About 12 years ago I spent 3 summers enjoying road racing. Nothing major - a "just for fun thing". I once had a minor crash at about 30-40 mph. Of course I was in full leathers, boots, gloves and a full face helmet. I DISTINCTLY remember my head (well, actually my helmet) going WHAP! on the asphalt. Scratched up the helmet good and gave me a pounding headache, but nothing worse. Without a helmet, who knows. I have no doubt it could have cracked my head open.
I ride quite a bit now (5 different bikes) and always wear a quality full-face helmet, jacket with spine protector, etc., good gloves and boots.
I simply would not ride otherwise even if Alabama was a "right to choose" state.
Not to offend anyone, but I do NOT buy the argument that a full face helmet interferes with peripherial vision. I have NEVER been suprised by anything that "suddenly appeared" which moments before had been blocked from view by my helmet. If Miguel Duhamel can win the Daytona 200 wearing a full-face helmet, that tells me they allow for adequate peripherial vision.
I also wear ear plugs. To my knowledge this has never impacted my saftey in a negative way. To the contrary - I believe the reduction in wind noise makes riding less mentally fatiguing and allows for sharper concentration and quicker reflexes.
So, some will argue, and some will choose to ride with no helmet. It just seems (to me) like such a poor choice. I know some folks have hard heads, but NOBODY'S head is harder than concrete!

 

Although riding without a helmet might just be part of natural selection.....I'm a firm beliver in helmets in just about anything thats motor related.....

 

Man, I don't even RIDE motorcycles on the street because of the things I have both seen and been personally impacted by. Funerals suck.
And it has been my experience that cagers don't pay very good attention to their surroundings, due to the stock distractions inherent in cars. Motorcycles are very easy to miss in your mirror or field of vision, and when a car and a bike mix it up, the bike usually loses, badly.
My brother races Buells in the local circuit, and he went over the bars at 75mph during warm-ups at PPIR last season. He dislocated his shoulder and broke his foot and 3 fingers; he landed head first. His helmet shattered, but he was able to stand up and walk off the track (concussion confusion allowed him to walk on the foot, I assume). He is now sponsored by Aria helmets...they took several pics of the helmet for an ad and now supply him with gear.
He was lucky.
I won't say whether a guy should wear a melon cap, but I make the choice for myself by only riding dirt bikes...and always wearing a helmet.
BDV

 

...Well, its seems that most people vote helmuts...All the opinions are valid...
So how about pushing legistation for helmuts while operating all motor vehicles.

Miguel Duhamel is on a closed track with professional riders...A whole different mind set...Just because NASCAR requires helmuts perhaps we should also require normal citizens to also wear full helmuts...after all which is more dangerous...trained professional drivers or normal citizens blasting to work, steroe blazing, putting on make-up, talking on cell phones or spilling their coffee.

Peripheral is not about "suddenly seeing something that was not there a moment ago"...Your periphery picks up "sublte" movements that your direct vision might miss...similiar to doing night surveillance, you tend to see "better" when you dont look directly at the target. My peripheral vision saw the car flash in my mirror before I was run over at a stop light...Mentally it didnt really register until I got hit..of course now Im more in tune to that sort of thing. Not that it would necessarily do any good.
Personally Ive been blessed with exception periphral vision, almost 135 deg. It has saved my behind on my bike, in my truck and in the bar. With a fullface helmut Im lucky to get 90 deg. very disconcerting (for me).

There is a group of riders in the Phoenix metro area that have made a name for themselves by blasting down the interstate doing wheelies at 80+ mph in various types of traffic...usually pre-rush hour. Probably a good thing their wearing full-face helmuts.
Show boating, road racing are definately good reasons to wear helmuts.

Accidents at any speed suck...The faster ya go the more potential for trouble in the event something happens...personally, I do the speed limit...And less so when Im carrying a passenger.
I have attended motorcycle safety courses and riding schools, Ive rid'in across country (north/south), worn helmuts and not worn helmuts, I pay for full coverage insurance on both my bike and my 79 ford, I wear patches on my cuts for brothers Ive buried from motorcycle accidents...helmuts wouldnt have saved any of them. Why should I be required to pay MORE for insurance than I already am? Health care costs on a bike are no where near what auto accidents run...Yes I too have worked in the emergency field, My ex is a 22 year ER nurse and my current is a claims adjuster for a MAJOR insurance company.
The bottom line for me is that law of averages say that Im the only one who'll suffer the ultimate penalty in the end, so let me make my own choice.
If ya want to make the roads a little safer how about a mandatory 6 month driver education and defensive driving school pay for out of pocket.
WOW sorry about the soap box...peace yall...

 

I wear one unless I'm just going around the block to check on work I just did on the bike. I wear a half-helmet mainly because I haven't been able to find a full face one that fits. Even the XXL's I've tried squish my nose and mouth. I tell my kids that my head is so big because I'm so smart and my brain is bigger than normal.

 

I wear a full face helmet when ever I ride. Here in Ca. it's the law anyway, but I would choose to wear one even if it wasn't.

My little low speed get off, (55 MPH), was like I was in some sort of slow motion dream. It was two years ago this April 23rd. All I remember is faintly hearing the dog yelp as I hit him, then all sound faded as I was going over the handle bars. It was at night so I was in total darkness. I could feel my body hitting the pavement but no feeling. I remember calmly thinking that my bike would catch up to me and run over me, but it missed and kept going. What jared me back to reality was hearing my helmet hit the pavement with a solid "WACK"! Funny, I remember thinking, "man, this is a good helmet", as I continued to tumbled a few more times. Bruised but not broken. Thank you Jesus!

 

Helmets are the law in Canada.

I'm all for personal freedoms, and if it isn't the law where you live and you don't want to wear one, I guess that's your perogative.

The debate in Canada came down to the right of the individual vs. the rights of the masses. Should your right to not wear a helmet override the public's right to not pay for your massive health care bills? In the end the public won.

I won't ride without one, motorcycle or snowmobile, I can think of at least 3 times where a helmet has saved my life. I even cracked a helmet in half on a rock after a bad get off on a dirt bike when I was kid. No helmet and it would have been my head that was cracked in half.

Ever hear of the Darwin awards? IMHO everyone that rides a motorcycle without a helmet is a prime candidate.

Waxy

 

I will never understand the logic of some states legislators.

They impose mandatory seat belt laws in enclosed vehicles to make us all be safer and more likely to survive a crash.

Then they then allow motorcycle riders to play the odds.

If you wreck on a bike you have very little protection. The majority of people I know who ride have wrecked at one time or another. My cousin wrecked while wearing a helmet. The doctor stated point blank, he would be dead if not his helmet. Even at that he still slammed he head hard enough to split the helmet.

He has not been the same person since the wreck. He is alive and a productive member of society, but he is different now.

I don't ride on the road due to all of this 2nd hand experience.

Yeah, it is your choice...more power to you! Just don't expect me to pay for your choice when , hopefully not, end up on disability.

Admittedly this is a touchy subject. My father who retired from the insurance industry also helped to educate me on this subject.


This post was not intended to offend anyone. It is simply my take on the subject.

 

No worries here in Germany.
You have to wear a helmet.
It's the law and it's good so!

Jens

 

there are two types of people who ride motorcycles, those who have crashed and those who will crash. i am still in the will crach catagory, only been riding about a year, But inthat year there have been many close calls, all due to people not paying attention enough when around me. I got a full face when i bought my bike, and i only wear full face, as does my dad, mom, aunt, uncle, and various cousins...

i think the best argument i have seen come from Dave Swisher who was recently awarded by BMW for logging over a million miles on their bikes...check out the web site below.

Why Should YOU wear a full face helmet?

 

In the years I rode bikes, I never wore a helmet on the street - not the smartest decision I have made. The absolute dumbest thing was riding with short pants and no shirt - I still remrmber the emergency room people picking stones out of my back with tweezers.
Dono

 

I wear a black ****-style helmet. The thing is a novelty item for bikers who want to look bad( tough). I realize that if my bike and I go down I'll probably die. I gave up up on the DOT and SNELL rated helmuts because they are all uncomfortable and leave my hair and the skin on my face messed up. I'm no Brad Pitt, and I can't walk into a store with messed up sweaty hair and a red stripe on my forehead. I like the novelty helmut because it is light, fits well, looks good on me, and lets the air in. I tried so very hard to get a good quality helmet, I once forked out 250.00 dollars for a good quality DOT full face helmut, It was so fricking uncomfortable and hot in there I gave it up. I went to the 3/4 helmut, which was better but looked goofy, and my ears got alot of bugs. But the main problem is....You can't get a custom-fitted helmet anywhere!!!! No helmet I ever tried on fits me. I have a narrower face, a large head and a longer neck. With my DOT white helmet I look like the little green Martian Gazoo from the Flintstones cartoon. If I could get a DOT( or better)helmet from a custom builder that fits like a charm, and looks good I would pay 600 dollars. Any ideas???


signed; scared to really let my sportster fly.

 

For $600 you can look at the high end stuff like Arai, Shoei, etc... I guarantee that they'll have a helmet that fits you. The fit of the high end helmets is night and day over the low priced generic ones.

Is not having messy hair and a red line on your forehead worth dying for? I guess that's your decision.

Waxy

 

...As Ive stated else where,
When did riding bikes become a fricking fashion show...?

 

Allow? It should be a choice- not a law. I know this is a tired arguement but what is next? The helmets in the car as mentioned a couple posts above? Air bags attached to your *** in case you slip on ice? Mandatory parachutes if you fly in a plane?

As far as bike accidents are concerned I speak from second hand experience-- My father was killed on his new GoldWing 250 miles into his retirement trip to Alaska. According to the AZ DPS a helmet would have done nothing for him.

While I am sure that helmets do save quite a few lives I just wonder what you are giving up for that....What the heck is the point of riding if you are encrusted in helmets, gloves, boots, jeans, leather jackets...ect? The joy of the ride is the wind in your hair and the FREEDOM you experience with the RISK. Do you ride because you think you look cool? (If so get off the road because you're not paying attention!) Do you ride because you enjoy the speed? (dangerous too!). Do you ride for better gas mileage? (if so buy a Mini Cooper and certainly sell you truck!).

I'm sorry but danger is a is part of the deal!!! As you minimize the "danger" you kill the experience.

I own a Harley (hence my handle here on FTE) but to tell you the truth every time I get on I think about my dad and that moment of "Oh sh**!!" he experinced two years ago and it makes me think that it really isn't worth it at all (helmet or not). I think the days of safely enjoying a motorcycle as it was intended are LONG GONE. "Cagers" aren't paying attention, cars drive WAY too fast today, and there are way too many of them.

Just my opinion......