So I’m lying in bed the other night listening to music. I’m laying on my side and roll over. I instantly realize I can hear the music better. I roll back to my previous position and the volume goes down a bit. Roll over, the music gets louder.
Apparently, I just realized I have a bit of hearing loss in my right ear! I laid there contemplating why I would have hearing loss in one ear and not the other.
I attended a lot of raves in my early years, and I DJ’d for a few years too spinning records of house music in loud night clubs. I practiced all the time and always thought I’d have hearing loss in my older years because of the constant barrage of loud music. I also had a pretty sick stereo system in my car. To my surprise, I’ve had no hearing issues till now.
We finally got some warmer weather here in Buffalo NY. Having a few days in the fifties is unusual this time of year. We had a couple days of rain which washed the salt off the streets and when the sun came out the other day, I just couldn’t resist. I had to take my cruiser for a ride.
As soon as I started the engine of my Honda Shadow running straight pipes I realized what was causing the hearing loss in my right ear. I usually wear a half helmet, and my exhaust is on the right side of the bike. The bike is loud, the half helmet provides no sound protection with my ears being exposed. I’m guessing the awesome sounding exhaust on my bike is doing it.
I love the sound of that exhaust too much to remove it. I still have the stock pipes. I’ve been riding with this exhaust for a little over three years now. I keep earplugs in my tool pouch but only wear them when I have a headache or I’m going on really long trips. I think it may be wise to start wearing them more often!