First let me say that during a desert race on 3/23/75 I crashed and received a head injury. 4 months prior I received a 3rd place trophy for my finish in the 1974 Nevada State Championship Hare & Hound. But 'stuff' happens no matter how good, or careful, a rider is.

You really don't understand this issue, do you? You "wake up every day being thankful for my life"? I don't, and sometimes wake up and think to myself, "Not another day of this". If "living is about doing whatever you want every single day of your life", a head injury puts an end to that, sort of. You can still 'do what you want' but it is within the limits of 'what you actually can do'.

I have a "clear focus of about what living life is about", actually much more clear then you because I also have a clear focus of the limitations of a life with a head injury. Ironically, my life wasn't too bad. After a few months learning to roll over, sit up, stand, walk, and talk I went home from the hospital. But I still returned to the hospital for therapy for about a year.

After a few years of recovery, I reached a level that allowed me to seek the assistance of BVR(State Of Nevada Bureau Of Vocational Rehabilitation). After a month of 'working' in their workshop, it was decided that most physical labor(even minor such as sitting at a table and quickly sorting items) was beyond my ability. At least in the sense of being competitive in a workplace and earning a living. So they helped me return to college, change my major from political science(pre-law) to data processing(that was the name given to computer science back in the '70s), and my working days were spent as a computer programmer/analyst.

It wasn't Silicon Valley money, but I got by only working 7.5 of the last 39 years. Which was handy because it left me a lot of time to assist my parents when they became old and infirm. At the time of my last race I was also asst. mgr. at a Pizza Hut, but that was beyond my abilities. How many people wouldn't be able to change their 'career' from a physical to more intellectual one?

You feel "I wake up every day.....understanding it could be my last day every day." What you don't understand is that sometimes things happen, and yet life goes on, and on, and on.... It is not a definite choice, but sometimes it can be a few minutes of agony wearing a helmet vs. every second for the rest of your life 'living' at a reduced capacity.

Yes, kids have more fun. Because they aren't aware of the realities of life. Do you ever see someone sitting in a wheelchair, with a blank look on their face, and think that they don't know what is going on? I learned through experience, and observation, that sometimes their mind is as sharp as a tack. They are just unable to express themselves.

A head injury, unfortunately, is not always an immediate cause of death. And considering odds, immediate death is probably not even a common occurrence. Free choice is great, just make that choice very carefully. It can have severe consequences.

 

Wait until you've taken a rock to the face. Had some ******* in a BMW M5 kick a rock up at me after cutting me off.

 

This is Helmet Head, my nickname here. My choice of nicknames is a bit of a joke, as I had someone (none too intelligent who didn't like helmets) provide me with the following quote. "My head is my helmet..." after a argument to wear one...thus Helmet Head was born. But I would not be writing this for except for the fact that I was wearing a helmet when I flipped a minibike on pavement head first. This happened in junior high nearly 50 years ago but I still consider that incident as a message from the Big Guy above. Wear your Helmet!

 

I have two friends/acquaintances who are not very bright in some areas. One of them called me "Gazoo head" like they looked like dopes in their little non-dot helmets. Over a decade later they grew up a little more, now they both wear full-face helmets. Sometimes people mature, grow-up or wake up.

 

I ride in NV in winter and CT in summer. I ride a Honda Valkyrie Interstate and a 07 Sporty 1200c. I wear whatever I want and people that don't like it can kiss me where the sun don't shine. I have over 150,000 miles riding. So the macho guys mostly have bar hoppers and don't ride any distance, sober, I'll bet. Be safe and comfortable at all times. Protect yourself from the sun, also.

 

I nailed a 2-3" moth last week green guts all over the shield, to me that is the end of the conversation why would You want that on your face, besides if You have a major get off You're not going to look "cool" in the power wheel chair. Wear Your helmet.
Steve

 

Im going to get a full face.
2 weeks ago I layed the bike down. I didnt have any time to think about going down. It was instant. Ended up fracturing my elbow. tore up my knee and probably broke my tooth.

If I had gone head first it would of been over

 

I don't worry about what could happen because what could happen is simply an unlikely possibility. Regretfully some people have bad days but the majority do not. I refuse to live a life based on what If's. Thats the path to lifes misery..I'm 52 i've faced death more times that most people. The reality is very few experienced riders die or suffer major brain injuries in there life time. The problem is society wants to make a few bad happenings into what we call the status quo. As a veteran i don't know a single fellow vet that suffered a TBI yet they happen.

If your sell on Helmets is not fatality based but more so debilitating head injuries versed on personal experience so be it. I've been ran over by not one but two car without a single major injury. I could of been killed both time but i wasn't. Race car drivers race every day knowing that can be killed , suffer traumatic brain injuries but the question is why do they do it? The do it because of the same reason we ride and thats because we love to.

Your mistake is saying i don't understand when in fact i do. You had a bad day in the same way fellow soldiers are killed or mamed by IED's which was unfortunate. My father suffered miserably for 8 years of cancer and died at 53 but i'm 52 and in good health. My heart could explode tomorrow so what would worrying a single day in this life even matter? I could suffer a major stroke and be a burden to my family in the same instance. So my question is what is your argument? Sometimes i wear and sometime i don't. I drink too much and yet my best friend who lives a perfect life gets cancer.

I know all about possibilities in life i just don't live my life based on them. I don't have a single issue with those that wear AGATT at all. I have issues with everday citizens trying to interfere with how people choose to enjoy their lives. Ride Safe with the mentality that a helmet might help or not help at all in an accident..

 

I don't 'have an argument' because I don't care what anyone does or doesn't do.

You like to tell us how much you enjoy 'doing what you want'. I am just letting people know that sometimes the few minutes of agony wearing a helmet can prevent, or lessen, another possible, long term, 'agony'.

And since I get PMs from people, and REP points on another site I visit, thanking me for the posts, apparently some people appreciate a look at life other then cruising down the road with the wind blowing in their hair. Unfortunately they are embarrassed/intimidated into not expressing their views where anybody can see.

That's all.

 

You don't, can't, really understand until you are actually 'there'. Until you have actually experienced something, your understanding is really theoretical. And that's good.

Reality is possibly worse then can be imagined.