I noticed this building in another thread... so I thought I'd kill the highjack.

If you do listen to music... what's your soundtrack?

I've learned that it is bad for a song to be on my mp3 player.... that was on the soundtrack to GT2 or GT3.

 

i listen to my mp3 player quite a bit when im riding. not all the time. probably about 70%. and not at a high enough level to drown out road noises. i take the earpads out of my helmet and run earbuds in there and tape them down. that way i can hear the music and outside noise.

my soundtrack is a mismatch of random ****. everything from rock to metal to classic dirt rock to accustic to alternative to rap and so on. there's even a little country thrown in (very little. 2 songs i think.) i set it to shuffle and off i go. and yes my riding style changes from song to song.

 

iPod whenvever the journey is 15mins or more. And the Etymotic ER6i earphones I use are the goods. They go deep into your ear canal and are almost flush with your ear so removing and replacing your helmet doesn't move them around. they also block out pretty much all outside noise which may not be a good thing if you crank your music up too loud.

Playlist is usually on shuffle and I have a bit of everything. Lots of 80's, lots of rock & metal but mostly guitar-instrumental.

 

I've tried listening to music when I ride, and I just don't feel secure. I need to hear cars, etc. and what probably would kill me is that when a good song comes on, I drive faster, I don't need to ride faster. I think it's best to minimize risks...not make more of them... but I'll probably bring my MP3 player with me and listen to it sporatically. I'm a bit of a hypocrite here...

 

ya wanna listen to music and eat chips and drink soda and talk on the phone and scratch your rear ? drive a car like the rest of the cows !!!

if i'm riding on the street, i'm mentally and physically there one hundred percent ... and even then a cager took me out a few weeks back, haha go figure !

 

I love music when I ride, Umm Pit sorry to say it but you use your eyes when you ride not your ears, engine noise and helmet block most but i rely on my eyes to scan all threts, Always be aware of your sorroundings.
My list includes bon jovie bad religion misfits **** oldies all the way to now, But my favorite is thursday, Rise against and linkin park's
"I tried so hard"

 

I ride with the no music, I like to be able to hear whats going on around me. Pirate you do use your ears when you ride, whether its to tell what your rpm is (yes I use the tacho also but I can tell what rpm it is from the engine noise as well). Being able to hear helps you tell if a car has moved next to you out of your vision and what about emergency service vechiles and hearing thier sirens. I've tried riding with music but it kills to much of the noise around you

 

I can see where some people would be distracted by music while riding. Notice how people turn down/off the radio when they are look for an address.

As for emergency service vehicles... I did that for 5 years. They should be using a siren at high speeds. At 60+ they will be on your *** by the time you hear it and then it will take you by surprise. That's why you SHOULD see EMS vehicles running with just lights on the highways.

Once you get comfortable enough with traffic... music helps me concentrate. The ambient sounds around me are too misleading to trust so this takes away that factor.

 

I mentioned emergency services because I have been stopped at traffic lights and only realized that they were coming up behind me because I heard the sirens and not seen the lights. I don't think I noticed him until he was right behind me if I had of had music playing. Everyones different, I prefer to hear whats going on around me.

 

I either ride with my iPod Shuffle or Oakley Thump and I rarely leave home without one or the other. Not too distracting as I keep the volume low enough to hear my surrounding (sirens, horns, etc.), but high enough to enjoy the tunes. It doesn't offer any more distraction than the helmet noise I usually experience *shrug* The Thump enables me to play sequentially or random, so I usually choose sequential with the starting line up as follows:

1. Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf
2. Take the Long Way Home - SuperTramp
3. Into the Great Wide Open - Tom Petty
4. How Do You Want It - Tupac
5. Lean Back (Remix) - Fat Joe
6. Hollaback - Gwen Steffani
7. Beethoven Symphony #9
8. Get Low (Jamaican Remix)
9. James Bond Theme - Propellerheads
10. How Many Licks - Lil Kim

The rest--disco, crunk, techno, old school, etc....depends on my mood and what I load up before I ride.