What is this helmet thing you guys are talking about?

 

That was one of the first thing I noticed when I started to ride, noticed it before that but really didn't think about it. I guess it's like having a three piece suite on and have running shoes on. It's just out of place for a Harley rider to have a full face. Even when I wear my 3/4 helmet for cold riding I feel funny. I also look at it as part of their aero dynamic set up. Yeah, don't you just like the safety awareness when you see a riders with bathing suite and has the appearance of doing the "doggy" style. I guess it's cool to wear very little and zipped through traffice just to stop before you at the light.

 

Seems like a lot of HD riders here who wear full face helmets. Tell ya the truth..here in Ohio i rarely see an hd rider with a helmet at all..let alone a full face. I always think i'll try a helmet..until i put one on and can't hear, can't see,it fogs up at stop lights,and generally feels like a fishbowl on my head. Makes me feel detached from my surroundings and uncomfortable to the point of not wanting to ride if i have to wear one. I've been knocked off a bike before..did a somersault onto a gravel drive..helmetless...and never touched my noggin. Yeah...lucky..i know...but truthfully..unless they make me..i doubt i'll voluntarily wear a bucket on my head.

 

LOL... So the question is are they ugly or is it the bike??? LMAO

 

This is a man that fully understands. It's all about function. Each helmet has its own benefits and drawbacks. I only have two helmets now. A Harley full-face with the flip-up visor and a carbon fiber DOT half. Once it gets cold (rare in Florida) I break out the full-face. If I'm riding to work and I start the day in the rain, break out the full-face. Any other time, I'm using the half.

 

I am with you, jbaker421. A face full of sh..t and a half helmet that tries to pull your head off over 50 mph is just not for me. So what if I look like Darth Vader. Harley guys are supposed to be individuals who don't care what others think anyway - aren't they?

 

I know for me when I rode Sport Bikes I was younger and was all about going fast. I only wore a helmet when I was on the Highway, I would go lidless when crusing, but it was a full face helmet. Now Im a little older and I ride a much waited for 09 FXDC partly cause I am drawn to the more layed back crowd now and partly because I want to share riding experiences with my wife of 12 years. I wear a half shell now and in the past week have decided that my first upgrade will be a wind screen due to getting pelted in the face by passing sand trucks. Any way I guess that was a long way to say when i rode sport bikes full face and now on the Harley Half lid

 

Great one.

 

I've gone full circle. When I bought my dyna in '02 I got a matching HD full face, then swapped to a D.O.T half, then no helmet, and finally state law forced me to wear a novelty beanie. Somewhere hayabusa's came into my life and I wear a black full face helmet on the busa. Then recently my dyna got a big power increase so off came the beanie and on came a black metallic Arai open face. If I'm honest with myself I know that each day I ride at some point I'll exceed 100 mph. The question is not if I'll go down but when. I'd rather have some semblance of my mind left rather than being a vegetable as well as missing limbs.

 

Around here most "cruiser" riders wear DOT half-helmets, the hardcore HD guys often wear the novelty helmets, and the sportbike riders all wear FF. I have a FF for crap weather, but prefer my DOT half for everyday -- I figure if I have to wear a helmet, it may as well be some use.