Open face lid

[Limey]

Approx 35mph.




this is the reality of a low speed spill.

[EliziumS3]

I like HJC Carbon, but here's my thinking.

I ride a black bike, and I'm constantly adding more black to it.

I figure the least I can do is don a helmet so obnoxious somebody with a blood alchohol content higher than my shoe size might have a better chance of seeing my neon head streaming along.

I have no science to back this up, I'm working on gut here.

[OKCTriple]

I do wear one when riding the cruiser around town. On the highway I always where the full face. I have an HHC that the front half of the full face helmet swivels up out of the way like the lense. It is really handy, expecially when sitting in traffic on a hot day. I can just pop up the face and cool off a little. It is an awesome feature, you should look into one. As for the noise I have not noticed any more than other helmets I have used in the past.

[amberale]

Black helmets were made illegal here in Oz back in the eighties based on some pencil dick official deciding they were dangerous.

I seem to remember that an English or Canadian study was used to reverse the decision.

It seems that in modern cities the predominant background colours are beige and concrete and that black helmets actually stand out better than light colours.

No, I don't have the figures but the law was changed over here and I'm sure MRA australia would have the details.

Open face? Feels great for a while but I feel better with a full face. Lots of data backing open face helmets for less neck damage in accidents, but I'm sure "they" will come up with good reasons for air bags on bikes too.

AA

[Jhancock93061]

Originally Posted by 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.

That was very well put! IAm in totall agreement with you

[DGA]

Waaaaaaaaay too many bugs up here, in the North West US, to really even consider this. Plus when I die, I want to die good looking. Also when I look at someone with my matt black helmet with a mirror shield, they usually look away in a hurry.

In reality when you sustain facial damage from an accident your chances of living dramatically decrease, not the mention the trauma that ensues from bashing one of the most sensitive and delicate parts of your body to pieces. After all, your head houses all five of your senses, which four of those are contained only on your head/face. Why would you want to compromise that?

[13]

Originally Posted by DGA

...your head houses all five of your senses, which four of those are contained only on your head/face. Why would you want to compromise that?

Not to mention the 6th sense, elements of which come in handy during heavy traffic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra-sensory_perception

[DGA]

Originally Posted by 13

Not to mention the 6th sense, elements of which come in handy during heavy traffic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra-sensory_perception

I usually feel that sense is my groin area.

[Jhancock93061]

Originally Posted by DGA

Waaaaaaaaay too many bugs up here, in the North West US, to really even consider this. Plus when I die, I want to die good looking. Also when I look at someone with my matt black helmet with a mirror shield, they usually look away in a hurry.

In reality when you sustain facial damage from an accident your chances of living dramatically decrease, not the mention the trauma that ensues from bashing one of the most sensitive and delicate parts of your body to pieces. After all, your head houses all five of your senses, which four of those are contained only on your head/face. Why would you want to compromise that?

The main problem I have with that is that the hermetically sealed full helmet cuts down on your vision as well your hearing! both are major factors in preventing accidents

[Bohdan]

Originally Posted by Jhancock93061

The main problem I have with that is that the hermetically sealed full helmet cuts down on your vision as well your hearing! both are major factors in preventing accidents

That's obvious BS:
- You can hear in the helmet as well as without. Above certain speed the only thing you hear is wind noise. If you have loud pipes you don't use your hearing at all.
- There were several studies that your hearing is completely useless as defensive sense in traffic - it is deceiving, source of sound rarely could be pinpointed in any helpful way etc (that was MCN article about it once).
- Unless you are wearing paper bag with holes for looking through your vision is as good with as without full face. If this was impairment that jeopardizes your safety, would it be DOT approved and required by law? How about these idiots racing in them - they don't need full vision?

These are old Harley riders excuses. I even heard justification on riding in tanktop and shorts (heat is impairing my concentration), as well as sneakers instead of decent bike boots (if I had these on when I hit the curb riding wide in turn, I would seriously hurt my leg, while sneaker just fell off and I just had few scratches).
You're adult, you have right to choose what you wear and how much you risk. If you need BS to convince yourself don't try to evangelize it.