Its a perfect analogy, just a tap on the pavement could be catastrophic. When your pie graph shows activities balanced on two wheels above 5mph, on public roads, let me know.

Exactly. Yet people don't protest seat belt laws so much.

 

Ehhhh, depends on what the meaning of "real" is. I wear a full face shield, some times behind a windshield does that count?!?!?

 

all the gear all the time. i wear a full face, boots, jacket, gloves and pants every time i ride. I've hit 2 birds with my helmet and would hate to have hit them with nothing on!

 

I wear my full face with every ride so I can keep my full face in tact!

 

Notice no one protests windshields?

 

What's a REAL harley owner?

 

The kind that own anything other than a sporty................just ask them...........they'll tell ya

 

Not sure what a "real Harley owner" is...probably someone who thinks for him/herself and doesn't give a $#!& what somebody else thinks they should have on their noggin. Grew up in a racing family so FF was what I wore most of the time (3/4 the rest of the time in my early MX and street days) and it's what I'm used to. Anything else feels like a Tupperware bowl on my head...just doesn't work for me. Wear whatever you want...if anyone tells you you're not a 'real' Harley rider because of your helmet choice, who cares? Tell them to tell Jay Springsteen he's not a real Harley rider...

 

I am alive right now because of a FF helmet.
I was 18 and stupid and took a corner too fast on an Enduro. Bike went down and my head hit the pavement - HARD.

I have gone down 3 times in 27 years of riding. Twice were extremely minor, one wasnt... The one that wasnt is the only one that was "my fault", but I still went down.

My next door neighbor is paralyzed from the neck down after a bad wreck that left him in the hospital for a year... car pulled out in front of him and he went over the bars - and the car - onto the ground, so its a little closer to home to me.

Saw a kid kill himself doing wheelies on the street in front of my house - flipped the bike backwards and his head hit on the curb - killed him instantly. He would probably be alive right now if he was wearing a helmet.

But here is the thing for me:
I was supposed to be dead 12 years ago from a brain abscess... so maybe I am living on borrowed time and it changes my attitude...
I ride about 50/50. If I think I am going to be on the highway I wear a FF. If I am just running to the store or something I typically dont wear a helmet at all. I know hitting the ground at 35 will kill you just as dead as hitting the ground at 60, but I just cant make myself care. The FF is more because I dont like the taste of bugs than anything else (and the wind dries out my contacts)

But I make my wife wear a FF every time we ride - figure that one out.

 

Perfect analogy, not. If you think purposely self-inflicted injury is a good analogy, then it goes without saying riding a motorcycle is suicidal. This would be an even stronger reason to ride without a helmet rather than with one. That's one reason why the statement doesn't work as an example. Try using it on auto passengers; there's a much greater number receiving head trauma injuries.

The chart is only what it is. It shows there are many other greater possibilities of getting head trauma than traffic, so to concentrate on pushing helmets on motorcycling is not the bang for the buck. It’s just singling out motorcyclists for no valid reason. The chart can also be used to show those who would force helmets on us that we can't just take freedoms away from people to force them to not get hurt (live life). It’s like saying don’t climb ladders because too many fall and sustain head trauma. If full protection is the greater concern over accident avoidance, then the helmet should be worn in a majority of other activities. If certain activities are believed by an individual to have a high probability of injury then they should probably be avoided. Do you think your self-inflicted example is included on the chart?

People don't protest seat belt laws so much because there are good studies on them that prove their value, and also shows when they don't help. Although, lots of people still ignore them, which is the same as a protest. And because there's so much data on which accidents they help, and how many people, air bag development cost was justified for additional help. None of this is the case for motorcycle helmets. Your criticism of charts and statistics applies perfectly to helmet studies. I'll give you a two wheel above 5 when you give me one that shows motorcycle helmet and no helmet injuries (not death) with real miles traveled without injury.