As I get older I am starting to worry about safety. Started on sport bikes and obviously wore full face helmets then I got into cruisers and have used a 3/4 but primarily ride with a halfhearted now. But again I am starting to think about safety when riding on the highway. My main concern is crap hitting me in the face when on the highway. I also know that in the event of an off the chin is the most likely strike point. So here I am at a crossroad of what to start using....

i feel most most comfy in something like the j-cruise but I feel that if I am going to go that far I might look into a FF helmet.

what do you guys use? Do you use multiple helmets for different rides?

 

I have a 3/4 Bell Rogue but plan to get a full face for longer trips , I ride a road king so I don’t have any protection

 

Half to 3/4 shells

 

I have a half that is my go to when I feel like wearing one. I also have a modular if I have to ride in colder temps.

 

I full face it cause I like my face

 

Wore a 1/2 when I first got my bike. On a whim, purchased a full face and luckily was wearing it when a guy turned out in front of me and I went wrecked (first impact was chin / mouth, second impact back of head). I only wear full face now.

 

It wasn't til recently (about 2 years) that I started wearing a full face. I wear it almost exclusively now. So many good helmets out there. I have an ECE rated Caberg Duke modular I bought from Italy that I wear mostly. I also have a couple non modular HJC's that are DOT and SNELL rated. Now I'm looking at a Shark Spartan carbon fiber because of it's light weight. Only 2.8 lbs, but I'll have get it from a european site because this particular helmet is not available in carbon fiber in the US yet. I'll use that one for my sport bike, and if I don't go with that I'll go with the Shoei RF1200, which fits me perfectly but is a bit heavier. For the Harley I'm looking at the Bell Eliminator carbon fiber and maybe the Biltwell Gringo. Both very light. When it's real hot I like to ride without the shield and just wear sunglasses underneath.

 

My default for many many years was the 3/4. The half helmet was for short putts and looking cool when everyone else was also wearing a half helmet or beanie novelty helmet (which I could never figure out). Florida does not require helmets I ran around Daytona and surrounding areas twice a year with nothing more than a doo-rag and the grace of God protecting my noggin.

Then I got a little older and was exposed to more and more folks who sustained injuries much more serious than they would have had they been wearing a better helmet including one friend who was stopped - zero MPH - in the Harley Davidson factory parking lot of all places looking for where to park for a factory tour when his buddy bumped into him. My friend fell of his motorcycle, from a stop mind you, and woke up in the hospital having lost consciousness from a closed head injury!

Then, in 2010, an 82 year old pulled out of his driveway directly (as in feet!) in from of me. I was wearing a full face helmet and an Aerostich Roadcrafter suit. Helicopter ride, multiple surgeries, pins, plates, rods and screws but no road rash. If you could have seen what was left of my full face helmet, you would never ride with anything else!

But, if all of this weren't enough, last December - day after Christmas, I was taking the Road King out to get the oil hot. It was cold and clear - road surfaces were cold and dry. After the ride I come back and my Bandit 1250S is looking at me and pouting. I figured I already have my gear on so - why not? Because I did not let the engine warm up like I did on the Harley, I was taking it very easy and short shifting. About 3/8th of a mile from my house are a few S-curves. I'm going slow because the engine is still cold - as are the tires - and I drop into the left curve pretty deep then throw the bike over to the right for the other half of the "S" as I have done there a thousand times. Only this time, the front tire washed out right in front of me for a slow speed and ungraceful low side get off. The bike slid to the left and I, on my toes, knees, belly, chest ... and chin ... slid to the right coming to a halt just before the concrete curbing.

The knee pads of the riding suit - just happened to be an Aerostich again this cold day, as with the toes of my boots, were scuffed up - but the chin bar of the full face helmet is what my head was sliding on. The grace of God and fiberglass kept my good looking mug good looking.

In closing, modulars are my thing now; yes I wear a traditional full-face now and again but modulars - especially with internal visors are my mainstay. If its really, hot and I'm just going a short distance at slow speeds (i.e. Bike Week traffic, etc.) I will wear a 3/4 but a full face modular is my mainstay by and large.

 

After 25 years of wearing the cheap novelty beanies, I switched to a modular full face and never looked back. My first was a Bell Evo Revolver, but that was a little too loud so I switched to a Schuberth C4, a little pricey but well worth it, very comfortable and quite.

 

I have always worn a helmet, and ever since the first Bell Star came out they have been full face. Like Malazan said, I like my face.

Currently wear a Kabuto Ibuki modular. Shame Western Powersports decided to stop importing the Kabuto line of helmets into the U.S. as they are nice helmets.