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Do you wear a helmet?

cedarbrook63 said:
I've posted before on this topic: I worked for some years in E.R. and have seen a good number of bikers who've crashed wheeled in to us. There is absolutely no doubt that a helmet covering your skull and chin gives the best protection: I've seen guys with their brains pulped who would've probably just been concussed if they'd a helmet on and I've seen some horrible facial injuries (including loss of most of the lower jaw and nose tip) where a half-helmet/open face was worn. Full helmets are a pain and an inconvenience compared to partial coverage or the wild pleasure of no helmet and good weather, but you're really playing with the numbers and if you're unlucky, it's a scale of nasty up to disastrous.
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Says it all, really.
 
Arizona doesn't require them but, I still wouldn't be without one. I wear a full-face always, even when it's 115F. It's actually cooler than having that sun fry your scalp.
 
RichardS said:
I couldn't agree more, and while I admit I wear a 1/2 helmet most of the time, (I'm still stupid enough to worry about looking cool, which no helmet does for anybody. I don't care if it's solid gold with diamonds all over it. Well.....on second thought, that WOULD be cool!)

I always insist that any passengers wear a full helmet, and I have a couple different ones to make sure the fit is right.

I have even come to the conclusion I won't allow my youngest son, (now 11)who would love to go for a ride longer then the length of my driveway, to ride with me AT ALL. Accidents happen, all the time, (Thus my advice to my riding brothers to "Ride for the fall"), and if anything bad happened to my little guy on my watch, whether it was my "fault" or not, I'd swallow a .45 the minute I could get my hands on my piece. So, no matter how much he begs, he can't ride with me.

Years ago, I would have been happy to put a helmet on my son's head, (and did it all the time with my two older boys, now 20 and 22, when they were kids), but I have seen too many senseless and stupid deaths on the road, and the older I get, the less willing I am to take any chances on anyone other than myself, helmet or not.
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You're absolutely spot on there Richard. We take responsibility for ourselves on our bikes and hopefully are very responsible and considerate to other drivers/riders. Most biking accidents happen because "the car/truck just didn't see him.....". So the whole pillion carrying thing is quite a grey area. Man I couldn't live with myself if I was party to injury or worse to my kids, but then the world is a place full of risks. It's how we measure them and respond to them mixed with Fate that ultimately sets the scene....

Enjoy the ride and stay on the saddle.
 
Yes, 3/4 at the moment. Having a tough time finding a full that fits well. Still shopping for that. Gives me an excuse to get up to Iron Pony!
 
Crazyfrog said:
Cold weather: Always full face
Summer: I'd say 90% of the time I do, and it would be a 1/2 helmet.
This year my plan is to get a carbon fiber shorty and wear it all the time.
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Which carbon fiber shorty are you thinking about? I am also trying to decide which shorty to buy.
 
RichardS said:
VERY well stated Cedar, and yes, how often do we hear "I never even saw him!" from the cage driver? It doesn't seem to matter what color the bike is, how loud the pipes are....we are INVISIBLE!

While it's absolutely true the world is full of risks, (think about it.......almost every day somewhere, someone, is slipping in the shower and getting seriously, sometimes gravely injured), and we have to live our lives, I just can't justify subjecting my kid, (and for the last few years, mostly my wife as well), to the risks of being behind me on the scooter. Do I miss the fun of thrilling my kids on the bike, and the intimacy of riding with my wife?

ABSOLUTELY!

But each riding season, more and more newspaper articles appear, or news stories on TV, about the latest motorcycle fatality. It's either getting worse, or as I am getting older I'm noticing more.

Either way, I'll mostly ride solo now, and rely on riding buddies for companionship while I'm out.

(With my helmet securely fastened to my quite fragile skull.)
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Richard,I believe the media is responsible for this kind of paranoia, In the winter it is accidents involving trucks,not taking into account the amount that are on the road!If you look at the stats the percentage of motorcycle accidents and the percentage of truck accidents in relation to the numbers that are on the road is 60% less than car accidents. I will not give up touring with my wife because the media pushes their PANIC button!
 
The media thrives on gloom and doom. The vast majority of what they print is little more than the writers personal opinion. Even when they report so called "facts", they are often full of inaccuracies or statements taken out of context.
Since they do not seem to be held accountable for anything they say or print, it seems that the old addage, "don't believe any of what you read, and only part of what you see", would be good advice.
 
RichardS said:
Steve, you raise a good point, in that the media certainly manipulates our opinions, and can be deliberately alarming!

That said, the accidents and subsequent fatalities we hear about and read about and see on the news, DID happen.

Those people DID die.

Now, I may have let that affect me more than the next person, and we all have to make our own personal choices, but those deaths do affect me in a way that makes me want to leave my kids safely at home ALL the time, and Cathy most of the time, more because I know if something happened to BOTH of us it would have devastating consequences on my little guy, who's only 11, and needs at least ONE parent for a few more years.
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I think we will alway disagree on this one ,my friend. Stats are you are more likely to get in a car accident,then a motorcycle accident and most fatalities occur within 10 miles of home. So how often do you drive in a car locally with Cathy? JMO you may as well get out there and enjoy with the one you love:D
 
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