darthandy Posted June 2, 2012 Share #1 Posted June 2, 2012 My wife and I were heading out with some friends to the Heroes Highway Ride in the rain yesterday when I suddenly got an ear busting shriek in my headphones. It was really painful and lasted several seconds. I pulled up beside the leader at the next traffic light and told him I had a problem and to pull into the next mall. I got a couple more blasts on the way and was in real pain. Finally pulled into the lot and turned off the ignition just as another one hit. I checked what I could and my buddy tried his headset but nothing there. I was afraid it was an electrical problem and I didn't want to risk riding another 150 KM and possibly breaking down on a major highway in the rain, so the others went on and we unplugged our headsets and went back home. Once there (With my ears still ringing!) I started testing the system and by accident, discovered the problem - my wife had turned her volume up to max to make sure I could hear her over the extra noise from the rain and wet roads. I turned the main volume up as well and what we were getting was "feedback" from the intercom system! When it shrieked, I dropped the volume for the passenger and the noise stopped. It was worse with my IMC headsets than with the J&M set, which wasn't surprising since the IMC have always seemed to have a more sensitive microphone. Anyway, that's something else we'll have to watch in the future. Now I have to head to the doctor's to see just how badly I may have hurt my ears. My first bike with an audio system...it never occurred to me that this could happen. Yet another - painful - lesson. Oh yeah ... I was wearing some Icon waterproof Patrol gloves and they got thoroughly wet inside and out. It seems they have a design flaw - the waterproof liner is stitched to the inner and outer liner of the glove. Guess what happens when you poke dozens of little holes in a waterproof line - IT ISN'T WATERPROOF ANY MORE!! Fortunately they were still under warranty so I returned to the dealer and exchanged them for some Teknic gloves that have a tab all along the edge of their liner so that when it is sewn to the inner and outer layers, it doesn't get poked full of holes leading to the interior of the glove! Oh and our first time used, less than a year old Frogg Togg pants leaked at the seams and nicely wet our bottoms - such fun! Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithR Posted June 3, 2012 Share #2 Posted June 3, 2012 I had a similar thing happen while riding solo in the rain. I discovered that water had gotten into the rear jack...once I got the water out all was fine. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvrT Posted June 3, 2012 Share #3 Posted June 3, 2012 A few years back I was returning home from a weekend trip and as is quite common in the Vancouver area, rode into a heavy rainstorm. I was weating a full jumpsuit rainsuit so I wasn't getting wet but ...... At some point I had to adjust my position on the saddle and when I did ..... YEEOOOOWWWWWW !!!!!! all of a sudden my "jewels" felt a big rush of COLD WATER!! Turns out I had a small rip in "just the right place" and the fold in the suit had captured a nice big puddle of rainwater ... which, when I moved, found it's way to the hole!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthandy Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share #4 Posted June 3, 2012 That's kind of an extreme way to stay alert but hey, whatever works, right? :rotf: Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Posted June 3, 2012 Share #5 Posted June 3, 2012 My wife and I were heading out with some friends to the Heroes Highway Ride in the rain yesterday when I suddenly got an ear busting shriek in my headphones. It was really painful and lasted several seconds. I pulled up beside the leader at the next traffic light and told him I had a problem and to pull into the next mall. I got a couple more blasts on the way and was in real pain. Finally pulled into the lot and turned off the ignition just as another one hit. I checked what I could and my buddy tried his headset but nothing there. I was afraid it was an electrical problem and I didn't want to risk riding another 150 KM and possibly breaking down on a major highway in the rain, so the others went on and we unplugged our headsets and went back home. Once there (With my ears still ringing!) I started testing the system and by accident, discovered the problem - my wife had turned her volume up to max to make sure I could hear her over the extra noise from the rain and wet roads. I turned the main volume up as well and what we were getting was "feedback" from the intercom system! When it shrieked, I dropped the volume for the passenger and the noise stopped. It was worse with my IMC headsets than with the J&M set, which wasn't surprising since the IMC have always seemed to have a more sensitive microphone. Anyway, that's something else we'll have to watch in the future. Now I have to head to the doctor's to see just how badly I may have hurt my ears. My first bike with an audio system...it never occurred to me that this could happen. Yet another - painful - lesson. Oh yeah ... I was wearing some Icon waterproof Patrol gloves and they got thoroughly wet inside and out. It seems they have a design flaw - the waterproof liner is stitched to the inner and outer liner of the glove. Guess what happens when you poke dozens of little holes in a waterproof line - IT ISN'T WATERPROOF ANY MORE!! Fortunately they were still under warranty so I returned to the dealer and exchanged them for some Teknic gloves that have a tab all along the edge of their liner so that when it is sewn to the inner and outer layers, it doesn't get poked full of holes leading to the interior of the glove! Oh and our first time used, less than a year old Frogg Togg pants leaked at the seams and nicely wet our bottoms - such fun! Andy Consider getting Mic-mutes installed. That way you can cut off the mics when you are not using them. This will take care of all that extra noise coming through the mics. You can control the volume of the IC with the master control at the left pod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthandy Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share #6 Posted June 3, 2012 Thanks. I had already thought about the Mic-Mutes since I get a lot of wind noise from my wife's helmet through the intercom. That will be my next purchase after a Clearview windshield. I'm hoping the wider shield with the flip at the top will help to lessen the breeze hitting her back there and make things a bit more comfortable for her. And, that might drop the wind noise as a side benefit. Either way, the Mic-Mutes are on the "to do" list. Then, it's to decide the height of the windshield. The stock one is about 3 inches too tall for me to see over and as I discovered the first time I rode the bike in the rain, seeing through the shield is not fun. And when stopping (I know this is weird) it seems to cause me some balance problems. There's something about looking through a shield full of dots.... Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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