I've got a full and a half. Most of my riding is done with the full. I do change up when the tepms get WAAAAAY up there ( or way down )! I just feel safer with it! I'll wear my half when I'm heading out and leaving the bike, like at bike week in OC, MD. I threw it in the bags and locked ti up. At work I can take the helmet in, and wroking second shift, the bugs are pretty bad out here in the coutry at night, so it's full face then too! I just wear whichever I'm in the mood for.

Getting back to the ? though, I don't notice any less waving either way, and I don't even have my HD yet, I'll be getting mine in May/June. Plenty of HD riders wave around here, even on my Suzuki Volusia with my FF on!

 

I have a 1/2, 3/4 and full face. One for every occasion. My kids have a full face. I have to say I am more comfortable when they have the extra protection. My wife, who is seriously claustrophobic can't even think about the full face so she has a 3/4. I have been wearing a Fulmer modular "flip up chin bar" for about 2 months since it turned cold (for Alabama) and I really like. It makes it real easy to get glasses on or make adjustments to the hood while riding. Don't plan on going down but who does? I hope, if I do , it will be with the full face on. If you think it looks funny--- just keep your eyes on your own side of the rode. I don't remember you being there when I bought the d**n thing!
As for the wave. if I see you and I can wave SAFELY, I'll wave. DOn't matter what your wearing or riding. (Except maybe a Vespa.) Is that to harsh, really? Nuff said.

 

I've got a FJC Full Face Flipup and it's not cool looking, but who cares!

 

Here in Ohio if you wear any kind of helmet, the waves decrease. I do feel safer with a helmet but I seem to ride faster with it on than without.

 

I have worn a full-face helmet for years. I'm not judgmental about other's choices in head protection, but have had plenty of negative comments from others about my brain bucket (helmets not required in our state). It just seems like a simple consideration for my family to take steps to protect the organ I use to provide their livelihood. One riding partner said it's just to make it easier to identify the body....

But here's an observation that may surprise you. On my longest trip, a 5500 mile stretch that included about 10 days in the western and southwestern deserts in August, I think my full-face helmet actually kept me cooler than the guys who went without a helmet. My head was shaded and the ventilation system built into the helmut kept a nice breeze across my bald head. In fact, if I opened the faceshield, it got hotter because some of the vent intakes are built into the shield, and opening the shield blocks them off. I was definitely less beat up at the end of the day than the guys who went bareheaded.

Of course, some view the beet-red, sand-scarred, Rocky Raccoon look as a badge of honor. I understand that, and celebrate their freedom.

 

Interesting. This is not the first I have heard of this phenomenon, it seems to be a common theme in areas where helmets are not required. So...the same group that demands their choice in wearing a helmet or not are not shy to criticize other's choices when they are different from their own. I wonder why that is? Personally, I march to the beat of my own drum. My bike, my head, my full face helmet.

Bill

 

Here's another of those 'cruzen posts that was thought by me to have entered into cyber heaven long ago but has resurrected itself it seems. Since I'm the one who first began this thread, I'll do an update.

I have worn my full-face helmet for a total of about five times since late fall when the temps began to dip lower. The Fulmer was a good buy for the money - less than $100 at the local Honda dealership. It fits snug, is comfortable for the most part, and with the mirror-blue face shield (to match the bike's color, of course) probably doesn't look too bad, either. Visability is good, with no loss of perrifiel (sp) vision.

So, why do I continue to wear the carbon-fiber half helmet the majority of the time? Well, the Fulmer is loud! It seems to amplify the sound of the exhaust. Its difficult to check my six prior to lane changes while wearing the Fulmer together with my leather jacket because the chin area of the helmet drags into the leather collar, making it hard to rotate my head far enough around. (I don't trust using only my mirrors) I find myself rotating my entire upper body in order to accomplish the move. When riding at highway speeds while wearing the Fulmer, rotating my head more than 20 degrees right or left invites the wind rushing past to grab the helmet and attempt to twist my head off.

As a young firefighter years ago, I can remember the thrill of standing up in the jump seat platform while looking over the top of the cab as the wind rushed past and the fire engine careened through busy city streets while responding to an alarm. What a rush! Often, I rode back to the station shirtless while standing atop rolls of dirty fire hose rolled up and placed on the tailboard of the engine with one arm placed securly through the spring-loaded hand grab. If you saw the movie Titanic when the actor shouted "I'm king of the world", well that was what it was like...everytime.

Now that I'm older and grayer, with a circle of bugles pinned to my collar, I watch as my young successors respond while sitting securly within a fully enclosed cab - like and egg carton - and wearing full protective gear while tightly buckled into their seats. Safer? You bet'cha! But it also saddens me in a way knowing of the thrill and feeling of freedom that they will never know.

That discription above kind'a explains how I view wearing a full-face helmet...at least from my limited experience. I'm sure that I will continue wearing the Fulmer during certain riding conditions, but given a choice I think that I would rather not. I just don't enjoy the ride as much while wearing it like I do when wearing the half-helmet. My choice.

 

I'm originaly from a non-helment state, (Ohio) and finally went back last summer to visit family. I rode all over Ohio without a helment and enjoyed the freedom but, I felt naked without it. I wear a DOT half helment here in Ga, but after reading all of these posts, I just might go back to my full face...

 

I live a no helmet law state and we always ride with a helmet. You'd think I had the plague around some of these guys. Oh well I enjoy riding with the tunes and the intercom.

 

Well I've always ridden with a full face helmet, but i'm coming from ridin' a Ninja. It's true that i do get some funny looks, but I've always felt "safer" by riding with a full face helmet. While a helmet is state law around here, plenty where the half helmets with the goggles or shades, but I just can't stand the wind roar and my eyes water like crazy (contacts). I may try an open face helmet for the summer hot months, but as long as I'm moving, the heat doesn't really bother me too much.

It's tru tho that some of the open face helmet guys don't give the time of day when i wave at them, but then I pretty much give everyone i can who's riding the "wave", so it doesn't really bother me anymore if they even wave back.

Heck, i even wave at cagers who move over a bit when i'm lane splitting.