Your thoughts on helmets

I guess wearing or not wearing a helmet is a personal thing. I usually wear a half helmet most of the time. Sometimes I go without a helmet but not that often, depends on where I am going and what type of riding. I know that years ago when I had a full face helmet it sure made it warmer in the cold weather. They are hot as hell here in Texas in the summer though. There's one thing for sure.....I don't let what others think dictate if I do or do not wear one.

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum pjmac.

helmet

welcome to the forum pjmac, i wear an old fasion open face helmet, lets more air into the face. but am having trouble with chosing a sheild to help my eyes from watering. all i can say is try several on and leave them on you head for 5 to 10 minutes walk around the store with it on. fit is everything.

Fifthgear makes a good point. Don't let others influence your decision about wearing a helmet, or which style. Personally, I wear a half helmet when the temp is above 55deg.F and a 3/4 with a full face shield below. If the world was perfect [no cars] I wouldn't wear a helmet at all.

First of all, welcome to the board/forum and congrats on your new Fatboy . As far as helmets go, its definitly a personal choice. I approach it from two different views, as a rider and as a guy who practices medicine for a living. As a rider, I believe that eveyone should have the choice whether to wear one or not and the same goes for the style if they do choose to wear one. Now, switching hats, as a medical dude, I have to say that the safest regarding head and face injury prevention, that I have seen on motorcyclists after an accident is the full face helmet. I wear both, a full face and a shorty depending on the weather and distance I'm riding. If you do wear one, make sure it is DOT approved or you might as well not bother wearing one at all. Its all personal as pointed out earlier in other posts here. Hope to hear from you here on the forum frequently. Good luck and hope you have many good times on that Fatboy.

Well, I don't wear a helmet when riding the Harley, but I do when riding sportbikes, mostly for protection from wind blast at speed.

In my opinion, if you are going to wear a helmet wether for protection from the elements or for safety reasons, might as well wear the best.

For me there is nothing out there that even comes close to the ARAI helmets. They are not cheap, but they offer the same protection as other full faces with much less weight and they have very good ventilation and aerodynamics. The inexpensive helmets might give you the protection, but they will make you miserable.

There is another very good helmet, with a flip up chinbar and shield which in effect is both a fullface and a 3/4 at the same time, similar to the Schuberth's BMW riders wear, but they are not available here and you have to import them from Great Britain. Look at the ROOF Boxer on THIS site.

Arai for me.
I don't always wear one.

HIPPO said:

There is another very good helmet, with a flip up chinbar and shield which in effect is both a fullface and a 3/4 at the same time, similar to the Schuberth's BMW riders wear, but they are not available here and you have to import them from Great Britain. Look at the ROOF Boxer on THIS site.

Click to expand...

The HD Dealer that I use has these style helmets on the shelf. They have the HD name on them. I have tried them on in the store, and will probably buy one for next winter. [my chin gets cold on the 20deg.F days with the 3/4 helmet]

I have three helmets. The one I wear most often is a HJ brand, half helmet. My wife has a Harley half helmet that fits her long hair. My other is a 3/4 Bell helmet left over from my auto racing days. I wear the Bell on cold days, but my chin does get cold.

Here in NC we have a helmet law, so I have to wear one. I'm not sure if I would still wear one if I wasn't forced to, but I probably would. I also usually wear a pair of tinted goggles to prevent my eyes from tearing.

Cheers
Jim

SHOEI

We have a helmet law here in CA and with all our stupid drivers it's just as well. It's an unfortunate necessity but I wouldn't leave home with out it.

I just upgraded to the new Syncrotec from Shoei. It's their version of a flip-up full face and I think they do the nicest job of it. It's not too heavy or noisy. I looked and tried the HD flip-up and found it to be much noisier at speed than the Shoei. The HD version is an HJC with HD stickers that they then mark up another 20% or so. For that you can keep the stickers.

Rob

Can the Shoei be flipped up with one hand?

Try this site for a comparison:

http://www.mcnews.com/articles/product_comparison.htm

good stuff...

Bruce

Yah sure, you betcha
The release is in the same place as the HJC (HD) you looked at.
Shoei's previuos version needed two hands and they quickly discoverd the problems with that brilliant idea.
http://www.shoei-helmets.com/2002/

Rob

Re: Bruce

rhauft said:

Yah sure, you betcha
The release is in the same place as the HJC (HD) you looked at.
Shoei's previuos version needed two hands and they quickly discoverd the problems with that brilliant idea.
http://www.shoei-helmets.com/2002/

Rob

Click to expand...

Thats a good looking helmet. I will have to find a dealer that stocks them so I can try it on.

Thanks for all of the input

I would like to thank all of you that posted your idea's. Right now I am leaning toward the flip up full face helmets. I went to the H-D dealer and checked out the model they sell. I think that for the early riding here in Ohio it would be the way to go for me. I will then get a half helmet for when it warms up, a 3/4 helmet. I wear glass's and my eyes tear up bad so I need a sheild.

Thanks again


Ride Safe

wyodude

My 2002 Fat Boy will be my favorite color ( Black ). It shipped on Friday . My dealer said I should have this in my garage in 7 to 10 days.