Preferred Tunes!

Alright...so I know you cats have good taste in bikes, which means you MUST have good taste in music.

What are your preferred tunes when you're on your xj...or anywhere, for that matter?

 

I'm a younger riding so excuse my ignorance, bands : thrice, la dispute, the dear hunter, Manchester orchestra, gas light anthem, angels and airwaves, august burns red, the Beatles , cold war kids.

 

Awesome!

 

I like to jam Talking Heads (especially Remain in Light), any and all Collins era Genesis, Peter Gabriel (only sans-Genesis), Electric Light Orchestra's "TIme," King Crimson's "Discipline," all Doobie Bros. (including the Michael Mcdonald years), Terry Reid "Seed of Memory" --- Just to name a few...

 

Every time I had tried listening to music while riding I feel like I can't hear when a vehicle is coming up on me, or if some one is near me.. Idk, I just feel uneasy about it. You guys don't get that?

 

Nope, I blast my music. Haha. I'm usually the one doing the passing though.

 

Listening to music while riding in city traffic would be a death sentence.

It's actually a bad idea anywhere; you HAVE to remain in "fighter pilot mode" (full situational awareness at all times) or DIE.

IN THE CAGE, however, or elsewhere:

Jefferson Airplane
Cream
The first King Crimson album (I said "album" there's a clue)
MC5
Midnight Oil
Moody Blues
Jimi Hendrix
The Who
Pretenders
Stan Rogers
Flogging Molly.

Fitz=old. And on two wheels, my music comes from my motor. (That's one way to get to actually BE old.)

 

Yeah. NOT cool.

You've been riding HOW LONG? On the street how long?

I've been doing it for over 43 years; could be I know a little something about surviving on two wheels.

You're WAY not experienced enough to be "processing" a distraction like that if the situation suddenly goes all pear-shaped; you'll get hurt, or worse. Despite what you may think, you're not invincible.

Leave the iPod at home for a couple of YEARS, or 10,000 miles. Whichever comes first.

I STILL won't listen to music on the bike; but then again, I'm still around.

Think about it.

 

Flogging Molly fitz, thats cool- drop kick murphys, too?

I dig the Misfits, Nekromantix, Rancid, Social D, and of course the Irish punk

 

ear plugs, so i can talk to myself

 

I appreciate it fitz, honestly. I agree completely. what my post didn't include was where I ride with music, I don't always. I only ride with music when I ride from farm to farm. Not a whole ton of cars, just lots of farm equipment. I wouldn't ever ride on the free way with music. Especially cause I have only been riding street bikes for 2 months. Dirt bikes is another story. Honestly I thank you for looking out for other riders, it's pretty cool I look up to that. Is my excuse a good one? Nah, but eh it's my life. I'm just 21 and still bullet proof in my head. But thanks for the comment I'll think about it when I hop on my bike next time.

 

Yeah Fitz, that first crimson album is the most bada$$, but there's something about Adrian Belew that just takes it over the top for me. If you haven't heard that album, Discipline, you should check it out. Tony Levin plays bass on it, too. That man is a genius.

 

Riding a motorcycle is all about how much risk you want to take. Where you ride, how fast, how you maintain your vehicle, what gear you do or do not ride with --- and riding with music is no different. Depends on your state of mind, skill, and level of awareness, and how much of a lucky punk you feel like.

Sometimes I'll ride with music, but never with in-ear buds (those stupid canal ones that molest your eardrum), and only at a level to where it compliments the ride, not drowns out all other sounds. I'd still be able to hear someone talking to me, and my music device has a volume knobule that is easily accessible.

Anyways, I've always been musically eclectic. Most times I'll just turn on Pandora and quick mix it. This should tell you everything you need to know...

 

I go anywhere in the spectrum depending on my mood.... i range from:
Classical, my favorites being cello suites by bach
rock-n-roll, anything like gaslight anthem(+1 Jason), bruce, the nightwatchmen,
old school outlaw country, merl haggard, cash et al.
punk-rock, the unseen, the decendants, anti-flag, pennywise, rise against etc
hardcore, blood for blood, first blood, madball, etc.
ska, less than jake, streetlight manifesto, etc.
hahahahah or anything else that tickles my fancy
i like my tunes for nighttime riding most of all, and i listen almost every time i go out, but i keep it to a lower volume in town, i have a nice little controller for my head phones that i clip into the bottom of my ipod... i actually like the in canal buds, because they function as ear plugs when i dont have music...

 

60's- present minus the hip hop rap crap. Some modern country is OK . The 80's rocked! I listen to the radio a lot when wrenching. I tried earbuds when rideing and it had to be loud to hear anything and gave it up. I agree, the best bike stereo is the twin pipes. 4-1's are cool too.

 

No way! Fitz listens to MC5 and steps into the court of the Crimson King??? I would have never guessed.

Listen to Budgie, Warhorse, or Uriah Heep?

 

On longer rides, I use earplugs to protect (what remains of) my hearing from the wind noise.

On shorter, <20 minute rides, I sometimes don't bother, although I really should

I've tried earbuds, and back in the day I grafted a pair of headphone speakers into a helmet, but I find the experience somehow detracts from, rather than enhances, my ride.

Hell, I rarely listen to music when in the cage!

I guess I'm happier with the music of the road, the wind, and the engine

At home I blast the Allman Brothers, Pink Floyd, maybe some Led Zep, AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steely Dan, various blues, and sometimes mellow vocals like Norah Jones, from my old school Kenwood/JBL setup.

 

I have seen the unseen, they are seeable.

 

I have the same issue, it almost henders me. I love music, but I have to hear my bike. I am uneasy if I can't hear things around me or the engine.

 

Dude; I grew up in the Detroit area. You know the album cover from the first MC5 album, with the pics of the band superimposed over the audience, a bunch of still relatively clean-cut suburban neo-hippies? That picture was taken when the recording was made, at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Halloween 1968. I'm one of those kids sitting on the floor.

The MC5 is a permanent part of my psyche. I have TWO copies of the original M*F* version of that album, with the unedited album cover as well. They pulled the record three days after it was released and re-released the cleaned-up version. They removed all the inflammatory political rhetoric from the inside of the album jacket too. The original's a hoot.

And as for Uriah Heep, only the early stuff was any good; but it was GREAT. Then they tried to get "commercial" and that was that.

 

My tastes fluctuate depending on mood...
Obscure/mainstream 80's metal,
Progressive rock ala Genesis, Yes, ELP, King Crimson Kansa etc...
90's Dishwalla, Gin Blossoms, Tonic, Alice in Chains etc...
Anything Chris Cornell touchess lol
John Mayer, City and Color..

just a rough idea, never on the bike though, fully agree with Fitz'assessment

And Fitz ..... Stan Rogers? ever make it up this way for the festival?

 

Not yet, but it would be a good destination. Something about his voice and lyrics just strikes a chord with me. Another great talent lost too soon.

 

So very true. It seems like most of these band's best works were their first album or two. Perhaps it was the 80s that destroyed good music

See, you don't have to be "old" to listen to good music.

 

Ah crap. How could i forget about "The Dan?" I'm a bad fan...

Favorite album...?

 

Only ONE?

Volunteers, Jefferson Airplane.

 

I haven't been listening while riding long. Just playing around with the bluetooth functionality of my Scala com system.
At work we have a thing about what kinds of music are acceptable no matter how much we enjoy them. ACDC is about as hard as we rock since when the Metallica and Slipknot get going all the nuts and bolts mysteriously get torqued too tight and parts get clamp marks in them from overtightening vices. I carry this to riding music. Keep it on Airborne Toxic Event, Kings of Leon etc.
Out on some far off hwys I'll cut loose with Tech N9ne, Kottonmouth Kings, Ozzie, Rammstein, Manson though I don't recommend it. The darn speedo needle just keeps sneaking up and up.
Keep the volume down but really, my exhaust is obnoxiously, retardedly loud so I'm not losing an situational awareness due to the noise coming from inside my helmet.
I'm gonna keep at it for another week or two then go back to without and see how I feel about it. Just like any other potentially distracting activity it's paramount to catch yourself if your mind wanders. unacceptable.

 

You mean that you DON'T like the second grade level rhymes?


Pollack's got it right though....it's amazing how much the noise can fatigue you when riding. My ear plugs drown out all the "right" noise without blinding me to the "wrong" noise, and they leave me arriving fresh and awake.

Like others, I'm pretty eclectic with my music and my little mp3 player is mostly loaded with old school rock to keep me fired up but the music only comes on when the road is long and empty....usually with several hundred miles stretching in front of me.

jeff

 

I have to respectfully disagree with such a blanket statement.

If you are listening to music at an obscene volume where you cannot hear anything but the music, I'd have to agree with you... but if the volume is low enough to allow you to hear your surroundings, I don't think it's a safety issue. I can't claim to have the riding experience you have (which is why I respect your opinion on the topic), however I think my 17 years riding experience allows me a pretty decent opinion here (which just so happens to differ in this case).

Cheers

 

I feel the same way. I have never listened to music loud enough where I couldn't hear the vehicles around me. I feel ear plugs would be much more of a hazard

I can understand the reasoning though. But a good sounding motor will typically make me sleepy

 

I'm too new to riding to feel comfortable with tunes in. I'd probably enjoy it for the first minute or so, and then it would make me so nervous that'd I'd have to pull over and turn it off.