Helmets Yes or No?

[gunslinger92557]

Originally Posted by Scribbles

. I was once hit while on a bicycle (I was doing about 20mph at the time) by an idiot who was not paying attention coming around a curve. He sideswiped me, knocked me right off the road, slowed to see what happened, and then drove off.
Susan

I used to be really into bicycling and I had some idiot pull out without even looking and I had to swerve and ended up going up and over his hood. I had on full gear including a helmet and was not hurt bad, stiff and sore but not really hurt. I was so pi$$ed that I got up, tossed the bike to the side and walked over to the idiots window and yelled at him. To this day I sometimes wish that I had done the crazy chicken and pretended that I was messed up by it. He was leaving the employee parking lot of Apple Computer's OC manufacturing plant and there was a bunch of witnesses including the company security officer. Oh well....

[Scribbles]

Originally Posted by gunslinger92557

I used to be really into bicycling and I had some idiot pull out without even looking and I had to swerve and ended up going up and over his hood. I had on full gear including a helmet and was not hurt bad, stiff and sore but not really hurt. I was so pi$$ed that I got up, tossed the bike to the side and walked over to the idiots window and yelled at him. To this day I sometimes wish that I had done the crazy chicken and pretended that I was messed up by it. He was leaving the employee parking lot of Apple Computer's OC manufacturing plant and there was a bunch of witnesses including the company security officer. Oh well....

I wish I had gotten the license plate number of the car that hit me. I would have made sure that he had an encounter of the police-uniformed variety!

Susan

[bodie27]

Funniest thing I ever saw....a guy today wearin helmet and leather jacket with a pair of shorts and runners.

[chrisan]

I wear full face helmet every time I am on the bike plus full protetive gear. You never know what can happen.
My only call was 8 years ago doing inline skating on a half pipe with a friend. We only had one helmet /his/ and it was a hot day so he wasn't wearing his helmet all the time and I would put it once in a while. Now in a controlled enviroment like a half pipe the feeling is that everuthing is under your control and my buddy was wearing only his shorts and knee protectros /it's a must, no mather what, because you use them for landing if anything goes wrong/ So just to return to the topic, I was SO lucky to have been wearing his helmet when I crashed from the top of the pipe head down to the flat base. If I hadn't had the helmet I would have look different by now cause I landed on my hip and then slammed my face. The hip was broken but head was OK. So I would never think of doing something and never wear a helmet NEVER cause doesn't matter how much in a controll you are **** happens. I could have easily avoided the stupid spill I had, but I didn't so I broke my hip and had two surgeries, luckily it was only this.

[ForbidInjustice]

Bikers are great people.. but sometimes I just can't stand ignorant ones...

.. so I'm riding a few miles from my home, still in this neighbourhood, and I hear an engine, mighty close to me. Some guy on a newer model Gixxer pulls up right next to me, in the same lane. I know that as a biker, he just wanted me to acknowledge his presence. That's fine; [pull forward or drop back, mate]. He didn't move.. he just stayed there riding next to me.. wearing a GSX-R helmet, GSX-R leather jacket, shorts and sneakers. He pulls ahead of me and gets to about 50 in the 30 zone. Then at the end of the road, he pulls to the right of a line of cars who were ALSO turning right.. and he goes ahead of them. Arrrrggg. That makes a pirate like me mad. I'm all for motourcyclists using their size to their advantage, but not inappropriately.

I've ridden without a helmet a few times, never really out of the neighbourhood, and I like being able to hear everything and see everything, and for everyone to be able to see my face. But, it's not worth it when I think about all of of the local motourbike fatalities in the past year.. and the fact that none of the beneficiaries on my life insurance policy would be happy with their share.

[St0nkingByte]

woo this is degenerating into an ignorant biker thread which I always enjoy.

Here's mine. Yesterday I'm in the cage driving the family home, I'm at a stop light. On the other side are two lanes of cars about four cars deep. A leather clad beanie helmet wearing Harley rider lane splits through the cars on the other side (lane splitting is not legal here) and rides through the red light! Fortunately for him and people's fenders no one happened to be moving through the intersection at the time. As he's in the middle of the intersection he starts looking at his foot or something and drifts over into what would have been the curb had their not been a cutout in it for a bus stop. About two feet from the curb he realizes he's drifting and swerves back into the middle of the road, again he's lucky there's no cars there because again he's not looking and he just cut across two lanes, three if you could coming out of the bus lane as one. Oh and all this is not happening in some out of the way quiet rural area, this is a pretty busy major street in a heavy surburban/urban area.

Yeesh.

[nhoel]

Did he happen to have California license plates??? When in Rome do what do romans do... So no lane splitting in other states. And when in California, make sure you do it without hitting side mirrors...

[OlderGS]

Full face for me. Got a good sight here for a little enlightenment. http://jeff.dean.home.att.net/swisher.htm I have had a couple of encounters and won't go into detail but the not hearing and no visibility is crap. I can't hear crap w/o a brain bucket and I have eyes and mirrors so visibility has never been an issue. I knew a guy that wore an open face helmet and wrecked. He went head first and his jaw was torn clean off and he swallowed a bunch of sod. The guys riding with him couldn't get the dirt out quick enough. Don't know if he would have made it anyway. I'd hate to go like that.

[Clint]

Uggh. That's a nasty story.

[GSX1100FL]

I will always wear a helmet when riding, even if I'm in a parking lot or someone's yard, I don't care for the possible head injuries that could occur.

I've had a full face helmet save my face & since then I have only worn a full face helmet.

Currently I wear a HJC CL-Max during warming weather, I had bought the HJC to replace the Nolan N100E Classic Plus because the Nolan was a little bit small but it has a breath guard & a wind deflector which makes it good for the cooler riding times.

[Bryana_fl]

Full face helmet, all the time. Also wear full gear all the time. Sometimes it's difficult when riding with a group of people who wear no helmet or protective gear. You know, peer pressure and all. But I never let it sway me from what I know is the right thing to do.

They don't "plan" on going down. Well I don't either, but sometimes plans just don't come to fruition.

[SuzukiGirl1]

Full face Shoei, all the time.

In my opinion, the helmet will help you most in those "slower speed" crashes, the high speed ones, most likely you'll have many internal injuries that will kill you anyway, but your head in a helmet will easily survive hitting the ground at 30 mph, where as your head without a helmet doesn't stand a chance at 10 mph

[Lew]

Funny, but last night I was watching tv with my wife. she had DISC Health on and was watching Trauma - Life in the ER. It was from the Hennepin Cty HC with of course is in Minneapolis (not a great city like St Paul). It was in the spring, and they were talking about all the bikers being out. Most of the episodes were of motorcyclists being brought in for wrecking and the majority of them were not wearing helmets. Showed one guys full face that had the shield torn off and the side was ground down to the fiberglass but the guys head was OK. Also had some people with really serious road rash.

[Stradivarius]

Since I wear a helmet for downhill skiing, I can't even think of not wearing one when I'm on a bike. And the MSF course certainly educates you that way too.

I just would hate to be on "Trauma - Life in the ER"!

[Uechi Kid]

Yes, helmet. I was riding before California had a helmet law I just don't like riding without one.

[buz13]

Full Face is best to protect your mellon.....lots of head strikes start with the chin.....known fact.
With new anti-fog lenses it makes vision much better in cool rainy climates....like Seattle.
Yep there are still some places where helmets are not required but that certainly does not make it a wise thing to do.
Splitting lanes will increase your chances of using your helmet......
I've been down twice in 15 years...both times on black ice and both times minor damage to bike and a scrape on the helmet...better than a scrape or worse on my mellon.

[jaydog19833]

I wear my helmet in my freinds Suzuki Sidekick.....mostly cause I just consider it a big go-kart.

[Chappy206]

I live right on the Georgia/South Carolina line. You have to wear a helmet in Ga., but not in SC. I normally wear a half helmet that is DOT approved. I own a modular full-face helmet, that ended up being so uncomfortable I use it as a guest helmet.

Sometimes if I ride over in SC I will go without the helmet, depending on location, weather, and traffic conditions. IMHO it is surely a fact that wearing a helmet is a good idea and does greatly improve ones personal safety, however...........I think it all comes down to personal choice, which I am a strong proponent of.

People jump out of airplanes for fun- that activity is most assuredly dangerous, but also legal.....they do all sorts of dangerous things for the shear enjoyment of it. Riding your motorcycle without a helmet is no different. Is it dangerous? Sure is, but to me the sense of freedom and exhilaration I get from driving my cruiser on a warm summer night down to the beach without the restriction of a helmet is truly sublime.

[Clint]

Most would agree that riding without a helmet is MUCH more dangerous than skydiving, Chappy. Seriously.

[Trapper]

And they wear a helmet while skydiving.