Half helmet

[midmoraider]

I think most members prefer the full face helmets, but if you do wear a half helmet and don't want to look like a mushroom, check these out.
http://www.headtriphelmets.com/

They are not DOT certified because they failed the test where they ram a steel spike through the top, and because of the thinner padding, it came through more than the allowable amount, whatever that is.

They hand make them with Kevlar and carbon fiber. Super strong and light. I bought one for the hotter days and when just cruising around town. Love it. They are pretty pricy though.

 

[Lew L]

Half a helmet for half a head!!!!

 

[Fire-medic]

Even though FL allows no helmets, and I see many riders with no protection for their heads, I don't believe anyone here is foolish-enough to ride without one or to use one of these "novelty" helmets. Hey, if you do, it's your head that evidently isn't worth protecting. Sadly, people die every day with or without DOT helmets, but why would anyone ignore a basic need like a test-proven helmet to give them the best possible chance to survive? I've seen enough examples of head trauma in 36 years of being involved in EMS to know helmets aren't a 'Cloak of Invulnerability,' but your chances of surviving without one or at least minimizing your injuries with one are reason enough to always use one. I've destroyed several helmets during my activities and consider them to have allowed me to continue work/play despite the incidents which put me into the hospital. I used to hold onto them to show as an example in the classroom, but decided to discard them as I felt they had served their purpose dynamically and as a teaching tool.

You wouldn't place substandard parts in your motor, or spoon-on your VMax some 'Q'-rated tires (99 mph max) so why not protect your head?

 

[MikeTD3]

I say "to each their own"

Maine does not have a helmet law, so it is the rider’s choice, and I like it that way.

I don't know why people think it is THEIR right to preach to others about helmet safety.

Why stop there?

Why not head into your nearest fast food joint and start preaching to all the lard asses piling artery clogging fat into their pie holes about heart disease?

Or head to the local bar and bitch about alcohol consumption?

Or, seat belt use, smoking, hearing protection, bicycle helmets.....etc,etc,etc.

As for the half helmets posted, thanks for the link I'll pass this along to a couple buddies that are looking for something lightweight for the local cruises.

 

[4gasem]

IA has no helmet law and I won't ride without a full face. All a half does is keep bird shit off your hair. lol. Any frontal collision and your face is toast. I suit up thinking I'll be in a wreck. Not hoping I won't be.

If this country goes to nationalized health care, expect helmet laws to be enforced. If the people are paying, I don't see how they'd allow it not to be enforced.

Here's hoping to NO nationalized insurance!!!


Sent from my iPad using special algorithms and data nodes.

 

[SpecOps13]

I hit an Olds Cutlass broadside on a Honda when I was 16. Had a Bell 3/4 helmet on and they were good at that time. I had surgery on my face over the next 10 years. Dr estimated between 3,000 and 4,000 fractures, including both eye orbits... It wasn't a lot of fun and there are a lot of after effects. The Air Force didn't have any problem accepting me, Luckily. :ummm::ummm::ummm:

I wear a Shit, Real Chrome German Helmet when I ride the Harley, Bad on Me. I wear a Full Face on the VMax's because I ride a lot at or over 100. Anything below that, I've learned how not to hit things...Hopefully.

 

[alorio1]

My wife referes to my helmets as "brain buckets" and I have both, half and full face. I use the half for summer and the full face in the chilly weather.

 

[naughtyG]

No matter how suicidal or irresponsible it is, you just can't beat the feeling of riding out in the sunshine with just a pair of goggles on.

I longed for that my whole life because from the age I was moped-legal in France and throughout another 20 years in the UK, I was forced by law to wear a helmet at all times. The only respite was when I rode to Spain, in town there no helmet is tolerated even if not legal.

So when I got to FL, I have to own up that for a few rides, I did VERY MUCH enjoy riding bare-headed, even if my full-face lid was still in my top box

 

[CaptainKyle]

Its the riders decision I have this little theory in life that if your numbers up its up rather I am sitting here typing or doing a 150 on a bike. Sometimes I wear one some times I dont.

 

[4gasem]

With a six month old, I'll try to make that time later in life. I simply ride when it's nice out. It's part of being a hobby biker.

Also, a full face is a great sunscreen which I need very much.

Sent from my iPad using special algorithms and data nodes.

 

[Bill Seward]

Remember the old Bell Helmet sales pitch..."Got a $10.00 head, get a $10.00 helmet"?
Looks like a $10.00 head going into a $150.00 helmet!

But who am I to say anything - I still ride with a 1967 Buco Traveller helmet I bought when I was 17.......

 

[Fire-medic]

I dunno how they drive in Tampa/St. Pete, but in south FL it's literally 'you take your life in your hands' every time you get behind the wheel or handlebars. I wish it wasn't that way, but the reckless drivers don't care about you, they don't care about your family, and they don't drive defensively. There is far-too much aggressive driving here. It's those idiots for whom you have to dress, especially on a bike. A half helmet just isn't going to do the job. Sometimes any helmet won't help, but as was said, 'when your # is up, it's up.'

I was stopped at a traffic light waiting to turn right on red (though few south FL drivers will come to a complete stop any more) and an adult female on a bicycle stepped-off the curb in front of me, she was on her bike but dismounted. She had the red light to cross the street & I was in my GMC, 1st in line to turn right on red. All of a sudden, a full-size pickup passed me on the left and turned right at the light, in front of oncoming traffic. By this time the female bicyclist was in front of my left bumper. The truck never gave an inch, he gunned it across my front and kept the pedal down. Next thing you know, here comes a sport coupe, following him with the same maneuver! If that poor bicyclist had assumed 'I have the red, I am crossing now,' and hadn't bothered to look, she would have been dead not five feet from my driver's seat.

A helmet probably wouldn't have saved her. I am just informing readers what crazy drivers there are here, and you have to be prepared for anything. I don't even ride my bicycle w/o a helmet. It's kept me from serious injuries and I don't expect to stop. I hope you never have to determine the effectiveness of your choice of 'what to wear.' And 'special ops,' my first 'glass helmet I bought was a Bell RT. Probably ten helmets later, I use a Shark Evoline II Moovit. I'm very happy w/it, great functionality.

 

[Fire-medic]

Remember the old Bell Helmet sales pitch..."Got a $10.00 head, get a $10.00 helmet"?
Looks like a $10.00 head going into a $150.00 helmet!

But who am I to say anything - I still ride with a 1967 Buco Traveller helmet I bought when I was 17.......

I recall seeing in the 1960's magazines pictures of the Bucos for women which had a scarf covering the strap, they were styled like a fedora, I think. Always wondered if they would just fly-off in a crash because of how-little they wrapped your head. They came in white but you could only wear them between Easter & Labor Day. :biglaugh:

 

[RaWarrior]

I agree that like seatbelts, helmets should not be mandatory. I don't see why the government cares. If you want to be a doofus and ride with a potato chip on your head, go right ahead. The only person it's going to hurt is yourself, and in "no consequence to the public" cases, IMO the government needs to "keep their laws off my body"

That said, I never ride without a full face, regardless of whether or not the state I'm in requires it. It's not like when you cross a state line the chance of being injured suddenly vanishes, so I don't see why your gear would. Yet at the border of no-helmet states, you always see tons of people pulled over taking off helmets.

 

[CaptainKyle]

:sleep::sleep::sleep::sleep:Starting to remind me of an oil thread.

 

[Woody]

here's one that made me laugh http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/409M...20?pt=Apparel_Merchandise&hash=item27ba5561d0

 

[4gasem]

I agree that like seatbelts, helmets should not be mandatory. I don't see why the government cares. If you want to be a doofus and ride with a potato chip on your head, go right ahead. The only person it's going to hurt is yourself, and in "no consequence to the public" cases, IMO the government needs to "keep their laws off my body"

That said, I never ride without a full face, regardless of whether or not the state I'm in requires it. It's not like when you cross a state line the chance of being injured suddenly vanishes, so I don't see why your gear would. Yet at the border of no-helmet states, you always see tons of people pulled over taking off helmets.

It'll get worse when we get "Free" (that's bullshit) health care... I'll be damned if I want to pay more in taxes to let some a-hole go out and wreck and cause injury to themselves that a helmet or seat belt would have kept from happening.

 

[Fire-medic]

Here are some sobering statistics from the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's office, someplace I have been during my career in EMS education. Sobering statistics!

http://www.dadehealth.org/downloads/FS_Motorcycle%20deaths%201997-2004.pdf

Still, the "I wanna feel the wind in my hair!" brigade will ride w/o. Simply-put, in south FL, 57% of riders wearing nothing for head protection involved in a motorcycle crash died. I don't like those odds, do you?

The medical examiner has a wall of hundreds of motorcycle helmets he has collected as an example of what happens to your head's sole means of protection in an accident.

Didn't see Horatio Cane when I was there (CSI Miami).

Yesterday I followed a 'bobber' into my friend's shop. He was wearing flip-flops and a pair of sunglasses, a short-sleeved shirt & a pair of pants. I spoke with him when we were both inside and asked him if he had a helmet, which of-course he did-at home. I told him that the costs and pain of reconstructive surgery and skin grafts from repairing the effects of a spill are something he may be able to lessen or eliminate by using protective gear, and that he should do it for his children, so they don't lose the breadwinner. Yeah, I was a busybody, but I have a better position from which to speak than most. Just the fact you are "ejected from a motor vehicle" is enough to have a 'high-index of suspicion' to call a 'trauma alert' to the "Level 1" trauma center to which you are taking the victim.

Those who can 'ride without' still will, but their odds just aren't very good.

 

[Redbone]

I think most members prefer the full face helmets, but if you do wear a half helmet and don't want to look like a mushroom, check these out.
http://www.headtriphelmets.com/

They are not DOT certified because they failed the test where they ram a steel spike through the top, and because of the thinner padding, it came through more than the allowable amount, whatever that is.

They hand make them with Kevlar and carbon fiber. Super strong and light. I bought one for the hotter days and when just cruising around town. Love it. They are pretty pricy though.

It's supposed to simulate what happens when a helmet hits a immovable object like a mail box/ bumper/ etc., It tells them how much of the brain is laid open or spilled out if the helmet fails.
Sorry I couldn't resist!:biglaugh:

 

[PATMAX]

Yeah FireMedic, south Florida is nuts with too many old farts that can't turn their necks to look for traffic, all the Snowbirds that have little idea where they are going and will stop on a 55 mph highway deciding which way they should go, or contractors in a hurry to get to their next appointment to the squid of a kid that mommy and daddy have supplied them with a 400-500 horsepower BMW or Mercedes.
I own a half helmet but rarely use it and usually on a full dresser Ultra Classic. My old riding buddy dumped his Kawasaki touring bike and that half helmet took the impacts but slid down over his face making huge disfiguring lacerations in his face but those were the least of his injuries. In a nut shell, a half helmet is better than nothing. A cheap full face is many rimes better. I couldn't wait to be able to buy my first Shoei and Aria helmets. To all you guys holding onto to their vintage "lids", a new modern compliant helmets are so cheap, there are no excuses not to have one. C'mon guys, you're too valuable to be this stupid!