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In Ohio you don't have to wear one but I always wear mine...always, always. I understand the sound argument but I worked on a life squad for 15 years and saw my share of motorcycle accidents where there was no helmet...they could hear better but they were dead....
I'm almost certain I do. I see people riding all the time without a helmet. I live in IL. There was a terrible motorcycle accident at the entrance to my job last week. Luckily, the guy was wearing a helmet.
I'm pretty sure Ohio doesn't require them, either. I just don't understand it. It almost seems like cooler climate states don't require them while warmer climates do.
Texas doesn't. Around the middle of May, you can start noticing that around 70% of cruiser and tourer riders are not wearing helmets.
Attached is the bare minimum I'll wear for even the shortest of trips in even the hottest of weather. Underneath the jeans I have on Icon Field Armor for knees and shins. Boots (the ones in the pic are somewhat low cut but cover the ankles well), armored jacket (textile in this case, also have perfed leather), full face helmet, and gloves (the ones in the pic are not very high up the wrist and have little knuckle protection but have decent palm protection).
Hard to comment on the insurance thing. I pay $5 or $6/month for liability only on the mini Ninja.
Used to live in CA, I still do but used to too, then lived 2 years in Arizona where it is hotter than an iguana's behind on a hot rock yet no helmet is required.
Some of the people got nothing but air between their ears so I can understand why they would not want to wear a helmet and heat up that air in between their ears but I for one feel my nugget is worth saving so I always wear a helmet regardless of the law.
Hearing as, inventor claimed, is not a sense I use, mainly because my bike is hella loud and I typically have earphones and listen to mp3s. I use and rely on my visuals, instincts and sexy reflexes all the time. I do not really need the audio but even with a loud bike and music in my ears, I could still hear and sense where the noise is coming from quite accurately. Perhaps I have really keen hearing, I dunno and I definitely do not mean to discredit or dismiss what inventor was suggesting but I don't use a blindfold when I am riding.
I leave the blindfold, handcuffs and Haagen-Dazs for the bedroom riding.
Riding my bike from NC to western Missouri, I decided to take advantage of Illinois' no helmet option and took mine off as soon as I got to the first rest stop in that state. It wasn't long before I was stopping to put on a doo rag. I hated the pudding swirl of my hair being blown around - not to mention that as I was running my fingers through my hair to flatten it, I felt a lump and pulled out a bug. Then, I made another stop to put on extra chap stick because my lips were getting dry. A little farther down the road, I stopped to wet my doo rag and wipe my face - it was beginning to feel gritty from all the road crap being blown against it. Getting toward the other side of the state, my face started to feel like yuck because of the extra oil seeping out of my skin as a counteract to being wind-dried and the fact that I had applied sunscreen to keep from getting sun burned. Right before I hit the Missouri line, I put my full-face helmet back on and was glad of it. At the end of my ride, I gave myself a facial to get all the crap out of my pores and make my face feel less mummified.
(IMO) A good helmet not only protects your noggin but keeps you from feeling like you fell face first into a cow pat after a long ride.
Riding my bike from NC to western Missouri, I decided to take advantage of Illinois' no helmet option and took mine off as soon as I got to the first rest stop in that state. It wasn't long before I was stopping to put on a doo rag. I hated the pudding swirl of my hair being blown around - not to mention that as I was running my fingers through my hair to flatten it, I felt a lump and pulled out a bug. Then, I made another stop to put on extra chap stick because my lips were getting dry. A little farther down the road, I stopped to wet my doo rag and wipe my face - it was beginning to feel gritty from all the road crap being blown against it. Getting toward the other side of the state, my face started to feel like yuck because of the extra oil seeping out of my skin as a counteract to being wind-dried and the fact that I had applied sunscreen to keep from getting sun burned. Right before I hit the Missouri line, I put my full-face helmet back on and was glad of it. At the end of my ride, I gave myself a facial to get all the crap out of my pores and make my face feel less mummified.
(IMO) A good helmet not only protects your noggin but keeps you from feeling like you fell face first into a cow pat after a long ride.
Love it!
For me, even if I were invulnerable, I simply can't breathe with the wind hitting my face over 25 or 30 mph, and unless I have enclosed goggles, the wind funnels right into my eyeballs behind glasses. I wear Shoei RF1000s and a KBC Force RR, each with breath deflector and chin curtain and on the Shoeis I switch between a dark smoke shield and a "high definition" clear shield. When it's really bright I use the dark smoke plus sunglasses.
I also wear soft foam earplugs inserted well into my ear canals on every ride.
I love my HJC SyMax II. Being a modular helmet, I can flip it up to change my glasses or to talk to someone. It has a built-in sunscreen and is quite comfortable, and the wind makes a lot less noise at highway speeds than it does not wearing a helmet (which I haven't done for years).
I can breathe at sppeds over 30 mph without a helmet, but the air is likely to contain other stuff besides nitrogen, oxygen, etc. You haven't lived until you get behind a sand truck.
Used to live in CA, I still do but used to too, then lived 2 years in Arizona where it is hotter than an iguana's behind on a hot rock yet no helmet is required.
Some of the people got nothing but air between their ears so I can understand why they would not want to wear a helmet and heat up that air in between their ears but I for one feel my nugget is worth saving so I always wear a helmet regardless of the law.
Hearing as, inventor claimed, is not a sense I use, mainly because my bike is hella loud and I typically have earphones and listen to mp3s. I use and rely on my visuals, instincts and sexy reflexes all the time. I do not really need the audio but even with a loud bike and music in my ears, I could still hear and sense where the noise is coming from quite accurately. Perhaps I have really keen hearing, I dunno and I definitely do not mean to discredit or dismiss what inventor was suggesting but I don't use a blindfold when I am riding.
I leave the blindfold, handcuffs and Haagen-Dazs for the bedroom riding.
too funny you admit you can not hear... that it is a sense you do not use.... so you can not listen if you can not hear. just kidding.... couldn't resist the opening
But you do wear a blindfold when riding , hmmm one can argue a full face helmet does restrict vision very easily.... My guess is DOT has never done a study on it because it would harm their mandatory helmet argument. But another case of demonstrating they are not wanting the truth for informed decisions.
for the others, I ride bikes with and without windshields. I prefer the windshields without a question when not wearing a helmet, specially in buggy areas, or in temperature extremes. I do not get hit by bugs and stay much cleaner when behind a windshield, no comparison on driver comfort. [MOD CUT]
BTW i have hit several birds with my windshield. My windshield is angled properly for deflection and much thicker. I bet those would have taken out that thin visor material. I have taken one bird to the chest before and almost knocked me off my bike. It severely bruised me. If a hit to the head I bet I would have gone down. Anyone without a windshield ever take a bird to the helmet to live though it at a decent speed? My bet is no-one will claim to it because anyone that did is dead and they would not have known what the accident fault was. I think one of the three birds I took out with my windshield could have been head shot on me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nepenthe
I also wear soft foam earplugs inserted well into my ear canals on every ride.
I always recommend earplugs the best are about 33db drop. They do not effect the triangulation that I am talking about. If you ride a lot the noise out there is horrible. Helmets only drop the noise by a few dbs. If you were exposed to this level of noise in a job it would be a violation of Osha rules to not wear ear protection i would guess. I get all my friends to wear them, initially they do not like the discomfort and the adjustment to less noise, but they learn later how much more peaceful it is. high end earbuds for music that make a total seal are also very effective.
Last edited by Sage of Sagle; 06-26-2010 at 11:57 PM..
Reason: Don't be insulting
But you do wear a blindfold when riding , hmmm one can argue a full face helmet does restrict vision very easily.... My guess is DOT has never done a study on it because it would harm their mandatory helmet argument. But another case of demonstrating they are not wanting the truth for informed decisons.
My Shoei helmets have quite wide viewports. They probably restrict, left to right, the fuzzy extremes of peripheral vision, and certainly less so than sunglasses do.
It is lucky, then, that I have this handy adaptation called a neck, which enables me to ever so slightly turn my eyes to Sweep Search Scan. Factoring in both the wide viewport and the neck, there is no limitation.
My Shoei helmets have quite wide viewports. They probably restrict, left to right, the fuzzy extremes of peripheral vision, and certainly less so than sunglasses do.
It is lucky, then, that I have this handy adaptation called a neck, which enables me to ever so slightly turn my eyes to Sweep Search Scan. Factoring in both the wide viewport and the neck, there is no limitation.
Maybe you did not read the rest of the posts on the subject. With your stated position there would never be a case where there is a higher accident rate of people that wear helmets. Here are the facts.... helmet mandatory states have from the years I have looked at at every single year had a higher accident rate than helmet optional states.
FYI I have requested that the DOT publish this information many times over years and they will not do it. Even when the head of my states transportation committee was debating with me and asking for this information. The reason they will not do such a simple study is because it would destroy their argument, as the federal gov is for mandatory helmet laws. I have compiled this information by hand several times over 30 years and without exception helmet mandatory states have higher accident rates. By doing so was able to get my representative to dialog with me and have her with draw her bill for mandatory helmet bill in the US house. again any reasonable person is correctly suspect of the DOT when they will not publish such important easy to put together data. As I say when it is that simple to put together it has to be held that they are intentionally withholding it because it is not supportive of their agenda. specially since I have requested it from them several times over years.
Thus a person who does understand data can conclude helmets restrict visibility to the point of causing more accidents. I personally am for informed riders vs people who ride without the facts.
People in cars, believe it or not have necks too. and in cars the majority of deaths are head injuries. In many if not most states it is illegal to wear a helmet because well it is determined it restricts your vision. would you be for people wearing helmets in cars since it would save so many lives??? I am not because it would be even more cars killing motorcyclists.
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