Wear your helmet this spring!

[fastwin]

I wish I could show that helmet picture to every yahoo I see riding helmetless and wearing a doo-rag. Maybe I should just show them my cracked/crushed Arai Corsair that cut a wild turkey in half. I have never ridden without a helmet and this is my 48th year of doing so. If I hadn't had on that Corsair I would have been a headless corpse. Enough said.

[Cat]

Although the crazy thing that idiotic Ausses love to do in summer is wear a pair of rubber sandles, a pair of board shorts & a singlet - no gloves. They will have a helmet though.

I guess stupidity is a worldwide phenomenon.

I never understood that - I see that on even the relatively high-speed roads around here all the time.  My thinking is, if I'm going to get in an accident at 55+ mph with only a helmet, even if the helmet saves my head, the rest of me is going to be so torn up that I'd probably prefer to just, you know, be dead.

On the helmet thing, I went riding the other night and ran through two huge swarms of gnats - hit literally hundreds of the stupid things.  The thought of hitting those barefaced makes my skin crawl.

[fastwin]

We have giant flying B-29 bugs (On Any Sunday reference!) around here in the summer... OK, they are big ass grasshoppers. But when they hit your faceshield at speed you'd think someone tossed a full milkshake at your helmet! I can't tell you how many times I have stopped on the side of the road to clean my faceshield. When they hit your leg, neck or even your chest while wearing a jacket I always wonder how the doo-rag riding folks deal with that? They could easily put your eye out at 70-80mph!

PS  old trick: I keep an old bathroom washcloth soaked in water inside a zip lock bag on long rides. Makes a great roadside faceshield cleaner! Also keep a clean cotton bandanna to wipe dry the faceshield after the washcloth clean up. An old riding vet gave me that tip 30+ years ago and I still thank him for it!

[AdmiralKit]

When I took the MSF/ABATE safety course, there was one very attractive girl who was learning to ride because she was tired of being the eye candy on the back of her boyfriend's bike.  She had an open-face helmet and high-sided during the emergency stop drill during the final testing.  Needless to say, she wasn't as attractive after that.

[Scissors]

I actually do ride with a 3/4 (open face) helmet quite often, as do many of my friends.  Most of the things listed here aren't actually that bad.

Eyes are protected with shatter-resistant goggles or glasses, so that's not an issue.  As far as bugs, pebbles, rain, etc., well, they can hurt, but you get used to it and they stop hurting.  I liken it to how the grease splatter from my first job at McDonald's hurt for the first week, but I toughened up and it didn't hurt after that.

Going down can obviously still tear up your face, but remember that the front part of a full face helmet projects out far more than your face does, so it's going to get torn up.  I've known two guys who slid face-down with 3/4 DOT helmets and took no damage to their faces because the brim held them up and away from the surface initially until and their head naturally rotated to the side.  The result was scrapes to the brim and side, but no facial lacerations.

A "do-rag" on the face, though it wouldn't seem to, does completely stop any bugs, rain, or small dirt from hurting.  What's more, every full-face helmet I've ever tried does restrict my peripheral vision.  With the right eye-wear, 3/4 helmets do not.  So it's not all bad.  It's easier to smoke a cigar or drink a soda as well.   

[KnightofNi]

No Joke !

I tried to convince a co-worker that she really needs to wear her helmet.  Her response is "I don't ride crazy like you "   My response "all my crashes were low speed near my apartment and not speed related but the helmet saved my skull."  I cringe every time I see her ride with no helmet and just converse sneakers.  I even showed her my boots that were damaged but she just says she is tired of hearing me say that.  Well, i have stopped !  

send her my facebook pics. I was just going through an intersection doing nothing crazy and someone turned left in front of me because they didn't look. 4 months later i just started running again(Weds I jogged for 5 min), my left wrist is about 50% and I saw the rear window shatter through my visor. My helmet has a nice deep cut right over the right eye as well.

though people that don't want to be convinced of anything won't be. I know I am one of the most stubborn people around and how hard it is to convince me through aggressive tactics. good luck to her.

[hillbillypolack]

   I almost ordered a cheap 3/4 helmet that I planned to wear when riding to the gym, errands, etc. close to home.
 I think I'll pass on the 3/4 helmet after seeing those pics.

Yes.  I was at a wedding when I was in my teens.  An older gent there had no jaw.  None, nada zip.  My father, seeing my surprise explained he was riding a motorcycle and T-Boned a car and his jaw caught the top of the window frame.  He was wearing a half helmet.

I've heard of a few similar situations sonce then, but that was by far the most graphic.

[scduc]

To each his own, but I've taken hits by BA grasshoppers to the forehead with my full face helmet and could not imagine what it would have felt like with out the helmet. I've even had tiny little Beatles hit my neck that hurt like hell. Many times I've had to pull over and make sure it wasn't a small bird. I must just be a wuss.

[hillbillypolack]

Tiny little Beatles?  Like Ringo?

[Nero-92]

Were I come from this debate wouldn't happen because the law states you must were helmet while riding a motorcycle and I just wish they would pass a law to make motorcyclists on the rare warm day we get here that would stop them wearing t shirts shorts and flip flops to make a short run to the shops.

[KnightofNi]

Were I come from this debate wouldn't happen because the law states you must were helmet while riding a motorcycle and I just wish they would pass a law to make motorcyclists on the rare warm day we get here that would stop them wearing t shirts shorts and flip flops to make a short run to the shops.

I like having the choice. In fact, I stand by the idea that we should be able to decide out own level of saftey equiptment.
I just choose to wear gear and will attempt to inform those that may be uninformed.

[muskrat]

+1

[justinrhenry]

I like having the choice. In fact, I stand by the idea that we should be able to decide out own level of saftey equiptment.
I just choose to wear gear and will attempt to inform those that may be uninformed.

+2

[Mike Qube]

I believe this is what you're referring to:

I'm an MSF instructor and we have one of those in our classroom to show the students when discussing proper gear.

[Speedbag]

<shudder>

That thing looks just like the one I was wearing after The Deer Incident. Only my visor was hanging freely on one side, and has a little blood inside from my bit lip.

It permanently occupies a spot in my shop for all to see and learn from.