Spent 15 min directing traffic last night....

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Comike14

Easy Rider,
If you want to continue the conversation, we can discuss it in PMs.

Thanks but no, I REALLY didn't want it to turn into a "conversation" in the first place.

[Moedad]

Originally Posted by Jer

Was that sarcasm?

No, not at all. Both subjects draw strong feelings, both from people who are involved and those who aren't. Both tend to be misunderstood by those who don't partake. Both are lifestyle choices that have inherent risks. Both have sensible, mature people who are passionate about each, and both have knuckleheads who give the mature folks a bad name. It is an excellent comparison.

I'm still a relative noobie here, but know this: I am not one to stir up hate and discontent on purpose by being sarcastic or anything else that might be construed as negative, and if it occurs by accident, let this be a blanket statement that it is never my intent to ruffle feelings. If I put up a post it will either be sincere, or goofy, or both, but it will never be purposefully belittling or insulting. If I call Alan a doody head like I did a few posts earlier in this thread, it's only because I like his sense of humor and I think he won't be offended, and cuz I bet I'm a bigger doody head.

[Jer]

Gotcha.

I thought you were comparing the inherent risk of being in possession of a deadly weapon to riding a motorcycle without protective gear.

Yeah, both are going to be very opinionated subjects alright!

[Moedad]

Originally Posted by Jer

I thought you were comparing the inherent risk of being in possession of a deadly weapon to riding a motorcycle without protective gear.

Mostly I was comparing the views held by the general public on the subject of guns and motorcycles. I think the public is generally suspiscious of folks that do one or the other. Obviously there are variations, depending on the kind of bike/rider or firearm being discussed, or what part of the country you're in.

[Water Warrior 2]

Thanks to news reporting and movies the general public learns to dislike certain groups without ever meeting any of them.

[Jer]

I dont blame the news. I blame what should be free thinking morons who dont bother to form their own opinions.

[alanmcorcoran]

Originally Posted by Moedad

That goes without saying.

Just once, I'd like to have something that's the biggest, but I guess it's just not in the cards for me.

[Orpheus]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

Well, there you go making a value judgement and trying to assign attributes to a person based only on ONE decision he has made. The implication of your statement above is: Anyone who chooses to ride without gear is either uninformed or irrational. I contend that neither is necessarily true. It is not your place to judge me.

Okay, this topic is pretty much dead, but I haven't had a chance to respond yet.

I did not make any kind of value judgement about wearing a helmet; I simply stated that there is a higher chance of serious injury when not wearing a helmet and that an informed and rational rider would make a decision according to his or her assessment of the situation. I didn't call you a doody-head or anything like that.

I occasionally ride without a helmet but it's 1) on roads that have a speed limit of 25 or lower and 2) roads that see little or no traffic. I have judged these to be acceptable risks for riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Others will judge other situations to be safe.

The analogies about wearing a helmet so far have somehow avoided the obvious comparison to wearing a condom when having sex with random men/women/whatever floats your boat. If the condom represents your helmet and the bike is... the obvious thingy, riding all the time without a helmet would pretty much be equivalent to doing it with everyone you see on the roads on any given day; riding sometimes with a helmet is kind of like screening the "sleeping partners" and wearing a helmet all the time is eqivalent to wearing a jimmy all the time. What do you think is safest? Like I said, I fit in the "sometimes" category, but I ain't sayin that I'm the smartest rider, either. Remember: NFL players only have to worry about colliding with other human beings at running speed and they still get concussions and broken necks; imagine what happens when you hit a car at 35mph (or the other way around).

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Orpheus

The analogies about wearing a helmet so far have somehow avoided the obvious comparison to wearing a condom when having sex
NFL players only have to worry about colliding with other human beings at running speed

Both rather interesting analogies but in both cases, the "helmet" is there to "protect" you from something that is the "object of the game"! :biggrin:

I believe helmets are a good thing but I don't think it is government's place to mandate personal safety. That's pretty much it for me.

I have been extremely lucky in my 40 years of riding but I don't think it is all luck. I've had only ONE bike accident and that was in a parking lot at 3 mph, 38 years ago. Only one cage crash too and that was 43 years ago. Serious defensive driving is the key. To a large extent, one makes their own "luck".

So......I ride with a brain bucket about half the time. Always on the highway and always in unfamiliar territory. Puttering around town, mostly not. Is that a bad choice? Maybe but it is neither uninformed nor irrational and despite the hype some would throw around, it affects nobody but ME.

[Comike14]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

I believe helmets are a good thing but I don't think it is government's place to mandate personal safety. That's pretty much it for me...

I agree with you 100% on that.

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

...it is neither uninformed nor irrational and despite the hype some would throw around, it affects nobody but ME.

[/quote]
And on that. Though my fiance would argue that it affects her, and our potential future children. But when you're on the road with no helmet, it isn't like driving drunk--you aren't putting other people at risk.

And I'm not just being a "yes man" here. I still have strong views, but I also feel strongly about people (government) telling me what to do when it only affects me.