| Author | Message | ||
     Garyz28 |
I went out for a ride yesterday morning. I got out to the main road and accelerated up to about 40 mph following about 50 yards behind the car up ahead. Suddenly what appeared to be a rock about the length and width of my thumb came out of nowhere and smacked me right in the middle of the face shield. The sound inside the helmet was deafening, but the shield absorbed all the impact. Still, it scared the crap out of me! In the summer when temps in Sacramento are past the century mark it gets so hot inside my helmet I often ride around town with the shield open. I can guaranty I won't be doing that next summer. If I had the shield open when the rock hit it would have at the least been very painful, and at worst..... I don't want to think about it. This was a very windey road with a lot of steep drop off with nothing but rocks and trees down below. | ||
| Brumbear |
That happened to me with a crushed can once on rt 17 near Giants stadium in Nj the thing was all flattened a car whipped it up it actually curved in the air I just watched in my head saying oh crap this thing is comming right FWAP!!!! scared hell outa me | ||
| Froggy |
Last week on the Jersey Turnpike a 3' long paper towel came flying up and got caught on the front of my helmet. Lots of fun fighting to get that thing off me! | ||
| Brumbear |
LMOA I can picture it Froggy I swear yo got the worst luck man | ||
| Ulynut |
Glad your O.K. Gary. That was probably a wheel weight that hit you. Scary thing about that is, those things can really get up some speed. And If they hit you with the pointy end.....ouch!  | ||
| Tramp |
I haven't had a faceshield in years | ||
| Jramsey |
When the bike is as ugly as yours you don't need a helmet either to ward off the road demons  But cooking through a corner and seeing a 4x8 sheet of Masonite that fell out of the pick up ahead of you will make the a$$hole pucker. | ||
| Iamike |
The way the bugs feel when they hit my skin makes me wonder about the intelligence of these riders that don't wear any type of eye protection. I took a bug in my safety glasses once that shook my head. If I wouldn't have had them on I probably would have crashed from the pain. I like to ride with the faceshield up a lot of the time. When we were in Arkansas a couple of years ago a sportbike rider had just gotten a ticket for having his visor up. He asked the cop how he could justify giving him a ticket when all the Harley riders were running around with no helmets, shorts and such. We saw it as sportbike harassment. | ||
| Danger_dave |
I wear an open face helmet sometimes. Chicks dig scars. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I caught a gnat in the eye once. Damn, that was spooky. | ||
| Dynasport |
Eye safety is near to my heart. My son lost vision in one in a fireworks accident. That said, I often ride with my shield up, but only with glasses on. Until a little over a year ago I wore a little skid lid. No more though, only a full face for me now. | ||
| Danger_dave |
Yeah - always with the eyewear. Ray bans by day - industrial safety glasses at night. | ||
| Omcantu |
iamike, Arkansas requires only eye protection for riders most riders around here only ride with sun glasses. Not me though! I rather the bugs splat on my helmet than my face! | ||
| Unibear12r |
Always full face and a shield. A few years back a buddy's rear tire picked up a small flat rock and sailed it right through my front brake line. We were hammering a nice set of mountain twisties at the time and when I finally could get the bike stopped it took a while to get the seal between my butt and seat broke. I can imagine what that would have done to my face or eyes. | ||
| Brumbear |
I now prefer full face but rode with a 3/4 for years | ||
| Etennuly |
A year or so ago, on a hot summer day, I had stopped for gas and got back on the Interstate. Traffic was running fast so I cranked my Uly up to about 85 mph when I realized my shield was still up. So I pull it down and not two seconds later one of those giant bugs that are as hard as a rock hit dead center in the shield. It hit so hard I felt the impact in my neck and it splattered so bad that I had to stop to clean it off in order to see. I was thinking how far would that thing have driven my eyes back in my head if I hadn't put the shield down when I did. It was one of those big black bugs that you see out in front of you and it makes a big curving arch as it zooms in on your head. Huh, yeah ride without a helmet with just sunglasses, no thanks.  | ||
| Jaimec |
June bugs are like rocks with wings. One hit me just below the shoulder while I had a thick leather jacket on and I FELT that impact. I knew it wasn't a rock because the thing exploded on contact and left a gooey mess that dried up and was a BITCH to remove. If it felt like that through my leather jacket, I can imagine what it might've felt like on unprotected skin. I actually found out a little while later; I was wearing a BMW System II helmet (which had a protective flap under the jawpiece that covered my chin and lower jaw. I was also wearing an Aerostich Roadcrafter II Suit, whose collar comes up to just below the Adam's apple. I was scootin' along I-684 on my way to Marcus Dairy when I spotted the June bug flying right at me. Before I had a chance to dodge, it hit me right on my unprotected Adam's apple, on that inch of unprotected skin between my helmet and Aerostich suit. I had to get over to the side of the road and stop because I couldn't stop gagging. DAMN but that hurt!! Back in 1989 I did my first cross country trip. On I-80 through Nebraska my buddy and I saw this brown cloud covering the road up ahead. We couldn't figure out what it was until we rode right smack into a swarm of locusts at 80mph! We both had to pull over and clean off our face shields because we couldn't see where we were going! Both of our shields were completely covered in squashed grasshopper bodies! Ride without a full face helmet? NFW! | ||
| Darthane |
That said, I often ride with my shield up, but only with glasses on. Ditto...never leave home without my glasses on. | ||
| Miamiuly |
From another forum, guy caught a grasshopper.  | ||
| Greenlantern |
Seagull, 80mph or so east of Jones Beach 10 years ago. Lost the Face shield , Kept my face. (Sort of a booby prize?) | ||
| Tramp |
maybe youze guys should stay inside and try virtual riding on your computers.... That way your eyes would be plenty safe- I wear safety glasses at all times when i ride, and I've had no eye injuries | ||
| Jaimec |
GL: A friend once caught a seagull square in her chest. Fortunately she had plenty of padding there, but she sported a NASTY bruise for a good long time! This happened on the Loop Parkway Bridge on her way home to Long Beach. I once passed just UNDER a flock of geese taking off across the road. Now THAT would've HURT!! | ||
| Miamiuly |
I wear oakleys and a full face helmet but ride with shield up unless I am on the highway- night time shield down or clear impact glasses. Even glass lenses make me nervous. | ||
| Road_thing |
I ride with an open face Shoei when I'm on the Road Pig or the Shovel--they both have windshields to keep the big chunks out my face. Always wear some kind of glasses, though. I know full face w/shield is safer, but summertime is too damn hot down here. Riding any "naked" bike I'm a full-face kind of guy. rt | ||
| Akbuell |
I have a tendency to ride w/the faceshield down, but cracked open a bit. Hit a wasp once, that went through the opening and into the helmet. Immediately pulled over, and took off the helmet. Got VERY lucky, the impact stunned the wasp, but didn't kill it. Didn't get stung, thank goodness! | ||
| Buellatp |
Once when I was a teenager, I got hit in the chest at night going 80mph by a bat or a bird with no helmet on. Lost my grip and my breath. Had to pull over and recover. Had it hit me six inches higher, I would not be here today to share this story. One of many stupid tales from my youth. Maybe I should write a book on what not to do while riding your bike!!!! | ||
| Babired |
Last year riding in the Catskills mountains I had a black bird hit my knee and bike together. I was glad I wore riding pants with knee protection. Then the Cicadas were pretty bad one summer in Maryland, it must have been entertainment for the other drivers around, trying to dodge them flying around while riding on 95. K | ||
| Bomber |
I will back Road_Thing up, and say I've NEVER seen him with less than an entire face at any time | ||
| Jaimec |
"I got hit in the chest ... by a bat or a bird with no helmet on." Where would they find a helmet that tiny?? Last time I was in Africa, I shot an elephant in my pajamas...  | ||
| Danger_dave |
Yeah - I've been hit flush on the cheek by a medium size bird at 60mph in my open face. No big deal. The fright it gave was the worst thing. Unless you were the bird. Edit: Co-pilot says it was closer 50mph. I stand corrected. (And I just don't want to admit I cried in one eye.) (Message edited by danger_dave on October 22, 2008) |
