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1st incident 18 years old.Riding on a city street 35-40 mph in NY.Car coming the other way lost a lug nut.I saw it hit the pavement and bounce once.Then it hit my helmet square in the fore head and stuck dead in the front of the helmet.That was a Bell 3/4.
2nd incident traveling in rush hour traffic running 25-30.Had a gap of about 3 car lengths to the car ahead.Out of the blue coming the other way trying to make a left into that gap was a 69 four door Chrysler.Hit it head on.Bike caught me in mid air trying to jump,it threw me like a ball on a string head first into the hood of that car. they told me there was the imprint of the helmet over an inch deep in the hood.Without a helmet I believe both instances would have had different outcomes if I was not wearing one.
I think your right to decide should be your right not the states.Me I choose to wear one every time I ride.
I always wear one....I am just more comfortable with one on. I can't tell you how many times I've been riding and either pebbles or bugs the size of quarters have pegged me in the head and my helmet has the chips to prove it. Wouldn't be fun without one on. Here in Florida it seems like the bugs are bigger than the anywhere else I've ever lived...lol.
the helmet saved 2 lives last year and one this year when the rider went end over end and broke 9 ribs and collar bone. head was saved by helmet
i personally have had 3 car accidents and 2 i landed on my head. the last one i lost the helmet and laced up boots. i was rear ended when i was stopped and the car was doing 75.
I hit a car that turned left in front of me August 2008 and busted up my left leg real bad(still recovering). I too came completely out of both boots. I understand my left boot, but both boots ended up in the yard sale. Strange.
Regarding lids, i only wear it if I have to. Wouldn't have helped me in August.
I love the freedom of getting to choose - thanks veterans for yer service!
I choose to wear a FF when I ride. It may have saved my life when I t-boned a car, with my Yamaha,Royal, about 15 years ago. I threw the helmet away, should have kept it for show and tell. I'm glad the gouges and scrapes ended up on the helmet and not my head.
Tom
AZ here I choose not to wear one even though there are two in the garage.. Wife always on me about it, then i remind her about the 800,000 AD&D insurance...haha...besides it messes up my hair...
Interesting responses! I wear mine almost every time I ride but didn't always. About 20 years ago my wife and I were riding to trade the bike I had at the time and didn't take helmets. It started to rain about 10 miles from home so we went back and grabbed them. On the way, we hit really heavy rain and as I started to get off the highway to let it pass, the exit ramp was one I had never been on and had a strange almost 90* blind right at the top. Needless to say we didn't make the right and ended up hitting the left curb and up into the grass sliding backwards toward the highway. We both were fine, the bike and my helmet didn't fare so well. The gash in the back of my helmet from something would have probably fractured my skull. So at 23 (I thought I knew everything), I learned that day the importance of a helmet.
Don't take this thread as a way to convince anyone to wear one, it's just cool to hear everyone's ideas and reasons for either side of it. I have family who refuse to wear them and family who like me, choose to. I despise laws forcing us to wear them as well as seat belts. They're both a personal choice and should be left up to the individual.
Thanks for the poll and thread replies...keep'em coming.
Thanks to all the Vets who help us KEEP the freedoms we have!
There are none better!
Last edited by centennialfatboy; Feb 7, 2010 at 12:36 AM.
I HATE wearing a helmet but I try to put my best foot forward and wear it most of the time. It is hard when its summer time and riding without one feels so good.
In Michigan we have to wear them, but I have riden in other states that don't require it and still wear mine. Now that being said, I would still like the CHOICE ! I have rode all the way to Sturgis w/o mine a few times when I was young and dumb, and never had a problem, except for hearing people talk when we stopped. I now wear a Nolan N102 and love the fact that I can ride all day and not have any eye irritations and enjoy the protection. I spent 30 days on the rode to Alaska's Arctic Circle and back 9100 miles, and never once thought about taking it off.
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