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First ride without helmet.

wearing a helmet is no guarantee of surviving an accident and not wearing one is not a death sentence. I know of more people killed and suffering severe brain injuries in car accidents than motorcycle accidents but no one is promoting wearing a helmet in your car
 
I wore a helmet for the first time in maybe thirty years. It was ok, but it didn't make me feel any safer. I'll try it some more I guess. Maybe it will take.
 
One comment, "I don't understand the desire to ride without a helmet." the answer is "FREEDOM" ,freedom to choose to wear or not to wear a helmet. and it is my choice to wear it or to not, if your in the right state.Thats freedom, this is still the USA,the land of FREEDOM,in the right state.
 
No denying that freedom and freedom of choice is a good thing. No, a helmet will not guarantee you will avoid a head injury...but give you a passive fighting chance. Consider how little protection the brain floating in your bone skull and neck structures...it is like carrying an overfilled water balloon in a glass, if trama happens, where is the liquid center going to expand if kept in a rigid but breakable structure...

I for one do not "like" helmet laws, but playing roulette with cagers, pedestrians, armoco and road hazards, already accepting the risks associated with my lifelong passion enjoying the "motorcycle riding adventure" is NOT decent enough odds for me. With my family, children, grand children, friends and all my acquaintances along the way, who rely on me to safely come home everytime after a ride IMHO is something I choose not to risk without a helmet.
 
To each his own, but for my knoggin, I wear one everytime. It may be just a little half helmut, but it is DOT and may keep me alive.
 
jfbloom said:
To each his own, but for my knoggin, I wear one everytime. It may be just a little half helmut, but it is DOT and may keep me alive.
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Did you know DOT certification is done on the honor system. The manufacturer determines if it meets requirements. There is not even a reporting requirement. Don't think because it has a DOT sticker on it it is safe. If you want a "safe" helmet get yourself a snell approved one. At least for snell certification manufacturers must apply for and earn that sticker. Snell regulary buys certified products and brings them to their lab for testing. Call the DOT and ask them when they last tested a helmet and what tests it must pass. You will be surprised. And no I do not work for snell. I personally don't wear a helmet.
 
That is a bummer, but perhaps trying to ride home after leaving a karaoke "bar" at 3:20 AM was a poorer decision than not wearing a helmet. Am I assuming too much?
 
jody7734 said:
Go ahead and ride without a helmet. This guy was doing less then 35 miles an hour, accoring to my SAPD buddy who was #2 on the scene he would have walked away with a lid on.

Man killed in fall off motorcycle
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I have crashed at over 35 mph without a helmet. Got up dusted myself off, picked up my bike, fired it up and continued on my way. Some scratches on the bike and a bruise on my stomach the next morning, that's it. Not even a scratch or tear in the leather.
 
This has been an interesting discussion. Needless to say, it is an irresolvable issue because neither side will change the mind of the other if that is the intent. The first time I rode without a helmet was the evening of July 16, 2006, in Cody, Wyoming. I had left Vernal, Utah that morning, gone up through the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone etc. Came out of Yellowstone at the east entrance/exit. Worst piece of dug up, gravel road I can recall having the misfortune to have to ride on. Checked into the Western Six-Gun Motel and asked the fella behind the desk where I could get a decent meal. He directed me to Cassie’s Supper Club. After seeing so many riders without helmets, I thought I’d give it a try. Bugs hit me in the face and the wind blew around my glasses causing my eyes to water. Fortunately I didn’t have to go far. I don’t know how you guys do it at highway speeds. That was my first and last time. When I first started riding, a helmet was “House Rules”, not state law as it is now. One afternoon I was riding my Ducati 160 to work when a lady headed south didn’t see me headed north and turned into me. Her right headlight shredded my left knee. My left leg was broken and something punctured my ankle. I landed on my noggin and the helmet was gouged through the outer shell. Ten days later I was released from the hospital, but it took another several months before I could go back to school. Without the helmet, I wouldn’t be tellin’ this story. I have no problem with helmets being a matter of choice, I just happen to choose to wear one.
 
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