That's why I bought two sets.. one full for when I am on freeways and commuting.. one open face for joy rides at the beach or the back roads..

 

The only true way to avoid injury or death on a motorcycle is to not ride one. ANYTHING other than abstinence is accepting a level of risk for injury or death from a motorcycle that your comfortable with. I dont pretend to know what your level of comfort is, dont assume you know mine.

 

Of course there are ways to possibly mitigate injuries and avoid death, right? I don't mean to infer that would matter to you, but for people that choose not to 'accept' that whatever happens is whatever happens.

 

I have a variety of lids, an Arai Freeway, Arai Tour X and an Arai Signet GT and a HJC FF. I wear all of them on the Harley, though not at the same time obviously!

The tour x is a MX style lid which is black and had a real dark visor. With the extended chin piece you get real good ventilation and with the dark visor it makes a great lid for hot sunny days. Might look odd wearing a MX lid on a Iron 883 but so be it.

Freeway open face is normally a town lid I wear with shades but do wear it to commute into London and that involves 16 miles of freeway. I got caught in the rain wearing this once, it was like being a dartboard, lol!

Signet GT has a lightly smoked visor and is used in summer on cloudier days .

HJC is the one I wear most in the winter as it has a clear visor.

I also wear these lids on my Sh300 scooter and have worn them all on sportsbikes, Supermotos, nakeds etc.

 

Of course. and whatever way you chose to mitigate that is the level of risk your comfortable with. And your level is probably different than my level. My moms level was ZERO...........NO MOTORCYCLES Until my dad snuck this one in

 

Wear what you want. Ride what you want. Ride who you want.

 

Ironically the pro helmet crowd will never be seen wearing full racing leathers as they try to promote their agenda and that makes them look foolish. Had that guy that died on a treadmill the other day wore a helmet he would be alive today. I think helmets take away from the riding experience. I ride because i love the feel of flying through the air without a bucket on my head. Thats ALL that matters to me.

I don't need acceptance by the pro helmet agenda. They've chosen there acceptable risk level as have I. i wear a FF when its under 40F and a 1/2 when its over 60F. realistically my 1/2 is nearly worthless but i wear it. I like the drop down visor most. I know it won't offer much protection in any accident. Guess what? The majority of riders never hit the pavement. I've been down once in over 40 years and it was do to alcohol and being stupid.

I didn't get a scratch in that flip over thankfully. I accept the risk of riding. If you don't you probably should not ride at all. We really don't have any control of what happens to us in life no matter what you think. Your only choice is how you want your life to go today.

 

I was in an accident, minor in the grand scale, that left me with a road rash scar on my left shoulder. When I am shirtless, people sometimes ask me what happened. When my shirt is on, nobody knows about the scar. I also had an accident, another minor one, on a dirt bike. This one left me with a basilar skull fracture and brain stem injuries. Although after a few years of recovery I was able to return to college and improved my GPA from 2.5 to 3.8., other students assumed I wasn't intelligent.

Another change is when I speak, walk, or do a lot of things most people take for granted, pushy people ask me what happened to me. Most people just look at me and have an inquisitive look on their face. I also accept the risk of riding, as I have since 6/68. But I also, unfortunately know the difference between head injuries(helmets) and road rash(full racing leathers).

The injuries themselves are very different. And the worst part is that the head injury is far easier to receive then a meaningful road rash. Some of us do things, or not do things, that can affect some of what happens to us in life.

Comparing head injuries and road rash, or whatever 'full racing leathers' can protect a rider from receiving, is like comparing apples and gas. No similarity at all.

No disrespect to you Wildon, but a head injury controls how your life goes every second, for rest of your life.

I agree the important thing is how you want to live life. But for me that means more then just immediate gratification.

 

I like my full face when the weather is cold rode with it today but to say harley riders don't is pretty much stupid. Harley riders ride bikes and sometimes helmets are needed! NEVER TO COOL TO BE COMFORTABLE

 

Thanks for sharing your story.