Hola compadres!
I would love to hear your views on helmets. What type you like and why.
I'll start.
Living in AZ and with no helmet you get to really connect with your surroundings. There is NOTHING like it. Your scoot becomes an extension of your body. No different than taking a walk.
Full face: I feel safe as hell, but also like I am watching a movie as a spectator.
Beanie: Jury is still out on this one. I just feel out of balance and my ears get beaten up... oddly ears are fine without a helmet.
3/4: I'm now using this Arai SZ with old goggles instead of facesheild and it aint too bad and it is comfortable, but I have to admit... I look like something out of Starwars. I shouldn't care, but it's hard not to. Lol.

 

I wear Arai helmets. The XD series when I'm playing in the sand on the Oregon coast and the Corsair series when on the road.

Why Arai? Both Snell and DOT approved, "aerospace fiberglass-based construction", comfort, and you see many professional racers use the Arai helmet.

They are expensive but in this case you get what you pay for. And I don't want to eat my dinner through a straw for the rest of my life because I chose a helmet from a company that doesn't have the money for a good R and D department.

Aria works for me and it may not work for everyone. Just my 2 cents.

 

I've worn a full face since I was about 15. Got 2 big scars on my back and one on my shin but none on my face. I want to stay pretty.

 

This topic has been beaten to death in the past, but I have changed helmets recently. I rode with no helmet for most of my forty year riding career. There was briefly a helmet law here back in the 70's, but it was widely ignored and eventually repealed. I always owned one in case I had to ride into a helmet law state, but it's only been the last five or so years that I've been wearing a helmet all the time.

Currently I am wearing a Super Seer half helmet that is low profile and easily the most comfortable helmet of any type that I've worn. It feels much more substantial than the carbon fiber half helmet that I wore for a couple of years.



I also have a modular full face that I wear in the very early Spring and late Fall when temps are in the 40s. It's the Harley model - I got it used for cheap from a co-worker who sold his bike. I probably wouldn't have chosen this particular model if I was buying new and paying full price, but for $100 it's a great helmet.

 

Likely hood of head impacts by area. Notice over 35% are in the face and chin area.

 

I mostly worn full face or motorcross style helmets but recently purchased a Gmax 55S Max.

It's a little different as in it looks like a normal half helmet but has a retractible visor that slides down from the front.



It's comfortable enough, although I've yet to determine if the retractible visor is useful or not.

 

I wore open face helmets with goggles for all my early years, especially Bell Magnums. Frankly riding without was always a no-no, simply because as a year round rider in the UK the weather is very changeable, we get rain year round and it is often chilly, or down-right cold. Also riding without a fairing and a decent helmet is uncomfortable and unpleasant and unbearable!

For many years I have worn Schuberths and currently have a C3 with built-in bluetooth, courtesy Cardo, as does Mrs B. I also have a moody black C2 for when I go out on Buttercup.

 

I used to ride helmetless being in Cali before we had a helmet law, and loved it. Then I got hit by a car and spent some time in the hospital with a cracked skull. So I have all of them, novelty, 1/2, 3/4 and full face. The novelty is by far the most comfortable, the DOT 1/2 helmets feel and look like a reservoir tip condom bouncing around on the top of my head. I have an HD 3/4 with a visor that I got on clearance thats great but is kinda hot in the summer. My full face modular flip-up is really nice but also hot, so its used mainly in the winter. I did see a new helmet that I think will be added to the stable though, it was a Torco? or something like that, full-face modular flipp-up with a built in drop down dark visor thats changable and built in blue-tooth for helmet to helmet comm with FM radio built in and you can add bluetooth music. It was really comfortable and much lighter than my present full face.

 

Interesting stuff guys, luv it.
Fat Tony, that graph of yours is wild. I had no idea whatsoever as to impact zones.
Makes me want to revisit the full face. daaaaaaaamn.

 

I have both a full face and a half shell. The full face is comfortable and safe. I use it any time that the weather is cold or I expect rain. I also prefer it for long interstate trips because it is quieter,though it can be hot. I also like the fact that with my Cardo bluetooth headset I can talk with my passenger, talk on the phone or listen to Bluetooth music and directions from my Droid phone. My half shell is great for around town and riding the mountain roads in East Tennessee and Western NC. It is cooler and has better visibility. Both have their place.