Do you always wear your helmet?

[Skutorr]

Lots of Harleys everywhere...sort of like cockroaches. Though they require helmets here in CA, the standards are laughable and you can essentially dress like a Gay Nazi Pirate wearing a chromed pie tin with a spike on top as you attempt to wallow around a simple off-camber corner without high or low-siding your Harley. EVERY on-road bike accident scene I have ridden past in the last two years was some Harley spread all over the pavement or guardrail, where the rider (PILOT??) couldn't negotiate the turn and crashed. My cabinet subcontractor DIED on his Harley, kissing a guardrail with his head as he missed the turn, with his girlfriend on the back. Pie tin helmet.

But hey, he looked SO COOL going down the road...until he wasn't.

Short answer; FULL-FACE SHOEI all the time. (Oh, and a bike that can actually handle and brake...)

 

[JaimeC]

More like understanding the limitations of your bike and staying within them. If you want to ride like Mark Marquez or Jorge Lorenzo, you can't do it on a Harley Ultra...

 

[SteveADV]

Never heard that before. Most of the accidents I hear of are sport bike riders doing stupid things

Probably true, but.......

"Almost half of the fatal accidents show alcohol involvement" and "injury severity increases with speed, alcohol involvement and motorcycle size." Wikipedia

 

[SteveADV]

(Oh, and a bike that can actually handle and brake...)

More like understanding the limitations of your bike and staying within them.

Yes. Yes. And more difficult to know our limitations with an alcohol addled brain. This from a Jimmy Buffett parrot head who firmly believes it is always 5 o'clock somewhere....but NEVER if my bike is in the parking lot.

 

[davidh]

The only time I don't is when participating in parades. Only done it twice and it definitely feels weird but most of the time I'm power walking" or going just fast enough to keep my feet up. Other than that, always with a Shoei Multitech.

 

[Oldscoot]

Someone got hurt badly riding their scooter in a "gymkana" (spelling?) event in a parking lot at a rally in Austin, TX. I understand the person suffered some head trauma. As you know these are slow speed events that require great balance. I don't know if the person was wearing a helmet (though I'm sure one was required). Goes to show that you never know.

 

[SteveADV]

A number of years ago while riding back from an off-road event on my KLR650, a piece of plastic netting flew off a truck in front of me. Couldn't go left as there was on-coming traffic. Couldn't go right because of a drop off. And behind me was a guy who apparently was not aware that I could stop a lot faster than he could.

So, in one of those quick decisions we have to make, I decided my best option was to try to ride over it. That almost worked ("almost" being the operative word). I was a fish in a net that tightened around my front wheel in such a way that it gave me the only option of taking a hard push down right and pull up left with all the body weight I could muster leaning toward the ditch.

Anyhow (sorry for the long post), I ended up about 30 yards from the road sitting up against a bush with my only injuries being a puncture to an ankle, a branch through my leather jacket and into my shoulder lower neck area, and a bunch of bruises. One of the guys that came down to check me out said it looked like I had just sat up and decided to lean against the bush. But my helmet looked as if it had been dragged behind on a gravel road.

My point is that had it not been for my helmet and the rest of my gear (also happened to have a front neck protector on that one) it is more than a little likely that I would have had puncture wounds to my head. There are all kinds of noggin trauma we can avoid by wearing a helmet; not just the bump on the pavement sort.

 

[SteveADV]

And, before you ask (I know you guys), the bike was fine.

 

[Dale]

Always wear full face, jacket and pants always. The helmet is a Arai Cross Air custom fit at a price of 850 dollars. To much money but I feel I need the protection.

 

[hardright]

Absolutely. Always wear one before getting on the bike. Had one spill that shook me up real good. Helmet prevented any serious head injuries. I wear a half face when riding around town in usual heavy traffic. A full face when am hitting the open highway.

No drinking and riding. Soda only. Had tried riding after 2 Black Rocks and it's not good. It's like I was in slow motion. Never again.

On protective gear. I saw the aftermath of a crash recently. Guy wore a helmet, leather jacket and jeans. According to witnesses, the guy slid to avoid an oncoming vehicle trying to make a left. He dumped the bike. Story goes rider was trailing the bike. Looking at the pavement, I could see slight traces of leather, followed by blue jeans, and then blood. The rider wasn't in good shape either. Leather is really the right choce for riding. It's just too hot to wear in 36C weather!

 

[Spdrush]

I bought a Shark EVO 3 which is DOT certified open or closed with chinbar down and locked. Mouth and teeth are prone to injury. I have too much invested in my teeth to break them.

I ride with chinbar down always.

Cons. The helmet is heavy and somewhat noisy.

 

[SteveADV]

Sorry, this is not one of my normal light posts, but in as much as this has rightly become one of our "safety" threads, I thought I would share a sad story but one that we all need to be reminded of, regardless of experience or skill level.

Sometimes, stuff happens. Sometimes innocents, through no fault of their own get hurt. I do not know if anyone could have avoided this accident, but I include it as a reminder that we always ALWAYS need to think of the worst possible potential outcome. If you see someone getting ready to turn left in front of you, look past, look out, and look for an escape route.

3 motorcycle riders killed in traffic accident - News - Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman

Thoughts and prayers, gang....

 

[Edumakated]

Sorry, this is not one of my normal light posts, but in as much as this has rightly become one of our "safety" threads, I thought I would share a sad story but one that we all need to be reminded of, regardless of experience or skill level.

Sometimes, stuff happens. Sometimes innocents, through no fault of their own get hurt. I do not know if anyone could have avoided this accident, but I include it as a reminder that we always ALWAYS need to think of the worst possible potential outcome. If you see someone getting ready to turn left in front of you, look past, look out, and look for an escape route.

3 motorcycle riders killed in traffic accident - News - Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman

Thoughts and prayers, gang....

Man, that is f8cked up. That is some straight up out of one of those Final Desitination horror movies. Left turning driver's definitely scare me. I usually try to stay in the right most lane when coming up to an busy intersection. I also sometimes actually try to ride as close to the car in the other lane as I figure they are less likely to pull out for another car. I'm constantly scanning the road and looking ahead for cars pulling out, road hazards, etc. I sometimes think it is safer to ride on the freeway than back streets. At least with the freeway, you typically won't have cars pulling out in front of you and everyone is going a constant speed.

I had some chick almost side swipe me this morning on the way to the office. There was a bus stopped in her lane and I knew this chick was going to try to cut over and sure enough she did. Fortunately I anticipated it and honked at her before she could do it. Then like most Chicago driver's she wanted to give me the one finger salute like I was the one at fault. LOL.

 

[Tompierce]

I'm a member of A.T.G.A.T.T. (All The Gear All The Time)

Even if I'm just going to the store for milk and bread I wear helmet, full leather jacket, long pants and boots. Yeah, it gets a little warm in the summer in Georgia, but so what? A wise man once said "Don't dress for the ride - dress for the accident!"

 

[SteveADV]

To keep our Safety thread fresh....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7aV-Umfm194

 

[wsteele]

I find that by not being the first guy away from the stop light can save your ass

 

[SteveADV]

I find that by not being the first guy away from the stop light can save your ass

Ain't that the truth.

 

[Xian Forbes]

A wise man once said "Don't dress for the ride - dress for the accident!"

This is a brilliant quote to keep in mind. Thank you for sharing. [emoji106]

 

[hardright]

It is required by law in the Philippines. But many don't. I always wear one. Open face for urban rides and full face in highways.

 

[SteveADV]

So my wife saw me out today with sunglasses and a hat (not the hard/safety kind). She was not happy and while I wear a helmet 90% of the time (ok, maybe that should be 80%), there are those occasions when I get lazy. Funny thing is, I always travel with a helmet in my "trunk"...

But she caught me just goofing around. She may be only 115lbs but she can kick my a**, so I pulled over, grabbed my helmet, and sent her this as proof that she had scared me enough to realize that just maybe I should put a real motorcycle hat on...


Not trying to be preachy here, but it is a good thing that there are those folks around that love us enough to get in our face when we are doing something stupid. I will never be 100% compliant, but for those that are more mature (and wise) than I...ATGATT.

PS. Note the Venice Beach "patriot" glasses. Daughters #s 3 and 5 bought those for me specifically to ride with my Beemer UMV and my Gmax modular helmet.