My new favorite earplugs are the Laserlite model made by Howard Leight.

Here's a link to the Laserlite earplugs at LabSafety and Supply. $22 for a box of 200 pairs.

They're more comfortable, easier to put in, last longer, and have better sound protection than the Pura-Fit below. Oh, yea, they're cheaper, too.

Part of the reason the old ones don't agree with me as much could be because they're getting old, they actually have an expiration date on them. It seems like they're esmaller and stiffer than they used to be, but I don't have a new one to compare them to. I remember them being quite nice when I first got them.

These are the earplugs I bought first, but I'm not so hot on them anymore. They can be bought from www.labsafety.com for less than $30 for a box of 200 pairs.

They're made by Moldex, the model is "Pura-Fit 6800".

here is a link to the specific product, the picture shows corded earplugs, but the ones I got don't have the cord.

The box lists them at 31dB. http://www.labsafety.com/store/product.asp?dept_id=12625&pf_id=1191

here's the Mean attenuation data table that came off the side of the box.

NRR=31 Decibels
Tested according to ANSI Specs S3.19-1974
Frequency (Hz)
125
250
500
1000
2000
3150
4000
6300
8000
Mean Attenuation (dB)
32.8
34.7
37.9
38.1
38.6
42.8
44.6
44.7
43.9
Standard Deviation (dB)
4.0
3.8
3.1
3.0
2.9
2.9
3.6
4.1
4.6

I have found that even on a noisy bike wind noise overcomes bike noise even at moderate speeds. There was some diescussion on the HawkGT list about the relative dangers of low frequency noise, and the inadiquacy of hearing protection in that range. I'm not so worried about low-frequency noises as I rarely ride with the bike below 2000 rpm, and wind noise is much higher frequency than that.

My subjective experience is that they make my Hawk on the highway noisier than my car, but not much, and certainly queiter than many other cars.

The last time I rode without earplugs I coundn't imagine how people do it, it's way too loud for me.

Here's a chart that compares the sound absorbtion of some earplug brands and models.

some light reading:
www.howardleight.com/Industrial/education/Attenuation.html
www.howardleight.com/Industrial/education/NoiseLevelsAndFrequency.html
www.earplugco.com/
www.elvex.com/