Speakers in helmet

[lwatts]

Hey everyone I have to share this. I love listening to music all the time and I don't have a radio on my bike so I was always having to use head-phones on under my helmet. Now anyone that does this knows already that it's very uncomfortable and you can't really hear anything around you. So I came across this website that shows you how to install small head-phone speakers in the pads of your helmet. www.powersportsdirectorymusic.com They have a link on there that takes you to a video so you can watch it and then install the speakers. It was fairly easy to do and I freaking love it. I get to ride around for as long as I want now and it doesn't hurt anymore. Not to mention it's safer this way cause I can still hear all of my surroundings. If you have the same problem I did then you definitely want to check that website out so you can install your own speakers. Trust me you'll like it so much better.

[gremlin]

please reconsider your safety, and the effect on others who are unfortunate enough to be near when you die a violent death in traffic. 

( too harsh ? )   

[rural earl]

Helmet speakers can give you good sound if you have a quiet helmet and don't ride too fast.  They never worked for me, since I had to overdrive them with a portable radio that couldn't deliver enough power.  In-ear monitors (earplugs, not earbuds) worked best for me, but I felt a little cut-off from the sounds of the bike with them, so I don't use them anymore.  YMMV.  And, earphones are illegal here in California anyway.  So now I just listen to the voices in my head.

[LarsBloodbeard]

I'm not going to argue about the morality/legality of headphones in helmets, and how that compares to earplugs (which are legal in CA, yet 2 headphones are not -- one earpiece is legal in CA), nor the fact that even with headphones cranked in a helmet you can still hear better than in a well insulated car...

Just a word of warning:  I installed a set of speakers in my helmet a few years ago.  They sounded good if pressed right against your ear, but in the helmet they tend to be 1/4-1/2 an inch away which kills the bass and midrange.  And the wind noise + engine noise tended to drown out my quieter tunes.  So I got a little headphone amp and ran that.  Then I could hear it fine, but the highs were a bit too high.  It was fine around town, but I found after prolonged listening (hours), I felt like I had been at a concert.  My ears were ringing and I had trouble hearing for a while.  I stopped using them after that.

Now I have a Scala Rider G4, which has 2-way radio, AM/FM, and bluetooth.  I use both speakers, because GPS and 2-way chatter is just so much easier to hear with both ears in.  No more tunes though.  I would occasionally listen to talk radio during my morning commute, and I'm not concerned with the volume there.  Don't need it as loud to hear speech.