From: utzoo!decvax!duke!harpo!zeppo!mes
Newsgroups: net.cycle
Title: Re: headphones and helmets - (nf)
Article-I.D.: zeppo.304
Posted: Fri Sep  3 11:34:00 1982
Received: Mon Sep  6 01:41:49 1982

#R:cbosgd:-258500:zeppo:6700006:000:1580
zeppo!mes    Sep  3 11:31:00 1982

Mark, I have thought about using my Sony FM Walkman in my helmet for
a long, long time. I live near Succasunna, NJ, about 30 mi from NYC, but
close enuf so that most NYC radio stations are full quieting. My
NAVA helmet has enuf clearance from earpiece to ear, so that I can just
and I mean just, snake the Sony headfones upside down in the right place.
Sound quality? OK, but the Sony doesn't have enuf oomph (ie, watts) to drive
enuf loudness to overcome a Kawasaki 750 twin at 5000 rpm (about 65 mph)
on Rt 80... you can still hear it, but not all that well. However, at 4000
rpm and below (ie, 50 mph and down 5th gear), there are no problems at all,
and I really enjoy riding along with music, but knowing that I am not
blasting everyone in a three mile radius totally away, as the fairing radios
tend to do...
   As far as permanent mounting is concerned, I would be careful about doing
anything to the helmet, to avoid damaging structural integrity. For example,
just drilling a mounting hole to mount the earpiece would totally change the
stress behaviour of the helmet...
  Road sounds have never been a problem - I still hear horns, sirens and the
like, mainly because the Sony doesn't have enuf power to totally drown anything
out, and the headfones are, as you know, very open air...
  Has anybody else done this????
                             Mike Sajor, BTL Whippany NJ 201-386-4409
                             zeppo!mes

PS - legality? who knows? I assume that this is ok, but only my local
     magistrate knows for sure (maybe)...Does anyone know definitively?