The Sonic Battlefield: Overcoming Wind Noise and Open-Air Acoustics on a Motorcycle

Riding a motorcycle is a sensory overload. The vibration of the engine, the rush of the wind, the texture of the road. Introducing music into this chaotic environment is not a simple task of “adding speakers.” It is an act of war against physics.

The Kuryakyn 2720 MTX Road Thunder Sound Bar Plus is a weapon designed for this specific battlefield. Unlike car audio, which benefits from a sealed cabin (pressure vessel gain), motorcycle audio fights in the open air. It faces two relentless enemies: Wind Noise and the Inverse Square Law.

This article explores the Free-Field Acoustics of riding, the psychoacoustics of Masking, and why raw power (300 Watts) and specific frequency tuning are the only ways to win.

The Enemy: Wind Noise and Turbulance

Wind noise is not linear. As your speed doubles, wind noise power increases by a factor of roughly eight. At 70 mph, the sound pressure level (SPL) inside a helmet can exceed 100 dB.
This noise is primarily Broadband, but it has a heavy concentration in the low-to-mid frequencies. * The Masking Effect: In psychoacoustics, a loud sound (wind) will render a quieter sound (music) inaudible, especially if they share the same frequency. The wind effectively “eats” the bass and lower mids of your music.

To be heard, a sound system must punch through this noise floor. It needs to produce SPLs well above 100 dB just to be intelligible. This is why the Kuryakyn 2720 boasts 300 Watts of Peak Power. It isn’t about showing off; it’s about survival. The amplifier needs that headroom to deliver clean transients (snare hits, vocals) without clipping when the volume is cranked to max to compete with the highway.

The Open-Air Problem: Where Did the Bass Go?

In a car or a room, walls reflect sound, reinforcing the bass. On a bike, you are in a Free Field. Sound waves leave the speaker and travel forever, never returning. * The Inverse Square Law: Sound intensity drops by 6 dB for every doubling of distance. Without containment, bass energy dissipates rapidly.

This is why user reviews often note a “lack of bass.” It is physically impossible for small 2” x 3” drivers to pressurize the open atmosphere to create deep sub-bass.
Instead, the Kuryakyn 2720 is tuned for Mid-High Projection. It employs four 1-inch Silk Dome Tweeters. High frequencies are more directional (they beam like a flashlight) and carry the “information” of the music (vocals, melody). By focusing energy on these frequencies, the sound bar ensures you can hear the song’s core, even if the sub-bass is lost to the wind.

Directionality: The Cone of Sound

Because you can’t fill the room (the world), you must aim the sound. The Kuryakyn 2720 is designed to mount on the handlebars, positioning the drivers directly in front of the rider. * On-Axis Response: Speakers sound loudest and clearest when pointed directly at the ears. The adjustable clamps allow the rider to tilt the bar, aiming the “sweet spot” at their helmet. * Stereo Separation: By spreading the drivers across a 10.6-inch bar, it attempts to maintain some stereo image, though at highway speeds, the brain mostly perceives a mono “wall of sound.”

Conclusion: Engineering for the Ride

The Kuryakyn 2720 acknowledges the brutal reality of motorcycle acoustics. It doesn’t pretend to be a hi-fi living room system. It is a high-SPL, mid-forward projection system designed to cut through the chaos of the open road.

It prioritizes Intelligibility over Fidelity, ensuring that when you twist the throttle, your soundtrack doesn’t just fade away—it roars with you.