| Author | Message | ||
     Jsunstar |
i have 2 helmets. one open one full. we HAVE to wear them in PA but i still wear one when i go out of state... i think it should be your choice to decide to wear one or not but i will always wear one... i like my brains in my head, not on the front of a cager that wasnt paying attention... JH P burgh | ||
| Jmartz |
JB2: The style of the state is not just Buells but mostly good controllable sport or sport touring bikes and yes the thing to do here is to go to the mountains and ride hard. The best bike for the freeways would be a hot in line 4 to accelerate down on ramps. The thought of not wearing a helmet in Atlanta has never crossed my mind but mainly because the state penalty is up to $1000 fine and 1 year in jail. As to the cars and the traffic, I agree they are scary, but if you come down, no safety equipment is going to help you. The other morning as I was gong to work a rider ahead of me got caught between a car and the side rail and was kiilled. I wonder if the helmet helped him. It may have helped his mother show him in an open casket. | ||
| Blake |
Come on JMartz, "...if you (go) down, no safety equipment is going to help you." That just isn't true. Safety equipment isn't a majic shield against death or serious injury, but it sure as heck does improve your chances of living and escaping serious injury in a motorcycle wreck. For example. I personally witnessed a crash where a guy was run off the road and into a steel signpost. The signpost caught the bike between the wheel and left fork throwing the rider headlong and sideways. The steel post, a channel/hat section with exposed edges, took a chunk out of the guy's helmet where his right temple would have otherwise been. He was knocked unconcious for a few moments, but managed recover, repair the bike, and ride home albeit with a few broken ribs and a bent left fork. Had he been without helmet, he'd have died on the spot, no question. His skull would have been split like a ripe mellon at a Samurai family reunion. I have to admit, among the stifling mass of cruisers and total absence of bugs in the air at Sturgis in '98, I did enjoy riding helmetless. Putting along at granny-like pace, nice sunny day, no cars, thousands of biker brothers, I felt comfortable stashing the lid on the pillion. Try not to let your justified objections to mandatory helmet laws skew your better judgment. You sound as stubborn and, ahem, "hard-headed"  as me. | ||
| Henrik |
Stats: well the usefullness of the kind of statistics demonstrated at the top of the topic is limited to showing more x-mas trees are sold during December than March - i.e. bogus. If one thinks that even related factors are just cumulative and can be added/subtracted/multiplied as one likes - well, then one probably shouldn't be spouting statistics  This is the stuff urban legend and old wives tales are made of. I always wear a full face helmet. Didn't use to, but a couple of "accross the doubble yellow" excursions in tight turns on the old Lowrider (trying to keep up with my friend on a CBR600F2 - foolish) got me thinking. Two spills on the track - both relatively slow lowsides in right hand turns - have the scuff marks to prove it a smart choice. I wouldn't have been my own beautiful self wo/ a helmet. And of course 3 years of working in an ER kinda drives home the point also ;-| I agree the choice should be free, but my choice will always be to wear a helmet. Henrik (when it comes to protective gear I'm a "belt & suspenders" kinda guy) | ||
| Gomo |
I was once a rider that believed all the "Facts" given by the anti-lid lobby. After a few years of speaking with EMS folks and hearing & seeing results of those who went down without a helmet, my opinion changed. Although I still believe we as riders should have the freedom of choice, I choose now to wear a full face all the time. Here is a simple test for those that still aren't sure about helmets. Have them put on a helmet and then give the helmet a light to medium tap with a baseball bat. After that, ask them to try the same test without the helmet. | ||
| Newfie_Buell |
I am a firm believer in the full face helmet. In a previous life I was involved in accident investigations and saw many bike accidents. The majority of them involved head injuries and death. It seems that poeple don't consider ATV (3-wheelers & quads) motorcycles and don't wear helmets. In most cases death would not have been the case if the rider was wearing one. Ever since I can remember my mother always made me wear one (thanks Mom), if not the bike would not leave the shed. My kids have dirt bikes and they are made to wear them too, now they automatilcally get their helmets before the bikes are even started. Personally, I don't feel comfortable moving a bike without a helmet, not even on a bicycle. As for a motorcycle I would not get on one without a proper helmet, gloves, jacket, pants and boots. Without proper gear its just as well to ride NAKED. Without a helmet it just don't feel right. Safe Riding Bill | ||
| Raymaines |
Spike: I'll go you one better about the typical Skull Cap helmet offering zero protection. I think they actually cause injury! When your head hits the ground the Bean Pot helmet rolls around on your head exposing your face to the street and then rips into your top side ear and cheek. Ouch and double ouch. Besides all of that, the wind noise and bug splats are more trouble than the "freedom" of being out in the wind is worth at anything more than about 25MPH (that's 40 Canadian). If you think your full face helmet is loud, try riding without it. Yes, I wear a helmet. I wore one when Washington State didn't have a helmet law and I'd wear one if the law were repealed. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve never owned or ridden a chopper or cruiser and have never been to a rally like Datona or Sturges but if I did I just might very well ride without a helmet. If you can call that sort of thing ridding. | ||
| Dynodave |
Its about comfort and safety. Even out here in California, it gets a mite chilly and maybe even a bit wet as well when I gear up in the morning to go to work. So full face it is. In the summertime, for a short trip I will opt for a Chopper Helmet (WW2 German Plastic); it's quick and comfy and I note that even the US military helmets look like this time tested design now. On long trips and on the perilous morning and evening commutes its full face and armored leathers regardless of the weather. I also like to run fairly loud pipes; I would likely run a Glass Pack on an inline bike if I had one. | ||
| FB |
JB2, i am duly humbled (with a huge s.e. grin on my face :-) why (sputter! stammer!), you just wait 'til September.......... re: Sturgis, well yes you certainly CAN call that sort of thing riding (but not ridding :-) seriously, the Sturgis area indeed has a butt-load of scooters during the rally, but my goodness it's plenty easy to get away from the masses if'n you want to. the Black Hills are gorgeous, fairly vast, and truly worthy of the visit. i didn't plan on riding lidless during my first visit there, but it seemed like the right thing to do whilst profiling back and forth on Main Street. then, it started to seem like a good idea on the ride south to Mount Rushmore (and, lo, it was!) it was NOT a good thing, however, trying to hang with then Rapid City resident and reasonably famous Buell hotshoe Roger Roeszler on the way out to Nemo (see "Ride with Fast Salt" in an old Thunder Press). after several miles of triple digits and bovines on the centerline, my lack of helmet (and jacket...and gloves...and...) gave me cause for great concern (that, and the fact that RR was spankin' my ass :-) if i could, here in the Republik of Kalafornia, i'd ride without a helmet at times, when the mood and conditions seemed right--i mean, that oughta be my choice. like Newfie_Buell, however, i'd feel plenty nude without one on ANY of the sportbike group rides i've ever been on. ride to lean, Ferris | ||
| Jmartz |
Blake: Do you really believe a full armored riding outfit will protect a fallen rider when a car taveling on the freeway at 80 mph is slow to react and plows into him? Sure proper gear is adequate for wipeouts but if a rider impacts a solid object, even at moderate speeds, like Arnold says: "Hasta la vista baby" | ||
| Jb2 |
It's a fact that every piece of safety equipment has it's limitations. If you were to make yourself invincible to everything rolling down the pike you couldn't get on the bike to ride it. By the same token there's not one shred of evidence that riding lidless will save your life. I know too many people that are riding today because they were wearing a lid in a past crash. People who ride with out a lid should just be honest and say they do it because they "WANT" to. No amount of debate or pursuasion on their part will ever convince someone like me that it isn't just plain nuts to go helmetless. JB2 (FB1, good to see you out of lurk mode. Now quit slinging shit or you'll be in the corner on a time out! :-) | ||
| Mark_In_Ireland |
Yes, and the damage caused by the crashes I've had concludes I probably wouldn't be here now or at least have a very disfigured face. | ||
| Jmartz |
JB2: I agree. I want to and I can't and that sucks. The Vortex, our local biker bar, is just 1 mile from my house and we all go there in leathers and full face helmets. I would like to wear a tee shirt and flip flops. One thing is certain, and I have said this a thousand times, helmets are an issue where there is a law mandating their use, everywhere else nobody cares or even thinks about it. Those who want to wear them do and those who don't don't. Jose | ||
| Jmartz |
DAYTONA 2001 This was the first time in over 30 years that Bike Week was helmet law free. I made this interesting observation: More often than not those who were wearing helmets had license plates from states where they were not allowed to ridw w/o one. Ga and NC riders were quite common and most of them had lids on. Interesting thing, my beloved home state, allows lidless riding in parades. Cute isn't it? Jose | ||
| Buellistic |
Fell today and slide down the road on the face of my SHOEI X-9(sure scratched it up). Wearing: Draging Jeans Sweatshirt Complete Rain suit THE CLOTHS ARE TRASHED!!!!! GLOVES & BOOTHS AOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRIDE HURT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In buelling BUELLISTIC and/or Hardley-Harley |
