Ducati Monster Forum

I was riding down 93 sound in Boston today, just coming out of the tunnel. All of a sudden I see something flying and spinning at right about throat level. It looked like one of the 4x4 pieces of metal that cover electrical boxes. It was coming so fast that the only reaction I could do is crouch as much as possible. It hits me right in the shield, knocks my shield off on one side. If I didn't have a full face, I would most likely have one less eye right now. I pulled over and managed to snap it back into the hinge, there was barely a mark on it. I was wearing the GMAX GM68. I was riding with a group and none were wearing full-face helmets, so it's kinda lucky it ht me and not one of them.

one more reason FullFace Helmets are the way to go. glad you're ok. maybe your buds will ride with the better helmet now after seeing that.

As much as I have been tempted in the Summer months to get an open face helmet, I remember some of the Photo's floating around the Web of people having crashes with an open face helmet on.
Let's just say I ordered another Shoei TZR full face helmet to replace my 4 year old Shoei Full face.

Kinda attached to the lower half of my face staying where it is  ;D

My one crash on a bike had me sliding on my shield watching to pavement go by.  I don't ride w/o a full face helmet any more.  Glad you had yours on.  Bugs are bad enough, can't imagine getting hit w/ a flying piece of metal.

Wow! I thought acorns and bees were bad.

Good job you had the full-face!

Glad you had on your full lid! [thumbsup]

While pirates are awesome, going through life with an eye patch is not.

I'm pretty sure my full-face saved my jaw and/or life a few weeks back during my crash. The area that a halfie, or 3/4 would have covered just wasn't where I took the hit.

sounds like the F1 accident a couple weeks ago....

mitt

I remember all the years I rode without a helmet here in Ohio when it was legal to do so.

I can remember getting hit in the cheek by what felt like a BB . I'm sure it was a Beetle since they have a hard shell.

Lots of places I ride have over hanging Black Walnut trees.

I'm surprised I never got knocked out by a falling Walnut. They are about 1 /1/2 times the size of a golf ball and just as hard.

Glad you are ok.

I'll never ride without a full face helmet again no matter how uncomfortable they are.

Dolph      :)

 [thumbsup] [thumbsup]

That's exactly what I thought! Nothing like taking a spring to the head at about 160mph.

I never understood why people wear anything less than a full face, its not like you are just going to hit just the top of your head. I've had a couple of minor wrecks in my past and 2 fairly bad ones, I will never wear anything less than a full face after those incidents. They literally saved my face and my life. Gear really works, but only if you wear it.

I'm hoping they start wearing more gear. On the ride yesterday we went down Tower Hill Road in RI, it's a pretty twisty and hilly road. One of the riders with us crashed, he got really lucky with just a minor wrist fracture while wearing no gear and just a half helmet.

maybe Karma is telling you to find new riding buddies.

Luck favors the prepared.  [thumbsup]

These sorts of accidents are the ones I fear - just random things coming out of left field.

all things considered, be glad it was just a junction box cover & not a slab of concrete.  That is the Big Dig, after all. :o

Good on you for not following the example of your buddies.  It's stuff like this that makes me glad I ALWAYS wear a full face.   

Post this up in the "Best 3/4 Helmet" thread under "Gear". We've politly been arguing why it's so important to wear a full face helmet for about 3 weeks.

Glad that you're safe and uninjured!  [thumbsup]

full face helmet only for me.
i tell people that i'm not that pretty and this mug isn't getting any prettier.
i gotta protect and preserve it as best i can.

Ciao!

Yeah, like wild turkeys flying from the side of the road, hitting you in the head and crushing four vertebrae in your neck... I hate random shit like that! :P

Glad you are OK. Just hope this gets your riding buddies to upgrade their helmets. My Arai Corsair saved my life. As soon as I got out of the hospital I ordered another one just like it. [thumbsup]

I wear that same helmet!  Good to know that it will take a little abuse.  I put it to good use this weekend on a track, every time I was behind somebody on the back straight away and we both gunned it, I would get rocks in the face shield, sounded bad but just like you, not a scratch when it was all over.

I'm really impressed with it, especially for the price. I put the smoked shield on it until my replacement clear one comes in. My only gripe with the helmet is the sorta rubbery coating on it is peeling off in places.

I did, it wasn't well received...

Dayum!  That's a phobia of mine...getting hit by debris on the road, on a bike or in a car!  Read several stories over the years of road junk flying off the back of a truck taking someones head off.  One in particular had a large tire and wheel fly over the center divider on the freeway and hit some poor Joe or Jane.

Back in the day, I was on my way to work, splitting lanes (slowly!) and at the very last moment I saw a van on my left had it's radio antenna sticking out sideways at my eye level!  I put my left arm up, but the end of it whipped back and hit me on my visor, braking it.  Left a welt on my forearm through a heavy Bates leather jacket and a couple layers of clothes.

It's like trying to convince a smoker to quit when he/she REALLY loves to smoke.  Experiencing or seeing a life-changing event usually sends the message home.  Until then, stay safe out there!

Similar stories here: I was riding on I-40 last week, doing about 70mph in the right lane. Just ahead of me in the center lane was a pickup truck, and just ahead of him was a semi. I heard a loud bang from under the semi and before I could even think, a 5-foot-long 2x4 comes flying out from under the semi's tires and slams into the front of the pickup! It exploded into about five big pieces (and hundreds of splinters) and came right at me! I leaned down behind my tank and flyscreen (HA! Talk about a false sense of security!) but still took a jagged, sizable piece of debris right to my visor. A larger, sharper piece hit me hard in the ankle - luckily I was wearing kevlar jeans and full padded boots so no damage was done there either.

Later that same day I was riding along about 55mph and took a small BIRD to my chin. Poor little guy had to be hurting, he struck my helmet then my shoulder, where he was pinned my the force of the wind. I could see in my mirror that he was still alive, I just turned my body sideways and off he went. Inspection showed a pretty good scratch where the bird hit. Without that full face I would have been bleeding for sure.

Glad to hear you were okay, flying steel could have been BAD!  :o

Birds, bugs, junk...

I just dont get riding with anything else than a full face.  The Harley crowd is just ridiculous.  I "get" the dude wanting to be all macho and shit and ride with the breeze and his skull cap (we need organ donors!), but you see lots of hotties on the pillion with their little pink beanie helmet and I just got to wonder about their sanity.  Not to mention all of that well maintained exposed skin.  And a few...do they think their implants will protect them?

Speaking of bugs...caught a huge beetle in the grill of my old Simpson Bandit once...hit like a rock and was tough to get the bits out of the mesh...

if that thing came out of city property, I would at least go to the city and yell at them