5 pairs for $28 or 200 pairs for $21? who figures out their pricing for them?
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Yeah yeah, #notallmotorcycles
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If itâs louder than a car, itâs too loud.
When youâre riding just remember of how youâre irritating people at a very efficient rate.
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Yes. Something I discovered too late. I now have a permanent ringing in both ears, and it is with me 24/7. Of course, the stadium concerts I attended in my youth (at close range) didnât help, either. But still: wear hearing protection, or eventually you wonât need it.
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FYI: This is illegal in at least a few states.
Some laws exclude âearphones which may impair a personâs ability to hearâ, while -plugs are not -phones, you might consider thinking twice.
See: http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/headsets/
Examples:
ALASKA
Wearing an audio headset or earplugs is not permitted while driving.
Exempts headsets when used and designed to improve a driverâs hearing ability or use navigational devices.
OHIO
Wearing earphones over, or earplugs in, both ears is not permitted while driving. Exempts speakers built into protective headgear or hearing aids.
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Depends on the car. It is louder than the Prius which is where I make my comparison but definitely not louder than the neighbors coupe across the street. Come to think of it the bike isnât louder than the Saturn I used to have just more of a distinct sound from the putt putt of the single cylinder.
I with all the other people here complaining about loud motorcycles. Easily the most obnoxious thing on the road. And even if itâs only a small fraction they are responsible for the generally negative feelings I have towards motorcyclists. Asshats popping wheelies on the highway or dodging cars at 90 mph donât help either.
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What about electric motorbikes, like the Zero? Only the wind noise.
The wind noise is the reason for the earplugs not the bike noise. Seriously at highway speeds depending on the wind I canât hear the other traffic unless I have earplugs in.
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The texture of the sound does play into how annoying it is.
Do you ever notice people turning to look at you when you ride it in a way they donât turn to look at a car?
If so, itâs annoying.
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The loud ones that wake you up and get your dog barking are the oneâs that have had the exhaust modded. Consider that even a performance bike has an engine less than half the size of a modern car, and must be sold from the dealer to meet the same noise ordinances. True, the mass of the car some somewhat baffle the sound, but take the muffler off your car and see how quiet it is 
So, #notmoststreetbikes
No, because my bike has the stock exhaust. Iâm sorry, but youâre hearing the noisy ones. The problem most riders face is drivers being oblivious to our existence. Some riders take the philosophy that a noisier bike is less likely to get hit. But the frequency of engine noise is too low to easily determine the direction itâs coming from, so really those riders are operating under a false sense of security.
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It always seems to me, this made no sense. I generally can hear a bike if they are in front of me. If they are behind me they are harder to hear, and that is when one is more likely to do something to accidentally hit them.
Of course motorcycles stand out, so they are super easy to re-enforce your bias that they are too loud or driven to dangerously.
Personally I think they are neat, but have no desire to ride one based on the fact that people are idiots and Iâd rather have a cage around me as a buffer between me and them.
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I donât ride now, but I spent about 14 years on bikes 10 with no car. I wore the cheapo foam ear plugs all the time, and donât have hearing damage. I wear them to concerts and damn movies anymore, too. For movies and concerts, Iâd love something that blocked the frequencies evenly, but Iâd rather hear the distortion than be deafened. I never had an issue with not hearing emergency vehicles. Like TobinL says, itâs the wind noise thatâs the killer. Most of my miles were on an Oilhead BMW with stock exhaust, so the bike noise wasnât an issue for anyone. R1200Câs are not loud bikes. Or fast. But they are dang pretty 
I love the old Motorcyclist summary of my bike: âKraftwerk meets Bauhaus. Who asked this question?â
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Behind and beside. The most dangerous place for a biker to ride is in a driverâs blind spot because theyâre mostly thinking about keeping track of things bigger than a Prius.
Quite possibly youâre more aware than the average driver, but thereâs a fair number of drivers who only notice bikers and cyclists who are right in front of them.
A reasonable consideration. I will probably just ride mine the few miles to work after my daughterâs born, as risking my life is one thing but risking leaving her without her father would be irresponsible. As for why I ride at all, originally it was because I didnât have a lot of money growing up and putting myself through college, so a bike was cheaper transport. Now itâs more a matter of convenience and preferring to only take as much vehicle with me as Iâm actually using. Itâs nice not paying to move a big metal brick everywhere with me.
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Not to go too far off the motorcycle topic, but I got these for drumming and wear them when seeing shows as well. They have better frequency characteristics than the foam ones, and arenât too pricey.
http://www.vater.com/?_escaped_fragment_=/product/287#!/product/287
I havenât priced or tested these, but they would seem to be a really good solution if they work as promised and arenât priced sky-high. Even at that, over many years of riding the built-in convenience might make them a good investment.
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Oh hell sometimes they donât even notice that.
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Hearos are also great because theyâre slightly larger around than many of the affordable alternatives. Classic plugs are fine if a little stiff and less comfortable, but many of the random torpedo-shaped plugs can fall right out of my head.
Those are my favorite for night-time spouse snoring issues. Cuts a lot of the noise, but not anything actually loud (like the alarm or fire alarm or cat yowling in distress). A single pair lasts through many uses and doesnât get ikcy or gooey. They compress in your fingers really well, and expand gently, giving you a good fit.
Yes, indeed, I do love those earplugs.
They also make good cat toys. Or, at least, one of our cats like to steal them and chase them around the house.
I used to ride with foam earplugs, which work, but become monstrously uncomfortable when long-haul touring. Then I got a pair of custom-molded rubber plugs (the ones where they squirt warm rubber in your ears); not quite as quiet, but vastly more comfortable.
These days, however, I ride with audio earplugs in so I can use my phoneâs satnav. A decent pair of the sort with the replacable rubber tips blocks noise almost as well as the foam plugs.
