[terrible_viking]

Sounds like this guy was riding like a retard but the full face helmet saved his life. He said his head was stuck in the guard rail. We've all slipped on gravel no matter how carefully we ride so it's something to think about.

-R.

Well after weeks and months, and years of checking out deals gap on the internet, I decided to go. It was about a 4 hour drive from where I live, and the ride there is all mountain roads. By the time I reached Deals Gap I was pretty tired, but there was no way I wasn't going to run threw the gap. I take one run threw the gap at a cautious speed. I was going fast, but with caution to were if I had to stop or something occured I could. The first one was to just scope out the road and the condition it was in. I turned around and looked at the clock on my bike to read the time so I could clock the run. My adrenaline was pumping, I take off doing a wheelie and start my descent threw the down hill of the gap. I was in the groove, were everything I did was smooth as ice. I get about 1/3 of the way threw and I'm going down a straight at about 75mph, I down shift and start front braking which lead into trail breaking which brought me down to about 50mph. As soon as i start to enter the turn I see gravel. Before I could move, my front end came out from under me as if I was on ice. I black out as soon as I hit. I wake up I don't know how Long after when I hear these people yelling at me and running towards me. I start to get up and look around. I have no idea what happened. I turn to my right and see my bike 15ft down the hill of the mountain. I try and talk and realize my jaw is hanging about 2 inches to the right, and bleeding like crazy. An off duty ambulence was 5 minutes away that picked me up and brought me to UT. I ended up braking 3 bones under my eye, my Jaw, and my knee cap. The doctor said I was really fortunate not to of had brain swelling. Just got my jaw unwired after 4 weeks of drinking threw a straw. I was wearing a Shoei replica helmet, Dainese full body leathers, boots, gloves, everything. I really regret not going threw and checking the way I was going when I crashed. When I made my first run I tried to look at the whole road not just my lane. 1 more week and I get this brace off my knee. Bike's totalled, said it would cost them 10k just to get all the new parts. I can't wait to get another bike, People always see me and ask If i'm going to get another bike and when I say "Yes" they think i'm crazy. People don't realize riding is an addiction. You just have to realize the Street is not the Track.

 

[geeniusatwurk]

ya i'll never wear a 3/4 helmet again, after seeing some guy crashed on the side of the road. he had the 3/4, and he landed on his face, which literally slid off after grinding 30 feet on the asphalt. needless to say he was dead, and the bloody streak was so gross.

 

[D-C]

Some guy came by to buy my 900SS a year or so ago, and he didn't bring a helmet. I offered him one, but in his best macho voice he replied "when it's my time to go, it's my time to go." What a complete ****ing idiotic statement.

Same goes for anything less than full face helmets- what, when it's your time to lose your face, it's your time to lose you face? Yikes, I think I'll minimize my chance of horrible disfigurement or death, thankyou very much!

 

[Lee]

Working in hospitals and for the EMS, I've seen many moto accidents......there is no way I would wear anything less than a full face helmet. Even my dentist told me to wear one! He had to repair one rider's teeth at a cost of $32k. He was wearing a Hardley skull cap helmet. That's alot of cash and alot of pain.
I'm ugly enough already. With no teeth and a hole where my nose used to be? Gruesome.

 

[Ryan_Akiyama]

Proof positive that people who spell "through" as "threw" are stupid.

 

[T-BOOGIE]

yeah i don't wanna grind off my nose and lips :-X

 

[mscdda]

Here's another vote for the full face helmet. I'm a prosecutor at the DA's office in SLC. Anyway, I recently had a DUI case where the defendant wrecked his Harley. Needless to say he was not wearing a helmet. He hit the pavement face first. His attorney showed me some photos of the facial reconstruction surgeries this guy went through. The docs had to literally cut off his face, repair the facial bones and sew his face back on. Gruesome, to say the least

So, wear a full face helmet. Especially if you're drunk.

 

[dbriannelson]

Yep, once again everyone thinks an open face is unacceptable, but riding a motorcycle is perfectly sensible. Seems to me that if safety is the ultimate goal we should just stay home in our BarcaLoungers.

Everything is a tradeoff. Motorcycling provides excitement (and smells and sounds) that one can't get in a cage. But that excitement is at a cost in safety. The same tradeoff applies to helmets. I don't have fogging problems, eyeglasses juggling problems, or for that matter, helmet theft problems, but it comes with the potential safety tradeoff of an unprotected chin.

It's funny how many people see a bike accident, then blame the helmet. Rather than blaming motorcycling in general.

We make our choices based on what we know and on the relative benefits and disadvantages. An open-faced helmet enjoys the same DOT standard as the rest, protects exactly the same way in 90% of accidents and is a viable choice. Having been swayed by the collective moaning of many here I bought a fine Shoei FF, but have put it back in the bag, opting for the convenience and comfort of my open-face helmet (usually worn with heavy Vanson leathers).

-Don

 

[MarkV]

not to scoff at your choice of wearing a full face, 3/4, 1/2, or none at all... it's your decision and there's no need to justify it to me.

 

[Bloodshot]

I have a very small "skid lid" that has a warning inside it stating...

"WARNING: These helmets do NOT meet Department of Transportation specifications. They are NOT to be used on any motorized vehicles. They are NOT designed to be a safety helmet and do NOT protect your head on impact."

...And that's exactly the point.

 

[Ryan_Akiyama]

With the obvious exception of the West Coast Chopper wannabe useless "skid lids" I think it's safe to say some helmet is better than no helmet at all.

Does a full face helmet protect better than a 3/4 in a crash? It seems this can't even be an arguable point... all other things being equal, full coverage is by far *safer*.

I think Don's point is that we all assume risk with our chosen activity... the question becomes how much risk do we want to assume? I choose to *always* wear a full-face helmet on my Monster because I like to ride hard, which increases my risk of a crash... I've willingly assumed the risk of crashing in order to satisfy my desire for speed through corners. Knowing this, I choose to minimize the risk of a busted mouth/chin/face by wearing a full rather than 3/4 helmet.

Others may choose to wear a helmet with less coverage and minimize their risk by riding conservatively. If the day ever comes that I own a cruiser or touring bike, I will most likely wear a 3/4 helmet to ride that bike, as I will not be out to carve the corners. Again, it's a trade-off.

Like most things in life, this seems to boil down to choices and consequences.

 

[Adamizzer]

I'm new to the motorycling community, but I have never considered anything besides a full face helmet. If I'm going to live dangerously and ride a motorcycle, I'm going to live dangerously as safely as possible. 8)

 

[MarkV]

nah you still live dangerously when on a bike... but at least they can leave the coffin lid open for you if you wear a full face lid.

i know don was stating his preference and i gots no issues with it because it's his bidness and i ain't his momma. i just disagreed with the open face sharing the same dot standards as a full face statement.

 

[test-reg]

back in the seventies, my buddy had a Dodge Dart turn left in front of him. he was wearing 3/4 helmet. he was doing mabe 40 mph initialy and collided at a very slow speed. he spent that winter eating through a straw and still has scews in his jaw. low speed accidents can break your face.

 

[Ryan_Akiyama]

I agree low speed accidents can break your face... or worse. I would venture to guess that while your buddy's *collision* was with the idiot cager who turned in front of him, the *crash* was because he was not riding carefully enough. I've found that many/most crashes that we faithfully blame on outside circumstances could have been avoided with greater diligence and better decisions on the part of the rider.

Then again, I could be totally wrong... I wasn't there.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is *how* we ride has a greater impact on personal safety thant *what* we ride in.

 

[Race_Day_Dennis]

Yep, once again everyone thinks an open face is unacceptable, but riding a motorcycle is perfectly sensible.

 

[test-reg]

I agree low speed accidents can break your face... or worse. I would venture to guess that while your buddy's *collision* was with the idiot cager who turned in front of him, the *crash* was because he was not riding carefully enough. I've found that many/most crashes that we faithfully blame on outside circumstances could have been avoided with greater diligence and better decisions on the part of the rider.

Then again, I could be totally wrong... I wasn't there.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is *how* we ride has a greater impact on personal safety thant *what* we ride in.

if he was riding a new monster instead of a 197? Honda, he probably would have stopped in time. he actually was riding within the posted speed limit (for a change). the cage turned without slowing or signaling. your probably not totally wrong, as it takes two to make a two vehicle collision, but he did take reasonable precautions.

 

[putz]

I believe if you have half or three quaeters of a head then wear half or three quarters of a helmet. .

I helps to look at the lidless or under lidded crowd as a darwinian process, hopefully they dont reproduce before the wreck.

I don't like having safety legislated at me (the right to be an imbecile is one of the fundamental American freedoms), but I dress for the wreck not the ride.

 

[geeniusatwurk]

i also remember reading a motorcycle book, and they showed a picture of a full face helmet broken down into small sections (like those brain pictures that tell you which part controls emotions, etc) with the percentage it gets landed on during a crash. guess which section of the helmet had the most impacts? you guessed right - the chin bar. but i have to agree: its mostly preference to most people.

 

[DaffeDuc]

... the whole front of my helmet had road-rash on it (chinbar got the worst of it) on the last get-off.