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I just cant understand how guys who dont wear helmets can put of with the wind noise and the bugs in their teeth. I was on a ride a couple of years back during the spring when all the May Flies had hatched. We passed some guys on cruisers on our way up in to the mountains, no helmets of course. I pulled into a gas station in Wickenburg and had to clean all the guts off my face shield. I went inside the gas station and saw one of the cruiser guys and his lady friend passenger. They both had bug gutts all over their face and in their hair.
I ride with a helmet, I live in a state with helmet laws. I got left turned once, hit the windshield on the car, and who knows what else. The helmet I was wearing had 4 deep scratches running from ear to ear.
If I wasn't wearing a helmet I would at the very least had a weird part lines on my head. A lot of riders remove their helmet going into states that don't require them but I leave mine on. I also wear protective gear, vented jackets in the summer, gloves, and at the very least kevlar jeans.
I ride a harley and a dual sport. I'm in my 50's and have gone to a number of motorcycle safety courses.
Location: In a Galaxy far, far away called Germany
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I've never had a motorcycle accident on the road (plenty on the dirt though), but I am not waiting for one to be ready. I also wear a full face helmet, vented & padded jackets/gloves with proper riding boots. But, then again, I'm an incredibly handsome guy and I don't want to damage all of this. ;^D
Depending on the state you live in, it may or may not be required to wear a helmet. Although I tend to see more Harley riders without helmets, it's still all personal choice. I've only ridden twice w/o a helmet which was just down the street. I don't like riding without one. I've had 3 ninjas, and after moving to Atlanta (Which requires a helmet) and having it stolen, now own a 2007 Harley Nightster 1200. I wear a full face helmet and get a little picked on by some of the other Harley riders. "Real Harley guys wear half helmets". I honestly don't care what anyone else wears. I like my full face and I'm sticking with it!
I saw a motorcycle accident first hand about 10 years ago on Easter Sunday. It was night, raining cat's & dogs. I was waiting at the light, guy was on a big Harley or Honda was making the left, light turned yellow he was trying to turn on the yellow when an old school Caprice Classic mowed him down, they ran the red did not even try to stop, I guess they both ran the light. In any event he saw it coming & gunned it but the car caught the mid to rear section of the bike popped him & the bike in the air, they both landed & bonced off the hood, the bike bounched off the hood tp the ground the guy bounced off the winshled & roof. I reacted immeditaly. I jumped out my car to assist the guy, no one else would they were all driving around the guy & the bike laying in the street.
As i'm dialing 911 the guy who got hit dazed actually got up & I helped him walk over to the sidewalk & sat him down. I asked him if he was ok & he responded NO. He was banged up, But he was alive. He was wearinga helmey, Leather jacket Gloves & jeans which i'm sure all this saved his life. Of course the couple in the car that hit him were a very eldery couple. The old man driving never saw him & most likey did not see the light changeing. It's a miracle he was able to keep control of the car & not hit anyone else.
The cops showed up on scene were driving by, they took it from there. I left, I assume the rider made a full recovery. It did not make the papers.
18 months ago my friend Kenny was not so lucky. He was riding his scotter with a helmet traveling less than a 1/4 mile from where the accident I first described happened, & less than half a mile from his apartment. A women made a blind turn from Hylan blvd into the Shoprite & never saw Kenny who had the right of way. He slammed right into her. The impact of hitting the car causes his scooter to land on him & crushed his chest. He went into cardiac arrest & died on the scene. His accident made the paper.
His sister lives a few houses a way from me. I see her all the time & I can't look her in the eye. I just don't know what to say to her.
I saw a motorcycle accident first hand about 10 years ago on Easter Sunday. It was night, raining cat's & dogs. I was waiting at the light, guy was on a big Harley or Honda was making the left, light turned yellow he was trying to turn on the yellow when an old school Caprice Classic mowed him down, they ran the red did not even try to stop, I guess they both ran the light. In any event he saw it coming & gunned it but the car caught the mid to rear section of the bike popped him & the bike in the air, they both landed & bonced off the hood, the bike bounched off the hood tp the ground the guy bounced off the winshled & roof. I reacted immeditaly. I jumped out my car to assist the guy, no one else would they were all driving around the guy & the bike laying in the street.
As i'm dialing 911 the guy who got hit dazed actually got up & I helped him walk over to the sidewalk & sat him down. I asked him if he was ok & he responded NO. He was banged up, But he was alive. He was wearinga helmey, Leather jacket Gloves & jeans which i'm sure all this saved his life. Of course the couple in the car that hit him were a very eldery couple. The old man driving never saw him & most likey did not see the light changeing. It's a miracle he was able to keep control of the car & not hit anyone else.
The cops showed up on scene were driving by, they took it from there. I left, I assume the rider made a full recovery. It did not make the papers.
18 months ago my friend Kenny was not so lucky. He was riding his scotter with a helmet traveling less than a 1/4 mile from where the accident I first described happened, & less than half a mile from his apartment. A women made a blind turn from Hylan blvd into the Shoprite & never saw Kenny who had the right of way. He slammed right into her. The impact of hitting the car causes his scooter to land on him & crushed his chest. He went into cardiac arrest & died on the scene. His accident made the paper.
His sister lives a few houses a way from me. I see her all the time & I can't look her in the eye. I just don't know what to say to her.
That's real unfortunate, but it's what we sign up for when we throw a leg over these machines. Too bad dumbass drivers have to **** it up for us
Harley riders like to express their uniqueness and individuality by all wearing similar gear, riding similar bikes, modifying their exhausts in similar ways, and riding helmetless unless legally required to.
Sportbike riders are slightly less lemming-like in their behavior, IMHO. And, being younger, the guys you see riding them are more likely to have taken a motorcycle safety course than the older Harley crowd.
Yeah, pretty much true. I think just because sportbike riders are so young (16-mid late 20s usually) they take the MSF course as a "way out" of the riding test given at the DMV so they can just get their license in 1 weekend. I know that's what I did when I was 18. Harley riders probably came from sportbikes at some point so they took their safety course way back. I still stand by the comment that whoever rides without a helmet or proper gear is an idiot though
Yeah, pretty much true. I think just because sportbike riders are so young (16-mid late 20s usually) they take the MSF course as a "way out" of the riding test given at the DMV so they can just get their license in 1 weekend. I know that's what I did when I was 18. Harley riders probably came from sportbikes at some point so they took their safety course way back. I still stand by the comment that whoever rides without a helmet or proper gear is an idiot though
I rather they spend two all day sessions at a closed course then at a dmv test for 30.
I ride with a helmet, I live in a state with helmet laws. I got left turned once, hit the windshield on the car, and who knows what else. The helmet I was wearing had 4 deep scratches running from ear to ear.
If I wasn't wearing a helmet I would at the very least had a weird part lines on my head. A lot of riders remove their helmet going into states that don't require them but I leave mine on. I also wear protective gear, vented jackets in the summer, gloves, and at the very least kevlar jeans.
I ride a harley and a dual sport. I'm in my 50's and have gone to a number of motorcycle safety courses.
I'm a sport bike rider, and I still have my helmet from when I went down. Flipped over the handlebars locking up the front brake because someone decided to go from 50 to zero on the highway in front of me. I woke up in the hospital the next morning with no memory of going down. Witnesses say I wasn't doing anything stupid - not speeding, no tailgating, etc and there was no reason for traffic to stop. The nurses left my helmet in the room with me after cutting me out of all my clothes. I hit the ground hard enough to crack the front and scuffed most of the front and sides up.
I had a new helmet within 2 weeks of getting out of the hospital. Took me 3 months before I was back on a bike again.
I have been riding for almost 45 years and have always worn a helmet. I now ride a big scooter and still wear a helmet. I consider helmet = serious injury and no helmet = dead. FWIW I live in a state (NH)that does not require a helmet.
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helmet/no helmet
