why do some riders wear a full face helmet with a face shield when their bike already has a windshield and full fairing.Isnt that defeating the purpose of riding?

 

Because they are wearing the full face helmet for other reasons than wind protection.

 

I would imagine the reason is to avoid lower facial trauma in the event of an accident.

 

I'll wear a 1/2 helmet with sunglass/goggles when tooling around town in warmer weather. I'll use my 3/4 when riding with the wife (has intercom) and when riding in cooler to cold weather. The face shield on that is a good secondary source to blocking wind blast when charging down the highway. (keeps my eyes from shaking in my head) The wife will wear her full face all the time. Says that if we go down she doesn't want to mess up her purty teeth.

 

What is our "purpose of riding?" and how do we defeat it

 

Man, that's deep!

 

From what I hear, a fairing and windshield aren't too effective when you, say, high-side and go for a face slide down the slab.

 

I use the 14" Windvest to keep more comfortable on I-95 (traffic from 65-85), remove it for around town. Wear modular helmet in 3/4 mode except on I-95, where I use it as full, because people refuse to hang up and drive. Close face shield when I want to hear tunes/gps or quiet wind noise on long hauls. Because I like riding with face-shield up, I almost always were H-D photo-chromatic glasses. I have the best of all worlds, multiple options; but based on various combinations of above, occasionally you will see me with all three - that's just how I roll Cheers, Kevin.

 

I wear an open face when riding around town and a full face on trips. A full face provides the most protection you can get. It keeps my sensitive, dry eyes from tiring. Nothing is better for riding in rain. Lastly, the built-in speakers sound better than the fairing speakers.

 

What exactly is the purpose of riding?

I don't like the feeling of sand, bugs, etc hitting my face at 70mph. I also don't like the wind drying my eyes out or the excessive noise of highway speed wind rushing past my ears.

The wind in your face is fine when it's a 10mph breeze but above that, I think it sucks.

Therefore, I wear a 3/4 with a full face shield most of the time. I also have a full face that gets put into play for longer trips.

Then there's that added protection if my head happens to hit the pavement at any time.

I don't preach about wearing or not wearing. Do whatever you're happy with. It's the American way.