I would love to see that exhibit! Form and function, takes your breath away! &;-)
Posted on 06/16/2002 7:10:48 AM PDT by 2Trievers
Happy and proud? Good for you!
Think "rat bike". You won't impress anybody,but you will damn sure be happier and have more time to ride!
Because you don't have enough jewelry or tatoos. I'll bet you don't even have a chrome-plated chain belt!
Should I get a bandana and a black vest?
Well,it wouldn't hurt.
No but judging by what I just saw in the mirror, I've got a chrome dome on order.
Don't for forget the Double Latte from Cafe Binoche to establish your true biker bona fides....
Come to think of it, forget the bike--just get the accessories and a Latte, no one will even notice...
At low speeds, jet setting about the biker bar scene and cruising the boulevard, that is perhaps arguable. Above about 75 mph, riding helmetless is painful, loud and extremely uncomfortable, especially on an unfaired bike - hardly a recipe for enhanced awareness. As for restricting vision, a properly fit helmet shouldn't, any moreso than goggles or sunglasses.
The sad part is, the no skid lid mafia is so powerful, and the fashion trend so influential, that wearing a helmet with your new EVO or VROD is tantamount to wearing a big pink shirt with DORK printed on it.
NHTSA, DOT and Snell Foundation statistics indicate pretty clearly that motorcycle accidents involving a helmetless rider are more likely to be fatal.
That certainly doesn't mean that a helmet will save you every time, but a properly fitted helmet does a better job of protecting your brain from severe injury than your hair or that cool skull & crossbones bandana - since the leading cause of motorcycle fatalities is typically severe head trauma, a helmets benefits far outweigh the risks, to your survival if not your fashion sense.
Oh,HorseHillary! Do you even ride a freaking bike? That low-speed crap is the ONLY place a helmet is helpful in a accident,and even then they make you more likly to have one to start with.
Above about 75 mph, riding helmetless is painful, loud and extremely uncomfortable, especially on an unfaired bike - hardly a recipe for enhanced awareness.
Maybe you ought to actually try it before you try to peddle that lame crap? Or at least try to sell it to people who haven't been riding longer than you have been living?
As for restricting vision, a properly fit helmet shouldn't, any moreso than goggles or sunglasses.
Is this your home planet? I'm about out of patience with you,and am beginning to suspect you are a mere poser who reads MC magazines. You can't possibley have 30 seconds wearing a helmet and still believe that crap. They restrict your vision to the side,and your ability to look to the rear. Anybody who trys to claim any different is either a liar,a fool,or so totally inexperienced in this area that they don't know how foolish they sound.
The sad part is, the no skid lid mafia is so powerful, and the fashion trend so influential, that wearing a helmet with your new EVO or VROD is tantamount to wearing a big pink shirt with DORK printed on it.
Do you wear madras bermuda shorts? Does your mommy know you are claiming to ride motorcycles? I've never met or heard of anybody so concearned with fashion as you. As far as that goes,helmets ARE a fashion accessory for the cafe racer and garbage wagon crowd. Some even have radio speakers and intercoms in them.
NHTSA, DOT and Snell Foundation statistics indicate pretty clearly that motorcycle accidents involving a helmetless rider are more likely to be fatal.
Hello? Anybody home? Did it ever occur to you that ALL of these people are in BUSINESS to say that? Hey,why not ask Jesse Jackson if blacks are discriminated against? C'mon,admit it. You don't really ride,do you? You read magazines and form your opinion from what you read in them. Opinions presented by people who are paid by advertisers. Some of whom are in the helmet-selling business.
but a properly fitted helmet does a better job of protecting your brain from severe injury than your hair or that cool skull & crossbones bandana -
C[mon,admit it. You really,really,REALLY want to wear one of those bandanas and be one of the "cool guys" you envy,don't you?
since the leading cause of motorcycle fatalities is typically severe head trauma, a helmets benefits far outweigh the risks,
More HorseHillary stastics that mean less than nothing. Or did you expect the leading cause of motorcycle rider deaths to be from ingrown toenails? Since the vast majority of those "dead head" riders were wearing helmets due to state laws requiring this,it could even "mean" that the helmets killed them.
to your survival if not your fashion sense.
Again with the fashion?
Listen,if you are around 14 years old,I apologize for being so harsh with you. It's only natural for people your age to do things like this. If you are a adult,it is inexcuseable.
It's pitifull when people think things make them cool and that they can't be cool without them.
Another reason for me to never try a double latte. Whatever that is.
Goggles. You need goggles. Oh, and a wallet chain . . .
I'd pass on the Double Latte from Cafe Binoche, but that's just me; I'm Old School. I prefer the foamy goodness of a Cappuccino . . .
LOL- you're out of patience with me? Or out of patience with the difficulty of arguing that riding bare headed is somehow "safer" than riding with a helmet?
The idea that "helmets are dangerous" is ridiculous, and the $25 Kmart special you wore back in '75 is not representative of the current state of the art. If helmets obstructed vision, or caused any of the problems you claim they do, I would be the first to admit it- and I've been wearing full face helmets for 20 years.
I've tried it both ways, and riding without a helmet is uncomfortable at high speed. Ever been smacked in the forehead by a june bug or bumblebee around 80mph? Did it hurt? Were you distracted? Try it around 130, and let me know how it felt. You'll have to point your hog downhill.
I'm not trying to interfere with your right to ride however you want, but arguing that somehow helmets contribute appreciably to accidents is completely beyond reasonable.
If you don't want to wear one, fine- I'll vote against any and all helmet laws. Just do me a favor, and keep right.
I occasionally eschew the helmet for a set of goggles. I don't have a fairing of any type.
Unfortunately, I sometimes forget about all of the gravel trucks that travel that route. Last Monday I got hit in the left cheek by a piece of gravel dropped by a truck. Keeeerist it was like getting shot by a Daisy BB gun, it drew blood and made my eyes water.
I'll probably be wearing a helmet again until I forget about how much that hurt....
Hah! A gravel truck ain't nothing! Wait until you get caught behing a livestock truck hauling live hogs to the market. There ain't NOTHING that has enough power to get by it quick enough! You would be wanting a full-body enviromental suit.
The collection of bikes is mind boggling! BTW, if you go there right now, the big, hardcover coffee table book is on-sale for 1/2 price, at $32!
Mark
I'll be sure to pass that nugget of wisdom along to all the professional motorcycle racers that wear, and swear by quality helmets. You don't like to wear a helmet? Fine, but please keep your misinformation to yourself. I've personally seen guys walk away from accidents after sutaining damage to their helmet that would have been real messy if it'd been their head instead.
I would love to see that exhibit! Form and function, takes your breath away! &;-)
I'll be sure to pass that nugget of wisdom along to all the professional motorcycle racers that wear, and swear by quality helmets. You don't like to wear a helmet? Fine, but please keep your misinformation to yourself. I've personally seen guys walk away from accidents after sutaining damage to their helmet that would have been real messy if it'd been their head instead.
I have to agree. A helmet (or any safety equipment) can only protect against low level impacts. The problem is that we're not made of a single, rigid material, and if the decelleration is great enough, our "soft parts" become mush.
However, a helmet is very useful. In a friends case, he was vaulted over a car, flying almost 20 feet before hitting the ground. He landed flat on his back, but his head took a glancing blow on the car's fender and the curb when he hit the ground. Although he broke some ribs and an arm, there's no doubt that he would have died from the head impacts, if not for his helmet.
In my case, I fell off (low side) at nearly 100mph on a track, and although there was no major impact, the abrasions on my helmet, front, sides, and rear, would have meant a lengthly hostpital stay, and quite probably death.
Mark
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