lol, this "real Harley" stuff is so obnoxious.

It's like the same garbage I hear, where guys will say, Sportsters aren't 'real Harley's' or some dumb stuff like that. If you enjoy a full face, or whatever, just enjoy it. F the people who have nothing good to say. I wear FF because I hate wind noise, and don't like getting hit in the face with rocks or bugs or whatever. It's just a personal preference.

 

Harley Owner. Wear a Bell Bullitt 80%+ of the time 👍

 

I'm so confused........."real Harley riders"??


Now I don't know if I'm not a real rider of my Harley...or if I'm not riding a real Harley.

Damn it all.

 

Yes its more like 50% fatality wise and probably 50% who survived were under the influence as well. Another fact is very few riders cause there own accident otherwise. Thats the stat i feel riders have the most control of. Ohio is a no helmet state and if you see 1-100 bikers on the road in my area with a helmet thats about the right percent and this is on HD's and Metrics combined. I figure less that that read any sort of MC forum ever unlike somebody like me thats been in internet forums since its inception lol .

Over the years i've found that its really not the safety gear you wear its what you do to make your ride safer. Wearing a white or neon green helmet makes you look silly but alot more visible to others but nobody chooses this color. I wear a hi-vis bandana when i ride. Every rider should ride in that highway department green colored T-shirts or jackets but they don't. I've hit more birds on my bike then any car i've owned. Does everybody have a windshield? Nope.Did you improve your lighting on your bike to make you stand out in any situation? So many bigger things than wearing a helmet you can do to be safer.

As you can see the motorcycle helmet only plays a very small part in the rider safety equation. Accidents do happen and statistically just about every accident could of been prevented if one or the other reacted appropriately. I love flying down the highway at 75mph on my Sportster all the while knowing that if i fly off helmet or no helmet i'm pretty much a goner but the odds of that happening are about the same as getting struck by lightning. Thankfully Ohio will never become a helmet law state. Freedom to ride, freedom to choose. Ride safe.

 

about once a week i take a ride without my FF helmet. after getting smacked in the face a few times by road debris i remember why i wear the FF most of the time

 

You sound like a 'real' man because of "I love flying down the highway at 75mph on my Sportster all the while knowing that if i fly off helmet or no helmet i'm pretty much a goner but the odds of that happening are about the same as getting struck by lightning". But unfortunately you are wrong and missing a very important point. The odds of you, or anyone, having an accident is much greater then getting struck by lighting, no matter how good you are. Riders, no matter how good they are, can make mistakes, at least the human ones can.

Regardless, there is no guarantee that you will be "a goner". Some people, in their desire to prove a helmet isn't needed, claim their heads never hit the ground or anything actually. And that is believable because some people also beat the odds and win lotteries. However almost all lottery players tear up their losing tickets. And since some riders receive head injuries that damage their heads like a grape under a boot, it seems logical that there is a wide range of possible injuries that can occur to the 'human' riders that make mistakes and receive head injuries while not wearing a helmet.

Even more important, IMO, is your misplaced concentration on fatalities or "goners". Again logically, the odds of a rider receiving a head injury that results in a brain injury, rather then immediate death, are far greater. And only the 'lucky' head, brain, injury recipients die instantly. A more important point, again IMO, is that a head(brain) injury can result from a minor incident that is far below the level needed to cause a injury to the body that might result in death. Apples and Oranges, so to speak. A head injury wins every time, the only variable is the margin of victory.

"Freedom to ride, freedom to choose" is great. Just make your choice carefully. The 'agony', if that is what a person feels, of wearing a helmet only occurs while actually wearing a helmet. A head, brain, injury that occurs to riders that aren't lucky enough to die instantly, probably most of them, becomes a/the major factor in their lives. Every second for the rest of their 'life'.

Ron

 

I fully understand that ff helmets are by default the safest helmets, but sometimes it doesn't matter what type of helmet you wear. My father was killed in a collision with a mini backhoe that was crossing the highway with no flag men just before dawn on his way to work. He was wearing a 3/4 helmet, and the only head/facial injury he had was a broken nose. What killed him was separation of the aortic artery at the heart when he hit the bucket on the tractor. Sometimes things just happen regardless of gear or experience, he had decades of experience as a motor officer. Just thought I'd throw it out there that if it's your time to go, nothing will stop that.

Having said that, ff helmets can help, and I have no problem with people who choose to wear them for safety reasons. But, in the end they can't and won't always save you. This is why I wear all three types of helmets depending on the bike and weather conditions, not based on safety concerns about where I might receive a head or facial injury.

 

My condolences about your father. And you are right, helmets can't prevent all deaths, but they can greatly reduce the possibility of a head(brain) injury. Especially in an, otherwise minor, insignificant, incident.

 

You repetitively push the helmet agenda based on possibilities and personal opinion, not fact or probability and thats ok. We live in a free nation to speak and say what we choose. Look at the NFL they wear helmets and well we are paying the price as we are paying to pay for there head injury lawsuit from concussion i.e. brain injuries.

They are more at risk of a brain injury that any motorcycle rider is. There is no debate that in a crash a helmet can help. Nobody has ever denied that. There is no debate that full race gear would prevent rider injuries if you get off at any speed. Do you wear full road racer race gear when you ride? If not by all means you are an irresponsible unsafe rider statistically speaking.

I'm a 54 year old male with no debt. I drink too much. I'm overweight all of which supposedly come with considerable risk. Every choice we make in life is a risk. The ultimate question you have to ask yourself is why do you ride a dangerous thing like a motorcycle at all? If your worried about death or disabling injury you should probably sell your motorcycle. Jumping out of airplanes are inherently more dangerous than motorcycle riding yet people choose to do it every day.

Many helmet less auto accidents result in traumatic brain injuries that could of been prevented had they been driving there cars with a a helmet on. So again i ask you where is the merit in your debate that helmets are a distinct benefit to motorcycle riders compared to any other risky activity?

One of the most awesome articles i read was from a female rider that said she was sick and tired of the wear or not wear argument. She stated that she loved riding without, she accepted the risk and didn't give a F about what others thought. Ultimately what that means is she could care less about what others thought and that directly reflects the freedom of motorcycle riding.

There are people who choose to wear and those like me who hate to wear. I personally don't like a bucket on my head as it distracts from my riding experience. Some get it some don't. Whatever it takes to make you comfortable on a two wheeled motorcycle is all that matters.

 

"So again i ask you where is the merit in your debate that helmets are a distinct benefit to motorcycle riders compared to any other risky activity"? Is this a serious question? Isn't it obvious that the opportunity to receive a head(brain) injury is greater on a motorcycle then other activities? I am not promoting helmets, I actually don't care what happens to other people, but too many people mistakenly believe that a head injury means instant, or even sure death, and it unfortunately it doesn't. Your asking this question is evidence you don't really understand the issue.

Unlike in a cage, even a minor incident can cause a rider's head to bounce off something solid. And that can result in a dramatic life changing event for a person. So there is a possibility of choosing between a few minutes, or hours, of the agony of wearing a helmet, or a lifetime of reduced capacity. This is why I post, to get 'fatalities', or however it is phrased, out of the equation.

I ride a motorcycle, as I have since 7/68, because I am not worried about death or a disabling injury. I actually was hoping for that. My life turned out MUCH better then was expected because I have always planned on an intellectual career, most people have different goals. Goals that even a minor head(brain) injury may derail.

"not fact"? I wonder how many people have been involved in an incident of some sort but because a helmet protected them, they were able to ride away and nobody knew about the incident?