Thank you..........There's alot of info on those pages!
Btw...the wind noise I was complaining about comes from the flip up visor

 

Well, I rode go fast bikes first and wearing a helmet just looked cool. Lost a friend in Tampa to a car that didn't see him and turned right in front of him. He was wearing a helmet and the back of his head was still split open something terrible. On my first Harley, I rode lots of times without the helmet, because it looked cool. I ride my bike on a daily basis, I've had it four weeks and I have 1200 miles on it. I wear a fullface helmet because of the wind noise and I put a dark tinted visor on it because I didn't want to be bothered with sunglasses. My wife and I went on a ride this past Sunday and I wore my half helmet because that's all she has and I didn't want her to feel like an odd ball with me on the bike. Before she rides with me again, I'll get her a full face helmet. I could hardly hear myself think when I got off the bike because of the wind noise. When I get my Thunder Mountain Chopper and I'm ridding around on the local roads, there's a good chance I won't were a helmet. But, as long as I'm on my XGlide doing 80+ on the Turnpike I'll keep my helmet on. And yes, I can hear my radio up to about 80 mph with the fullface helmet. [sm=shades.gif]

Like seatbelts for adults, I think wearing a helmet should be up to the individual and we waste way too much time and money debating it. Kids under 16, don't know any better and should be wearing a seatbelt in a car and a helmet when operating a motorcycle. IMHO

Dave

 

I believe the helmet issue is a personal issue. I do not condem or condone anyone for wearing or not wearing a helmet. In the winter I always wear one, in the summer it is hit or miss. I have been a Paramedic for 30 years. I have seen many good riders that either ended up in a casket or a nursing home from a head injury following a motorcycle crash without a helmet. There is also a cost factor. Medical care for a head injury can financially ruin a family and even make you an expense to the state for medical care. I admit at most Rallys I don't wear one, but Touring around multiple states I usually have one on. Of course that is not the smart choice. Several years ago I crashed 3 miles from home when a car pulled out in front of me. I was not wearing a helmet. I still have a scar on my head and a chunk of ashalt under my scalp. I was not permanently disabled or injured, but if I had been wearing a helmet, I would have had a scraped up leg. Food for thought.

 

When I started riding again ( 1997) I felt like I would always wear one. Then I found myself taking it off while in neighboring states that don't require one. This generally occured in hot weather. I don't really mind wearing one but it is nice to have a choice. I am lucky to sort of have a choice as I live on the Missouri Illinois border.

With all that said I only wear DOT APPROVED HELMETS. I once read a report about the damage novelty helmets can do. For example they claim that even in minor impact that they can crack and pierce your skull. I wish I had a link but this was from a magazine and before my days of surfing the net!

I always put mine on though when in bad weather (rain,etc.) and heavy traffic areas. But I tend to agree that when it is my time to go I don't believe there is much I can do to prevent it. At least I will go out with a smile on my face!

 

You are gonna like that flip up. I wear glasses and it is soooo much easier to get glasses on after hemet now. Short stops, flip up, redlights on hot days flip up, better than sliced bread!
On another note, several of you who have posted to this have stated in other post that you carry personal protection(and we aint talkin trojans here), but you won't wear a helmet which is what? Personal protection from cages gone wild or crazy.

 

You are SO right. Especially for those of us with glasses they're great!

 

I disagree about seatbelts being left to personal choice. Wearing a helmet doesn't keep anyone safe but the wearer, so if you choose not to, no problem. Wearing a seatbelt keeps you in control of your car in case of a crash and THAT makes it safer for ME and everyone else around you. So as far as seatbelts goI belive they should be mandatory and a primary law.

 

Quick note of the flip-up.

In doing research for my purchase, I found that the DOT only approves the 3/4 part of those. The face shield is not rated for safety. I don't quite know what that means, maybe they can pull open...

Anyhow, thought I would pass that on.

 

Ok, but if you get hurt because you don't wear a helmet, and as FLHTPjeff said, end up "wearing diapers and relearning how to count to three", who should pay the bill?

 

I don't care about statistics....I don't care about image. I do care about the reflection I see in the mirror. Many years ago I scraped a good bit of fiberglass off the front of a full-face helmet I was wearing when I had my "incident." Thats all it took to make a believer out of me. I will always wear a full face helmet no matter what my state requires. Just my choice!