Helmet

[Fish Baseball]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

That looks promising. If that's the expensive local store, what would more moderate pricing somewhere else be like? Mind you, this isn't going to happen this year. I used up my MC travel budget on my trans-USA trip in May.

Well the more moderate priced place I know doesn't have a website, but I can tell you that hiring a cb250 comes in at $50 a day, plus fuel etc etc. Only problem with the cheaper place is the bikes tend to be a bit older and from the quick inspection I did Saturday have more than 50k on the clock.

[Oddball]

I didn't read all of these, just the ones on the first page (I'm supposed to be shopping for gear, lol), but I had to shout out a thank-you to dhgeyer for the post on the first page. Very helpful. My parents ride, so my new hubby & I got into it (I've wanted to ride the last four years) and we finally got our '03 GZ today. I've got several jackets & a handful of pants I'm looking at, but right now I'm seeing about helmets.. Bouncing back and forth works for me, lol. But anyway. I've been debating on a regular full solid helmet, or a full helmet with a dual sliding visor. Full solid has SNELL approval; dual slider doesn't. Hmm..

[Water Warrior 2]

Oddball, go to webbikeworld.com for a good evaluation of helmets on the market. Their testers are all riders and tell it like it is. Also check out what they say about riding gear too. You will be impressed.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by Oddball

a dual sliding visor.

I've recently bought an LS2 with dual visor, & I'm really impressed. webbikeworld don't have a report on any of the LS2 range though. If you find one you like, don't order it without trying it on. Looking at the size printed on the helmet means nothing. They're all made to fit different shaped heads.

[mole2]

The helmet must be DOT rated. SNELL is a nice extra but is not required. My personal recommendation is a full face modular. This has the benefit of being able to flip the chin piece up when you stop to drink a drink or to just cool yourself. It also allows you to sneeze, blow your nose, etc without removing the helmet. LOL As with the regular full face they also come with the flip down sun visor.

[Water Warrior 2]

DOT approval is all you need. There has been a debate of sorts about Snell approved helmets. Apparently they work too well and in some cases can cause an injury upon impact. Stick with the DOT and trust it. A DOT approved full face helmet is still going to be the most effective injury prevent piece of gear on your body.

[Rionna]

I wear a full face modular helmet, and I wanted to go to the a 3/4 helmet for summer. It's lighter for the heat and probably much more comfortable than my full face modular helmet. However, I was out on a long ride yesterday, and all kinds of bugs were smashing into my wind visor. When I arrived, I had to clean off my visor and when I drove back home I had to clean it again. I can only imagine what my face would have looked like all bugged up had I not had the visor to catch the bugs. The same went for all the bugs I felt impacting my mesh jacket. Literally smacking my arms and my legs. Without the proper gear, I would have had bug juice and stingers everywhere. So, I've decided to continue wearing ATGATT. I choose not to be the "bug lady."

[Rookie Rider]

I wear both a fullface and a half helmet. Mostly the half. With the fullface i cant turn my head enough too see behind me when switching lanes, and that is annoying. The half is so much easier to turn my head. I should really ALWAYS wear the full.

[mrlmd1]

I posted this before on here a few times, but for the newcomers, here it is again.

* The diagrams below show the impact areas on crash-involved motorcycle helmets. (Source: Dietmar Otte, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Abteilung Verkehrsunfallforschung, Germany.) Notice the significant crash impact in the chin-bar area. Utilizing an open face (3/4) helmet or a "shorty" (1/2) helmet limits the protection that could be available to your head

* The diagrams are referenced in, Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, Volume 1: Technical Report, Hurt, H.H., Ouellet, J.V. and Thom, D.R., Traffic Safety Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90007, Contract No. DOT HS-5-01160, January 1981 (Final Report), a report on the causes and effects of motorcycle crashes and safe riding strategies. The same study is quoted in the Motorcycle Safety Foundation rider safety courses.


There is nothing as good as a full face helmet for protection. You want to wear a 3/4 or shorty? Then don't complain when you leave your face on the road. Most of the impact during a crash occurs to the chin and lower face, not to the top of the head.

And never buy a helmet unless you try it on for fit first - each manufacturer has different shapes to fit all kinds of heads and the helmet has to fit snug to be effective.

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by Rookie Rider

I wear both a fullface and a half helmet. Mostly the half. With the fullface i cant turn my head enough too see behind me when switching lanes, and that is annoying. The half is so much easier to turn my head. I should really ALWAYS wear the full.

Wear the FF and try dipping your head down a bit to see better. When I do that I naturally tilt my head too. It works.