That's what I tried Daniel....
Too noisey for me but then I don't wear a full face helmet - just the standard style with a face shield. Maybe that's part of the problem.
That's almost certainly part of the problem. More significantly, what type of earbuds are you using? "Standard" I-pod style ones I wouldn't expect to hear anything from at any real speed. I've had good luck with these myself (using a flip-up style helmet, so the wind noise is somewhere in between a 3/4 and a full-face).
That's what I tried Daniel....
Too noisey for me but then I don't wear a full face helmet - just the standard style with a face shield. Maybe that's part of the problem.
That probably has something to do with it; the wind is probably riding right up into the helmet from under your chin. I use a full-face and I'd imagine that is the only difference in wind flow.
Is this just something I'll get better at as I gain experience?
Mirrors - among other things - are your friend!
I adjust the right mirror to give me a full up 180 view behind me. This unfortunately has a blind spot to the right rear.
I adjust the left mirror to pick up traffic coming up on me in the left lane that the right hand mirror eventually loses.
With this setup my only blind spot is just behind and to my right.
It has been my experience over 30 years that sight is your main situational awareness tool - 90% - with sound only coming into play when vehicles get within 10 to 20 yards or so. Keep your eyes open, use your mirrors. Changing lanes occasionally can help with situational awareness too.
On a MC SITUATIONAL AWARENESS is critical. When riding you are a target and one that is practically invisible to those in cars (though I've noticed that is becoming less so recently - why? Who knows). Ride like you're invisible or like you've got a target on your back and you'll do fine.
SCARED YET? Good. It gets better as you gain experience but DO NOT EVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN! You can get away with that in a car most of the time but on an MC it's a quick trip to the hospital if you're lucky and a trip to a 6' by 6' by 3' hole if you're not.
How much trouble do you guys run into as far as hearing what's going on around you (sirens, etc)? I still consider myself a new rider, so there's no way I'm adding music to the mix anytime soon, but I do find that with the full face helmet emergency vehicles seem to sneak up on me, and when I do hear the siren, it's a challenge to quickly figure out where the heck it is coming from while figuring out how the "cages" are going to react to it.
Is this just something I'll get better at as I gain experience?
I cant hear all that much anyways when I'm riding. With the wind noise and the bike itself there isnt much left over. I can actually hear more with earplugs than without as they tend to filter out the really loud sounds but leave the others more audible. It can be disorienting at first, but if you try it you can actually hear a heck of a lot more from the bike itself as well (induction, transmission, etc rather than just valvetrain and exhaust).
Sirens are a problem no matter what. The best way is just to keep your eyes out. Well, you could also just go fast enough they never catch up with you anyways, just make sure it isnt you that they are chasing Seriously though, emergency vehicles can sneak up on you, the same way as everything else on the road. The only thing you can do is keep your situational awareness up. Riding in the city is pretty much a condition orange affair at all times.
The IEMs look like a pretty good solution to having on-board music. I too am a cheap bastard and will not likely spend that much on sound, but its nice to know that there is an easy option.