I don't listen to music when I'm riding, do you? But when I'm planning a trip, looking at maps, guidebooks, looking up roads on the Internet, I love exploring traveling music at the same time. A while back I discovered Pandora.com – an Internet radio site that lets you put in the name of the artist and it plays that artist and artists with similar sounds. Today my friend Peter told me about last.fm, a similar site that will either just play the artist you ask it to play, or do what Pandora does and play like artists, too. I'm digging Leo Kottke right now, a legendary acoustic guitar virtuoso that I discovered via Pandora a few months ago. I really can't get enough of his music.
I know some people who listen to music when they ride. Personally, I don't. I like being immersed in the place that I'm in, totally. But I think Kottke would make good road trip music while riding a motorcycle. My Sony Ericsson cell phone is a double-duty phone and Walkman. If I had a data plan I could probably stream Pandora or Last.FM on it while I'm riding. Kind of a cool idea. Maybe one day I'll get high-tech on my motorcycles. For now, I leave it to my desktop.
Do you listen to music while you ride? Maybe you use an iPod or you have one of those super-high-tech helmets wired for sound and phone and your pillion riders advice on where to turn. Or maybe you're like me – old school. I'd like to hear your thoughts.
I listen to music or audio books all the time when riding or driving in the car. On the bike I have the choice of XM satellite radio, AM/FM, or iPod music. I personally find it very relaxing to have the sounds in the background.
When riding my dual sport, generally I don’t listen to music as I’m pretty focused on my surroundings and the challenges this type of riding brings.
I am old school, nothing in my ears, the cell phone is turned off in my jacket. If I have to do a lot of highways I may use ear plugs, but I don’t really like that either because if I cant remove them before getting into the city, I become paranoid in the traffic.
My significant other and I ride two-up all over the west. She captains the bike, while I navigate, photograph and DJ via iPod. I love blending landscapes and riding environments with music. We listen to a wide range of sounds from 70’s classic rock (Steve Miller Band, Elton John, ELO, Doobie Bros) to classical (Beethoven, Steve Reich) to electronica (Underworld, Ulrich Schanuss, William Orbit) to alt rock, alt country, folk. Our theme song is Yes’s “Roundabout” which gets played at least once a trip to mutual hoots of glee. And if you ever pass a bike where the pillion is dancing from the waist up — it’s probably me.
Funny when I ride I here the music of the road, it may be a old Kottke tune or some Little Feat, there is always some SteppenWolf and Stones tunes I hear while I scoot on down the road.
Ride Safe and Loud.
I’ve got a cell phone like yours. I also have a bluetooth-enabled MP3 player.
I pick one or the other to pair with my Camos Bluetooth headset in my helmet and jam all the time.
I think it adds to the riding experience. I also think it keeps me alert, especially when I am out of cruise mode and I’m trying to make some miles on the superslab.
I think it’s especially funny when I’m really into the music and start “chair dancing” or air drumming on the bike. The song ends and I get self conscious… then look around to see some pie-eyed cager wondering what variety of crack I’m on.
I have a Victory Vision, which is great for secondary road cruising and fantastic for touring. I don’t ride the thing to anywhere near its limits. I stay with traffic and don’t push the turns. Hence I have room in my frontal cortex for the extra input. If things get busy, slippery or otherwise hazardous, I turn it off. Most sport bikers I see seem to be riding closer to the edge and may get more out of plain riding, making music unecessary and perhaps even dangerous.
I also listen to comedy (ripped from cds by Larry the cable guy, Bob & Tom or WDVE).
Music has a safety feature, but I REALLY think that it simply enhances my riding experience.
I never ride without music. I find that it enhances the experience greatly. Plus with the added foam tips on the Etymotic Er6i headphones it always gives me ear protection. I think my video below demonstrates how music plays a part in my riding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceMd6MkHJ68