Helmet poll

[Folkie]

Originally Posted by SLW210

Funny how there are still places that don't allow ear plugs.

How do they know?

[SLW210]

Some get an extra ticket when they get pulled over and take their helmet off. Pretty easy if you wear a half helmet or no helmet. Seen on some fora, where they have been pulled over in states where it's legal, because of ill trained/informed LEO.

Stranger still, it's legal most places to drive a car or motorcycle deaf.

[moparnut72]

I don't care if it is legal or not. I already have a fair amount of hearing loss and I don't need anymore. A fine is a small price to pay to keep as much of the hearing I still have.
kk

[Bama Lee XLC]

during a wreck when I was 14 my head struck the butt end of a power pole laying in a ditch at the roadside.
the helmet cracked but definitely saved my life.
i'll never ride without one .

Edit: Daytona FMVSS-218 3/4 helmet in summer and when easy cruising around town and back country roads.
FUEL FMVSS218 FF for higher speed and winter riding.....had to drill several "defogger" holes in front of my nose because the air vents are useless as teats on a boar.

[SLW210]

Originally Posted by moparnut72

I don't care if it is legal or not. I already have a fair amount of hearing loss and I don't need anymore. A fine is a small price to pay to keep as much of the hearing I still have.
kk

I wear them too. I'll take any tickets to court.

I was merely alerting people to this tidbit of info.

A lot of States have it even legal to wear headphones, etc., then in some states the law is written so it is a little ambiguous as to whether illegal for headphones, ear buds for music, etc. includes earplugs for hearing protection. Some states (like California) have included wording to allow hearing protection specifically and some (Ohio and Alaska for sure) specifically make ear plugs for hearing protection illegal.

[Kbetts]

Almost impossible to do a SS1000 without them. Rider fatigue occurs many times faster without a helmet and hearing protection. Same for sunglasses. My helmet has built in sun shade visor. I'm warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer with select-able vents. Modular helmets allow eating and drinking easily.

All that PLUS your head feels WAY better with it on if you hit the pavement or a car or a bug/bird/rock/rain... you get the idea.

[Eric Von Zipper]

Been wearing ear plugs inside the bucket for years, dont tell the oinkers

[Gold Member]

Always FF and always full leather. You can't depend on the car drivers to always do what they are supposed to do, like for instance not tailgate you. And yes my visibility is hampered by the FF so it's a tradeoff. But I'd feel like an idiot cracking my head without it. Oh and did you see the diagram online of what part of the head is most commonly injured? Your jaw. xxxx that.

[SLW210]

Got ready to head home yesterday and left corner of the face shield has a small chunk missing right near the hinge area, most likely a rock, didn't notice it when I headed out in the morning. I wear the full face more and more. Still probably get a 3/4 to replace the old half helmet.

[Bama Lee XLC]

Originally Posted by Kbetts

Almost impossible to do a SS1000 without them. Rider fatigue occurs many times faster without a helmet and hearing protection. Same for sunglasses. My helmet has built in sun shade visor. I'm warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer with select-able vents. Modular helmets allow eating and drinking easily.

All that PLUS your head feels WAY better with it on if you hit the pavement or a car or a bug/bird/rock/rain... you get the idea.

due to my work-shift i've been a mostly night rider since around 1990......
in the early '90s while riding home from work something knocked the KRAP out of my helmet on a back country road while doing +/- 60mph.....almost took me off the bike.

I slammed on the brakes and jerked my FF lid off to find the right eyebrow area (about 1/4 of the helmet) covered with blood and gore......walked the roadside w/a flashlight and found a kamakaze BAT laying exploded beside the road.

2 weeks later in the exact same spot a big arsed black-bird hit me in the chest at the same speed.
I changed my route home at that point.