Open face lid

[johnnycactus]

a roof boxer sorta gives you a feel of both worlds, BUT i don't think i'd get another.
in fact i only got my existing one because a friend was selling it, mint condition, £20. My lid had seen better days and i was strapped for cash.

the fit is superb (for me) but ventilation is terrible, in fact non existant.
essentially an open face with a chin guard- dubious about strength in a smash up.

the plastic pop fasteners that secure chin piece were forever popping open and in fact one snapped. i ended up drilling them out and making thick leather ones that always stay on and are far more flexible. also won't go brittle and snap.

the two bolts that hold the chin piece to the lid are for ever coming loose, due to the continual 'up and down' of chin piece. lock tite sorted that.

a few niggles, but bearable. had it a year now. for £20 can't complain, would be annoyed if i had paid full whack!!!

[EliziumS3]

I dunno, I don't like taking any chances with my head.

And, as far as I understand from recent print mag articles, SNELL means a whole lotta nuthin...

I have this on order...

Shoei X-11 Byrne


He IS a British racer, afterall...

[FarsideMichael]

I ride in Africa and would not even think about getting on my Trip without a full face. My face may be ugly but I don't need it any uglier than it is.

My full face Arai is just the dogs b..........s :upthumb:

[R100Pilot]

Yeah, Golf - I probably wouldn't get away with the pinup helmet at my job, either. Sure is sweet, though. I like that carbon fiber thing too, but too pricey - the Icon Domain is lookin' real good at the moment. I say we all make an impulse buy!

[WildBill]

Nobody I know wants to be in an accident,but they happen and they happen fast.I'd rather be hot and uncomfortable than have my face ground off.Bees bouncing off your cheek at 100 mph aren't pleasant either.

[Golfinc]

On 2006-07-07 06:40, R100Pilot wrote:
Yeah, Golf - I probably wouldn't get away with the pinup helmet at my job, either. Sure is sweet, though. I like that carbon fiber thing too, but too pricey - the Icon Domain is lookin' real good at the moment. I say we all make an impulse buy!

I did...............an '03 Speed Triple!

On 2006-07-06 18:52, rudebwoy85 wrote:

Just ordered it....****** me and my impuse purchases. Saw it and hadda have it. Hell I dont even need another helmet, my SHOEi is working just fine.

That's Ramen soup and sugar water for another week..

Congrats! Let us know how it is. As far as it being expensive, I don't think so. Suomy, Arai, & Shoei are expensive. This KBC can be picked up for around $320 at new enough.

[Limey]

I was wearing that HJC when I took my slide. its a nice lid.

[sabocat]

There are a lot of variables with crashing of course (like whether or not you are a cackhanded spaz like me). But alot can happen when you crash. A footpeg can go in your ear or your nose can get caught in the chain and sawed off in the sprocket. In this case, my rear tire, with RPMs for about 85 MPH, hit me in the face and snapped my head so hard my neck was sore for weeks. I can't figure out how to upload the image, but here is the link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33823091@N00/184314608/



[ This message was edited by: sabocat on 2006-07-07 15:02 ]

[R100Pilot]

Okay, on accounta it's Friday and I have no gig and I have had the pleasure of TWO Fin du Mondes (French Canadian brew, by Unibroue in Quebec - they do exceptional stuff if you haven't tried it)... here's my thread-killing ramble...

It's a matter of how much risk you're willing to accept.

I've been down twice (actually, hit, by left-turners). Both times wearing a full-face helmet. It never got a scratch. My legs were another matter.

How much risk is acceptable?

Every year, you read of some skydiver dying. But that has not stopped me from hurling myself out of a Cessna 172 on several occasions, both tandem and solo. Tossing yourself out of a perfectly good aircraft might seem stupid to some, but the experience is worth the risk. Do you feel the same? Maybe.

I live on the gulf coast. Every year, you hear stories of people getting shark-bit in three feet of water. Is that going to keep you from swimming? Maybe.

A wrong step can send you tripping down a flight of stairs. Does that mean you're never going to go on stairs? Maybe.

Frozen poo might fall from an airliner and come through the roof and kill ya. Does that mean you oughta invest in a steel roof? Maybe.

When I was a kid, once the wheel was invented, we rode bicycles. If you had told us we had to wear a helmet to do so, we would have thought you were nuts. We got skinned knees, bumped heads and somehow managed to survive. But nowadaze, if your kid is riding without a helmet and what seems like full body armor, you are a Bad Parent. Go figure.

We live in a litigous society, and one which seems to want to blame others for our own mistakes.

It's time to take some responsibility.

I'm reminded of a phrase I heard concerning writers like Faulkner and Joyce, whose prose was - to say the least - somewhat twisted. You gotta know the rules to break the rules.

I've ridden for decades. I know the rules, and knowing the risks, I decide what I'm comfortable with.

Believe it or not, there are people out there who think you are stone crazy for even throwing a leg over a motorcycle. And some of those people would like to outlaw 'em altogether. They say that even you, Mr. Expert, with your MSF advanced course and your Keith Code Superbike School certificate and your collection of instructional videos and your full leathers, full-face helmet and body armor, are an IDIOT for getting on a motorcycle because no matter what you do, your viscous sack of bones and organs is no match for a two and a half ton SUV.

And if you buy a bike with 128 claimed horsepower and a short wheelbase that turns on a dime and threatens to loop you over if you crack the throttle even halfway open... well, that's just stupid too.

Sound familiar?

If you ride a bike, you're taking a risk. We are no match for even the meagerest Geo Metro.

Knowing that, you decide what risk you're willing to accept. You might increase your chances of survival with full leathers and armor. But then you run up against that bargain you make with the Risk Devil - is it really something I enjoy, now that I'm hermetically sealed?

We ride motorcycles because it's fun. Practically speaking, we should all be driving a Prius. So... everyone must decide their own balance point between risk and reward. And we need to recognize that it's a personal choice and quit sniping at each other over it.

I don't think those who wear full protective gear are chickensh*t. Pretty smart, in fact. I do think those who ride Gixxers in shorts and flip flops are asking for trouble - I believe they are ignorant of the risks, newbies who make the rest of us look bad.

My personal comfort level is somewhere between. I have ridden without a helmet, and loved it, even at high speed. But it was on the open road, in the traffic-less moonscape of Oklahoma, where the chances of going down were only slightly more than the chance of getting hit by frozen poo from a passing airliner.

I always wear boots and long pants. Almost always gloves.

In summer, I wear a half-shell and goggles in traffic. If I'm on a fast ride with friends, I jacket-up in decent mesh gear and wear race gloves with carbon-fiber armor. In winter, I'm in a full-face helmet and leather, with the best da*m winter gloves ever made - Tourmaster Cold Front Carbons.

I've ridden in rain, snow, ice, and heat. I've been to the emergency room and done my time on crutches. And I still ride. Some people call that being stupid. But I know the risks. I just call it being a motorcyclist.

That said, that KBC carbon is pretty bitchen, ain't it.