The whole issue issue with safety is its an all or nothing thing. People in fact die or suffer permanent life injury because of road rash and infections caused by them. Head injury is just one possibility. From a pro helmet perspective you should wear a FF and full racing leathers every time you get on your bike. Good luck on that proposal. Most riders are leisure were there risk factor is way less than half of those that race motorcycles.

I wore my FF this morning because it was cold. The weather determines what sort of protective gear i wear. I always wear something i.e. a 1/2 on up. I wear leather or textile riding jacket even in summer weather, logging boots and leather gloves. I find a windshield a greater piece of safety equipment than a helmet 10 fold. My bike seems to be a bird magnet . Unfortunately windshields and helmets don't go well together. You don't get any helmet ventilation without direct airflow which in hot weather is miserable with a FF on.

I'm sorry about your misfortune but in all reality very few will suffer from your bad luck if you look at stats. Anybody thats been down and benefited from a helmet of course is going to promote it. Its silly to assume that everybody that rides will go down like MSF tries to sell you. If you look at the numbers of bikes on the road vs accidents the numbers are very low.

Again i wear something most of the time knowing it may help protect me or it might even cause injury on a bad hit. People who ride are inherent risk takers, adrenaline seekers. Motorcycle riding is in fact dangerous. So is Kayaking class 5 rapids or sky diving but people do all 3 daily without a second thought.

I replaced my entire lighting system this year with LED and i'm in awe about how long people wait for me now at intersections compared to stock. I wear high vis clothing. I have reflector fabric on my riding cloths and saddlebags. The greatest risk to a rider is being unseen. I make a point to be seen considering the number one cause of accidents is people that don't see us.

I'm not anti helmet by any means i just accept the fact that the protection provided is very limited. To say they are better than nothing is the best representation. I love flying down the interstate or a back road at 75-80 mph. I also know if i go down i'm a goner but i do it because i love the thrill of it. It's not smart or responsible yet i love it.

Life is all about doing what you love accepting all its risks.

 

You are sure fatalistic!

Do you really believe safety is an all or nothing thing?

Do you really not do anything to make things safer, or at least less possibly painful? Such as "I replaced my entire lighting system this year with LED" for instance. How did that mesh with "Accepting all its risks"?

What happened to "We really don't have any control of what happens to us in life no matter what you think." Is that except for LED lights?

This exchange was prompted by your comment "Ironically the pro helmet crowd will never be seen wearing full racing leathers as they try to promote their agenda and that makes them look foolish". Because, regardless what you post now, it shows a complete lack of understanding about the difference between road rash and head injuries.

 

My 2 cents, and no I did not read all 134 pages so may have already been said. I have always believed that the most noticeable part of the rider and bike was the head. This is why a lot of cops ware white helmets. I have a high viz FF Shoe and ware it all the time. I also 99% of the time ware a nice leather jacket, good gloves and boots and all black. I do leave my legs at risk (just jeans that is) to road rash and probably shouldn't.

That said, since I have been riding the 2015 Ultra Limited with the LED light kit and running lights, better tail lights, etc...far less cagers seem to start pulling into my space than while on any of the four other bikes I have had in the past.

 

Seriously? How many riders have hit birds? out of 6,000,000 a year...how many hit birds..I guess I should not fly either because birds take down planes..


..We are in the "IF" category again. I cannot live my life by "ifs" IF I did I would not ride a motorcycle at all..what IF a car crosses the lane into yours head on? What IF a dog runs out and bites your leg? What IF a kid runs out chasing a ball into the road, What IF an airplane lands short of the runway in your path of travel near an airport?

I do not live on "what ifs" when it comes to my enjoyment of riding. I deal with what IS and has been. I have never had a get off and I do not expect to. The odds are way in my favor as they are for most riders they will never have an "if" event The BEST way to minimize injury is to stay home on the couch and out of the shower

 

Originally Posted by rjg883c View Post

How is this done? You responded to a member that hit a bird, how can that be avoided? Ride where there are no birds?


My experience happened on a two lane street bounded by open desert, the first 5 feet or so was soft blow sand. I was traveling north, and traveling south was a pickup truck with a metal rack built over it's bed. On top of this rack were several 6 foot long fence planks that weren't tied down. Just as we were about to pass, one of the fence planks lifted up and floated into my lane. I barely had time to lower my head so the plank would hit the top of my 3/4 helmet, rather then my face.

Sometimes bad, low probability events, happen. These are times when it is nice to "minimize injury".
I seem to irritate you, and I don't understand why? My post you quoted was sort of something like your post in response. "Crap happens", and I offered an example, that didn't include birds to provide an example. Do you really not do ANYTHING to be prepared for such 'crap'? You just ride along, with your hair blowing back and say to yourself "whatever happens, happens"?

You probably don't even feel the need to save a little money in the bank or use insurance to protect the things you own?

You da man!

 

Dont worry about him.

He is just some grumpy old man with a death wish.

 

I wear a 3/4 helmet and a biltwell gringo. Sometimes I don't feel comfortable wearing a full face helmet especially when its hot. To me, its more dangerous to be uncomfortable on a bike, than whether or not a full face being more protection than a open face.

 

Exactly. That and a dozen other reasons is why I don't wear a ff. For me safer riding is more important consideration than safer crashing.

As far as all or none safety, I see degrees of safety, that is: how much you want to do to be more safe, and that’s different for each type of ride.

Examples of safety are: training (trail riding to learn dodging/bouncing/falling and/or riding courses), protective clothing (particularly hands and feet), bright colored clothing (orange, yellow, green yuk), helmet style/price/color (or none), additional (or bigger, or flashing) motorcycle lights, hand signals, and bike maintenance.

Mostly I’ve had one light in the front and one in the back, but on the Ultra with 9 lights in the front and 15 in the back people still try to take my space. The same goes for reflective or non-reflective, and white vs black helmet. One bike I had drove my friends nuts because it came with that stupid flashing brake light. One year of an ff was all I could stand. One can learn a hard lesson by thinking I’m safer because I have safe gear.

After training, licensing and following the rules of the road, safety should be part of motorcycle freedom of choice, and not decided by political debate or incomplete studies.

You’re not going to ride where there are no birds, or the chance of something flying off a vehicle. You ride because you love to ride. You’re more adventurous than most. Hopefully you know you’re taking bigger chances than riding the sofa, and that a ff is not going to save you.

There are degrees of safety: “So the perfect helmet would be huge, with 6 inches or more of soft, fluffy EPS cradling your precious head like a mint on a pillow.” http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Art...stHelmets.html
I'd like to decide what's best for myself, and let others decide for themselves, otherwise you're fighting for the perfect answer, get the nasty bikes off the road.

 

I wear either a 3/4 or full face. 30 years working on a ambulance gave me a good look at what does and doesn't protect.also if you wear a half or nothing wear earplugs or expect to be near deaf at some point. Kurt

 

The FF MIGHT save you from grinding your face on the street. Or any helmet MIGHT save you from a life altering/ending brain injury. My thinking has always been 'the misery, or whatever, that comes from wearing a helmet only affects someone while actually wearing a helmet. Any bad result, and it is especially worse if you don't die immediately, is a/the major part of your life. Every second for the rest of your 'life'.

And my fear is that society's response to too many 'bad' incidents will be "get the nasty bikes off the road".