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Helmets are being questioned??

Helmet test Same discovery

After discovering that my lane was covered with gravel, and my bike no longer wanted a passenger, I went over the bars, did a split S and landed on my back. As I skipped down the pavement, I heard my helmet grinding against the asphalt. I got up and road six hours home with a sore toe. My head was just fine. NOBODY can convince me that a helmet doesn't save lives, it saved mine.


On my way to the Missoula rally from Texas a few years ago, I tested my $75. full face helmet in Yellowstone. I came up on some pea gravel at a bridge and then the next moment, my bike did a flip forward and I went skidding down the pavement on my face. I was fully protected with gear and came out with only a bruised thigh and a helmet with deep gouges and scratches. Most of them were on the chin guard, shield and front top of helmet. My bike lost its rs shield in the flip but didn't break it; I strapped it on the back and rode the rest of the way to Missoula very carefully. A cheap helmet is better than no helmet at all.

DW
 
My first on the street motorcycle accident happened when I was 17. I lowsided and slid and tumbled about 100 ft on the asphalt. I got up and had a few bad abrasions on my knees, elbows and right wrist. I got back up on the bike that had a slightly bent footpeg and shift lever and a hole in the fiberglass fairing and rode home. There I took my helmet off and saw a big section rubbed off of the surface right on the side of my head. I didn't even recognized it happen.
 
Remember about a year ago, some Harley riders had a protest ride against helmets, one of them went down and died from head injuries.
 
The Right of Stupidity..........our most precious asset.

Precisely.

Driving is a privilege granted by individual states. Helmet laws vary from state to state because privileges are not recognized as constitutional rights.

That's why helmet laws are not federally universal - not a constitutional right.

Urban myth #731 .
 
Other uses for helmets.

I found it interesting that someone mentioned in the aftermath of the Oklahoma tornado's that if you have a helmet of any kind you put it on for added protection during a tornado attack.

Wayne Koppa
Grayling, MI
#71449 Life
 
26 years in the fire service, responded to all sorts of vehicle accidents. Never leave the driveway without a good lid on MY noggin. Sometimes a Snell rated Arai, sometimes a DOT HJC. In '97, knocked off a Ducati by a Subaru attempting to occupy my space in an HOV lane. Boots, pants, gloves all damaged, my Shoei full face heavily damaged. Checked out on scene and then at the hospital, then back to work a couple of hours later...instead of a trip to the morgue.

MSF trained, and my riding partner is a CHP moto academy graduate (and MSF instructor). So safe riding habits are pretty well ingrained and refreshed on a regular basis. My accident witness was an off duty PD officer, when I chatted with him a few days after the accident, he stated, "you did everything right, but she still knocked you down!"

Ya never know, so I ALWAYS wear a helmet...YMMV.

Cheers!
 
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I believe anyone with ANY exposure to MC training KNOWS that full face or flip-up helmets provide more protection to your brain (and face) than lesser helmets or no helmet. BUT...

A lot of riding is about "image" - and I think that is just as true of BMW riders as all the other groups. Our "image" is a good helmet and full riding gear. Show up at one of local club "breakfast rides" wearing a T-shirt, shorts and a beanie and, probably, nobody would say a thing. But you would be a minority of one. Not comfortable. I can see Harley, Goldwing, and sports bike riders dressing as they do for exactly the same reason - you want to be part of the group. We're very lucky that our "image" fits with gear that enhances both our safety AND COMFORT. (No, I don't believe we are on average any smarter or less sheep-like than the riders whose garb we scorn.)

Maybe another good reason to ride a BMW!

Unfortunately you are likely right about this ( image comment).

For me it is safety first, so the best protection possible (full face helmet, hearing protection, all the gear...) and a bike with a seating position that provides the best control possible at low speed and high speed. I don't ride a cruiser. They look great, but...( I M O )
 
Many uses

I found it interesting that someone mentioned in the aftermath of the Oklahoma tornado's that if you have a helmet of any kind you put it on for added protection during a tornado attack.

Wayne Koppa
Grayling, MI
#71449 Life

I agree; there are many uses.

Solo sailing or as a crew, I always wear a full face helmet in foul weather. It keeps the rain out of my eyes and protects my head. Some people think I look funny but I don't care. :p
 
I agree; there are many uses.

Solo sailing or as a crew, I always wear a full face helmet in foul weather. It keeps the rain out of my eyes and protects my head. Some people think I look funny but I don't care. :p


It also has the benefit of avoiding being "boomed" by an out of control tack !
 
We get a lot of snow in the Winter. I have to use a snowblower to clear my driveway and the sidewalk. The wind usually blows quite a bit of the snow back into my face. I wear a full face helmet. Protects me nicely!
 
I found it interesting that someone mentioned in the aftermath of the Oklahoma tornado's that if you have a helmet of any kind you put it on for added protection during a tornado attack.

Wayne Koppa
Grayling, MI
#71449 Life

Interesting that you mention this. To stray just a tad from the OP, one of my regular riding buddies is a Red Cross National Disaster Coordinator - pretty much the first Red Cross 'boots on the ground' after nature throws a hissy fit. He's been to Sandy, Katrina, 9/11, Oklahoma City, Joplin, etc.

Just finished a 3,000 mile ride with him, so lots of 'chat time.' He mentioned several recurring tactics that I found interesting.

1) For almost every private dwelling obliterated by a tornado, one structure remained intact - the fireplace. Many know to seek refuge in it and strap themselves to the flue brace.

2) If caught out in the open in a vehicle, cinch up the seatbelt as tight as possible - then slip out of the shoulder strap and lie down on the front seat. Seatbelt, airbags and the crush-zone cage allowed many mangled vehicles to reveal survivors in them. Granted - banged up pretty good (lacerations, bruises, fractures), but by now, all released from the hospital - not the morgue.

3) Many put on their motorcycle helmets and survived countless objects slamming into their heads - probable fatal trauma if not so well protected.

I believe in the protection my helmet offers me when riding. I also don it prior to any mention to 'the boss' about my next extended touring plan with the boys. Deflects all but the largest fry pans! :fight
 
We have no mandatory helmet laws. I still wear one.

I see many others without.

Well, in the good old Peoples Republic of California we do have a mandatory helmet law and I resent it. Don't get me wrong, I wear one (Schuberth C3). Personally, I think your are crazy if you get on a bike and you don't wear one. I am a ATGATT kind of guy.

California boating laws require boat owners to provide life vest for everyone on board. I don't have a problem with that because the law does not state that I have to wear it. It just has to be available. Helmet laws should be the same way.

Our elected elite seem to truly believe that we are too stupid to take care of ourselves and I resent the fact that they think themselves better suited to make my choices than I am. I am sick and tired of them deciding my morals for me and protecting me from myself.

I can see it now.... in the near future, they will ban riding at night because we can't see road hazards like we can during the day and pass laws so all new motorcycles and scooters have seat belts and roll cages. It has already started. Look at the BMW C1 scooter for the European market.
 
Our elected elite seem to truly believe that we are too stupid to take care of ourselves and I resent the fact that they think themselves better suited to make my choices than I am. I am sick and tired of them deciding my morals for me and protecting me from myself.

Let us all just pick and choose the rules we want to live by. That's a real plan.
 
Well, in the good old Peoples Republic of California we do have a mandatory helmet law and I resent it.

Our elected elite seem to truly believe that we are too stupid to take care of ourselves and I resent the fact that they think themselves better suited to make my choices than I am. I am sick and tired of them deciding my morals for me and protecting me from myself.





I suggest that you might be happier if you move to a state that allows you to be stupid on public roads.

There ARE quite a few of them out there.:dunno



:dance:dance:dance
 
I can see it now.... in the near future, they will ban riding at night because we can't see road hazards like we can during the day and pass laws so all new motorcycles and scooters have seat belts and roll cages. It has already started. Look at the BMW C1 scooter for the European market.

FWIW: People I know in London that had them loved them and rode the snot out of them. Trouble was they were required to wear a helmet. BMW's development of the C1 assumed no helmet because the safety features they added. Combined with using the wrong dealer network the bike was doomed but definitively not because it wasn't a fun bike. Production ended a decade ago. A electric concept version was brought out a few years ago but to date has not been released.
 
.........

California boating laws require boat owners to provide life vest for everyone on board. I don't have a problem with that because the law does not state that I have to wear it. It just has to be available. Helmet laws should be the same way.

Having that helmet strapped to your rear seat or rack makes sense to me. No wonder your officials think people are too stupid to take care of themselves. I totally would give you the right to lay on the side of a highway with a cracked skull. But I might leave you there rather than spend money to get you to the hospital.
 
I think Argent Brick makes a cogent point; should "government" protect us from ourselves when we choose to do things that carry greater risks to ourselves but not to others? His vote is no, and I think I would second that. (Both of us wear helmets and ATGATT and would do so in states where helmets are not required.) We agree that wearing anything less is stupid, but being stupid should not be illegal - as opposed to riding drunk or serious speeding, etc. which DO endanger others.

As I've said before, it is the "culture" of your riding friends that tends to determine how you dress for a ride. Thankfully, BMW folk tend to believe in both good helmets and gear. Newcomers to the ranks get the message loud and clear (as they do with other groups.)

If you want a long riding career, I think the three essentials are: attitude, training/practice, and gear.
 
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