so I’m fine.”
No helmet eliminates wind noise. Full stop. Even the best helmets still let in damaging levels of noise at speed.
Myth 2: “My music/intercom cancels the noise out.”
It doesn’t. You’re just adding more sound on top of harmful sound. That’s making it worse, not protecting yourself.
Myth 3: “Earplugs will block important traffic sounds.”
Cheap foam plugs might do that, sure. But modern filtered earplugs don’t. They reduce damaging high-frequency wind noise while keeping essential sounds like sirens, engines, and traffic cues clear.
Myth 4: “Earplugs are uncomfortable.”
Again, not all plugs are the same. Foam plugs can often be uncomfortable, but motorcycle-specific reusable plugs or custom-moulded versions are a different ball game. They have been designed to fit in your ear and inside a helmet.
Myth 5: “It’s too late—my hearing’s already bad.”
This one’s the saddest of the lot. No, there’s no way to reverse damage. However, you can absolutely stop it from getting worse. Riding without hearing protection is like riding without gloves because you already scraped your hands once.
Auritech Universal BIKER Hearing Protectors
Developed over 20 years by leading experts, Auritech Universal BIKER Hearing Protectors are superior to traditional foam, wax or silicone earplugs.
Precision-tuned, patented ceramic filters ensure maximum protection from dangerous levels of high frequency wind, road & engine noise. Unique filtration allows lower frequency sounds such as conversation, sat nav, sirens and horns, and the lower pitch of your engine and exhaust to remain clearly audible, with no muffled effect.
Comfortable and suitable for all ages – Auritech are the ideal earplugs for bikers and motorsport enthusiasts.
For further information: www.auritech.co.uk
