With the Goldwing I have an Autocom sound system, xm radio, ipod, intercom etc. We tried using the helmet speakers... at least my wife did. She wears a 3/4 lid. I wear a half helmet. Let me say, helmet speakers simply do not work for us. If you have them and like them bravo... we hate them.
On the Drifter - she doesn't ride, but I like to listen to tunes from my ipod. I usually insert it into my jacket and use earphones.
I tried a bunch of different brand earphones/earbuds and speaker systems. Most of the earphones are really made for bikers. They get blown out of your ear, allow excess noise, are uncomfortable, etc. No one likes to mess with earphones while riding.
After a lot of research and dozens of different earphones I came across the Comply NR-10 High-Tech Noise Reduction earphones. They are effective in reducing noise and the soft buds are inserted just as you would insert ear plugs for hearing protection. It has a volume control which is more useful on the drifter, where I can't get to the ipod volume control.
If you ride and use earphones, you might want to give these a try.
http://www.complyfoam.com/Product/NR%7B48%7D10-High%7B48%7DTech-Noise-Reduction-Earphones
some MP3 players and I Pods have FM station capabilities. Which means you should be able to use Sirius radio transmitters. This is something I'm going to try with my MP3. I'll let you know if it works.
I know in florida earphones are illegal......learned the hard way.......the wafers that go in the helmet are ok i guess b/c its not in your ear so you can hear sirens horns etc. so I got these http://www.motorcycletunes.com/ run 80 on the interstate and not miss a beat, even my gf can hear everything........anyway check your local laws lol
Yeah there are repressive laws in some States. Earphones are sometimes banned, one allowed, allowed for communication etc. These are silly laws in general, IMHO.
From what I read, Florida is more restrictive than CALIFORNIA!...
a good place to look up laws is AMA -
http://www.amadirectlink.com/legisltn/laws.asp
Looks like RI, MA and FL are the only States that ban earphones - FL does allow speakers. CA, MD, MN, NY allow only SINGLE earphones, GA, PA allow speakers/earphones for communication only.
Personally, I always wear mine and have ridden in every State except AK, HI, OR and ND. I use them for navigation, communication, entertainment, noise reduction and in very cold weather (keeps ear canals warm).
Yes loud music can be a problem... just as it is in a CAGE! Personally, I think this is another one of those issues that should be left up to the adult rider to decide for him/herself.
cheers.
What I use is a NOLAN N43 AIR ( http://www.nolan.it/catalogo_10.jsp?iditem=208&lng=en (http://www.nolan.it/catalogo_10.jsp?iditem=208&lng=en) )
on witch I have installed the N-COM kit ( http://www.n-com.it/en/n-com/index.html (http://www.n-com.it/en/n-com/index.html) )
I can connect my iphone and get incoming calls hands free and use is to listen to music
Sound is great too!!!
Couple years ago I disassembled the two sides of a pair of Bose noise canceling headphones and put them inside the straps of my half helmet. Worked well til I got over 50 mph when the wind noise totally screwed up the cancellation circuitry and the wind noise got louder. Gotta try these foam insert buds. Do they come with replacement foam pieces?
Varooom
You have to buy the extras. I used the ones that came on the NR-10's for 2-3 years - still work fine - look awful.
BUT, they now come in black so I bought 5 pairs last month.
If the foam is anything like the ones we use when using a circ. saw, they do get pretty grungy after a while. I'm wondering if ethyl or isopropyl alch, which dissolves wax, might clean 'em up a bit. I'm going to try on an old pair in the shop...