Is music while riding a good idea or not?

[GaryIF]

I was about to get in-ear headphones and an MP3 or iPod mini so as to listen to music while riding but got stopped in my tracks by, of all people, my eight-year old son. "But dad, that'll distract you and you won't be concentrating as much on your riding. That's dangerous." As the saying goes, from the mouths of babes...

 

I'd welcome the advice of the forum members. The positive, the negative, and the not-so-obvious tips of safety, which you learned from the experience of having music in your ears instead of the Zen-like concentration that occurs when riding.

 

Thanks,

Gary

[Dave McReynolds]

For me, it depends on the level of riding I'm doing. On an all day cruise on Hwy 50 across Nevada, I find that music or a recorded book is not only pleasant but probably keeps me more alert than I would be otherwise. Maybe not 100% alert; I don't see how I could ever be that alert on an all-day trip over mostly flat terrain, but as alert as I'm capable of being under the circumstances. Even then, I find that after about an hour or so of recorded sounds, I'm ready for an hour of just riding and looking around at things, just for my own personal enjoyment.

 

For rides through the twisties, or traffic congested urban areas, I'd just as soon not have any distracting sounds.

[russell_bynum]

It depends.

 

For me, I rarely listen to music except on long days on the slab. In those cases, I feel like my slightly diminished attention is offset by the reduced boredom...which allows me to stay focused longer.

 

I don't listen to music in traffic or in the twisties. It's too distracting and it also takes away from the experience.

[JB-BMW]

What Russell said.

 

On the long slab rides, I find I'm a lot less bored with music than just droning along. I'm getting ready to try audio books on the next long trip.

[RichM]

Last week I was listening to music while riding and was not paying attention to my V-1.

You can guess what happened.

[rdsmith3]

When I commute, I listen to music during a long stretch on an interstate highway.

 

I would not listen to it in more demanding situations.

[Lets_Play_Two]

What Russell said.

 

On the long slab rides, I find I'm a lot less bored with music than just droning along. I'm getting ready to try audio books on the next long trip.

 

I find trying to listen to an audio book is too demanding even for driving a car in other than long, lonely highway stretches. That is unless you are just interested in background noise.

[Kermit_Karl]

Sounds like consensus.

 

I think it's distracting on short rides, especially the fun ones with twisties that require a lot of concentration. But on the long boring slab rides it helps keep me awake -- and from singing to myself.

 

On a longish ride I'll take the iPod with me, but won't put it on until I start getting tired of the same song running through my head :-)

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

I listen to music most of the time. But when I'm somewhere that's demanding, I don't hear it. It's strange to describe it that way, but it's really what happens. Suddenly the album I was listen to is over. "Where'd all those songs go?" I ask as I hammer the remote back 6 or 8 tracks.

 

2 key things:

I try not to let the music determine my pace.

I do not turn it up loud enough to drown out the surroundings.

 

Try it, if you're willing, and then make a decision.

[Alan D]

I listen to music most of the time. But when I'm somewhere that's demanding, I don't hear it. It's strange to describe it that way, but it's really what happens. Suddenly the album I was listen to is over. "Where'd all those songs go?" I ask as I hammer the remote back 6 or 8 tracks.

 

2 key things:

I try not to let the music determine my pace.

I do not turn it up loud enough to drown out the surroundings.

 

Try it, if you're willing, and then make a decision.

I agree, it's the same for me. Your (my) mind can be wandering without music.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Rich,

Sean Daly has a cure for that.

[Uggles]

It may not be a GOOD idea, but it's there so I use it. Commute every day rain or shine normally with the radio on. It is in the background as some have said and I try not to let it break my concentration.

Out on the long haul it's highly entertaining but I still keep my eyes and mind on the task at hand.

[TracerBullet]

Gary,

I listen to satellite radio most of the time. I agree with the others that say I don't hear it when the situation demands more attention. I think it also depends on what you are listening to.

 

sal

[Joel]

One more vote for trying it, carefully, to see how it affects you.

 

At first, I was concerned about the distraction and that I might not hear some sounds that matter. And, at first, I probably was distracted and didn't hear everything I should. But as the novelty wore off, I think I've learned to compensate. Now I enjoy music just about every ride, although the traffic on my commute is rather light.

 

I think you need to be mindful of how music affects your mood, and then adjust accordingly. For my first-ever group ride, through the mountains, I listened to jazz, which tends to have a soothing and moderating effect on me. That worked out great, and I was really able to dial in my concentration. If I'd been listing to something that stirs me up, like Stevie Ray Vaughn flogging that beat up old Strat, I'd probably have been in trouble.

 

You can always turn it off when you need to. I prefer to have the music, and the option to mute it, rather than want the music and not have it.

[Whip]

Be careful with those books on tape...I've run out of gas and missed my turn by 50 miles listening to the

Da Vinci code....and didn't see a deer in my lane until I was next to him...I could have punch him in the head....It was a long day....

[Pilgrim]

If you gotta have tunes then you need another bike, 'cause the one you have isn't entertaining enough.

Pilgrim

[DiggerJim]

On a longish ride I'll take the iPod with me, but won't put it on until I start getting tired of the same song running through my head :-)

 

I find the voices tend to be entertaining enough. Although they can be so critical sometimes. I'd have to whack them if they started singing too.

[ChuckS]

Ditto! I listen most all the time. I wear ear plugs and have my XM through the Autocom as well as my Escort. All work wonderful.

[AdventurePoser]

Covered pretty amply in a former thread, but I'll repeat...for me, lately, the voices in my head have become impossible to ignore. So, I just listen to them.

 

Steve in So Cal

[Tool Man]

I don't listen to music in traffic or in the twisties. It's too distracting and it also takes away from the experience.

 

Yep...I'm on the same ship. Never in traffic or our busy So. CAl. freeway system. I concentrate so much in the mountains that it's just me, the bike and the road.

 

On the highway I'll listen when I'm out of the city. There's too much crap to dodge on our local frwy's so attentiveness will save your butt, and it has mine as when last week a car flipped up a couch cusion in front of me. A couch cusion bounces like a football....which way will it go And I still smacked it with the left footpeg. I picked up my left foot and stood on the right peg just before impact. The force tossed the rear tire in the air and did some rear end swapping. When it all settled out and I regained a straight line again at 80mph. The shifter was at a 90° angle and the peg was bent. This all happened in a split second and I truly think if I wasn't paying attention I could have hit it head on. That amount of damage from a foam couch cussion and it took me hours to straighten things back to normal the next day. A little experience from out of shape scenario’s on the track doesn't hurt either.

 

I do have a Sony CD player in the tank bag....but it doesn't get used much.

 

I'm sure others have tales about hitting unsuspecting objects have stories as well...let that be your guide and ride safe.

[Good_Fixs]

I have been riding with music for five years,without them! I would have been listen to wind noise for five years. Thanks

[Scott A]

I listen to music most of the time, in traffic or not. The volume is always reasonable - I can still hear traffic as well as I would be able to with earplugs anyway. And like Tom, when things get busy, I forget it's there. Then after the road gets quiet again, I realize the music stopped long ago.

[sgendler]

Maybe its because I've always listened to music as background to everything I do, but I don't find music to be even slightly distracting. Yes, any extra noise in your ears can cause you to miss an audible clue about a hazard, but the reality is that most audible cues aren't audible on a motorcycle unless you are stopped, and I always keep an eye in my rear view mirror when stopped, so I don't need the sound of screeching tires to let me know that I need to get out of the way.

 

I listen to music when lane splitting, in the twisties, and on the freeway, all with no problems. When I need 100% of my faculties, I have them. I'm not sitting there deconstructing the theoretical basis of the music I'm listening to, after all. Admittedly, most of the music I listen to doesn't have lyrics (jazz), but not all of it.

 

One thing I've noticed. I have no problem resisting the urge to speed up when Metallica or System of a Down come on (fast heavy metal), but I will subconsciously slow my pace a bit if something slow and soothing comes on. I don't mind that, though.

 

I definitely stay away from audioboooks, though. Not so much because they are more distracting, but because I am so good at tuning out the audio that I'll inevtiably realize that I've just missed the last 30 or 40 minutes of story and have no idea what is going on. Rewinding to the correct place is both distracting and time consuming, not to mention difficult. So I don't do audiobooks. A sham, really, since apple released the harry potter books into the itunes music store today. I've never read them and they seem like easy to digest material for the road. Too bad...

 

--sam

[ShovelStrokeEd]

I'm with Sam on this one. Although I do tend to speed up if the right song comes on. I listen to XM a lot with a mix of classic rock (I am actually 12 years older than Rock and Roll), Bluegrass and Folk. I just feel it appropriate to listen to Bluegrass while riding the hills of W. Va. Ditto, some speed metal for getting down a boring freeway.

 

I don't seem to have any problem tuning out the music at need when the concentration level has to be higher. I too am used to working with multiple inputs going on, reading, music, TV. Been doing it so long its just natural to me.

 

I agree on the audio books thing. When I was a much younger lad, around 8 or so, television was not the ubiquitous thing it is now, when I went to bed at nigh, my entertainment, the lights had to be out, was the bedside radio. Sky King, the Shadow, Captain Midnight, etc. Don't know how I ever got to sleep. My love of reading and radio came from those pre-TV days. We actually had one, but it had pride of place in the living room and all the neighbors used to come by to watch.

[ELP_JC]

Your son is right; listen to him

[FREEBEE]

(I am actually 12 years older than Rock and Roll),

 

Did you by chance, know Santa Clause when he was a teen-ager?

[Haynes]

Just gotta have the misic on the long trips. Through the twisties or when the riding becomes demanding, I mute the radio or turn it off completely.

[Green RT]

If you gotta have tunes then you need another bike, 'cause the one you have isn't entertaining enough.

Pilgrim

 

I'm with Pilgrim. I never listen while riding. But then I don't listen to radio or music while walking or hiking either. I like to pay attention to my surroundings for safety and enjoyment. Also I don't think audio would help me stay alert. I go to sleep every night with the radio or stereo set to go off an hour or so later.

[MChick]

I listen all the time, MP3 and Etymotic plugs. I keep the volume low, barely audible. Like others have noted, I sometimes tune out completely and miss a lot of music. But when the music isn't there, the voices in my head are more distracting than usual, and they keep telling me to go faster to avoid boredome.

[Rags]

and... The volume of the music may be detrimental to your hearing. With a sports fairing allowing a lot of wind around, I would have to increase volume to a point that would impair hearing.

 

I have Ei6 ear speakers (they're excellent) so that's not it. For me , I'm not listening to music, V1, cb or nav. If I can't see it I'm not going to use it when riding. That should be enough to keep me awake.

[Jon_M]

Opinions vary widely on this, but I just never could see the point of a radio on a motorcycle. I bought a K11LT ten years ago and took the radio out without ever using it. I preferred the extra storage space it was taking up. I suspect that it would be distracting and therfore somewhat unsafe, but I just did not want it to begin with.