Why Is No One Wearing Helmets?

Hawk Joined: Aug 18, 2006 Posts: 272 Location: Alsip, Ill

OK, I got a question, When I started riding as a kid in the early 70's I always wore a helmet, and I was not the only one, about 80% of the guys on bikes I saw were wearing helmets also (Illinois is not a helmet law state). Well, when I started riding again this summer (boy, did I ever miss being on a bike) I noticed that it seemed that I was the only one wearing a helmet, I can say without a doubt that 95% of the people on bikes that I see are not wearing helmets, I feel like the lone ranger out there!

Finally my question, why has everyone stopped wearing helmets? Has it gotten safer out there that we don't need them? Or is it a comfort, freedom, rebellion or just being cool thing? I really am confuesed, by the way I am not judgeing here, I am just wondering what happened in the years that I was not riding that the percentages reversed.

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:37 am

Ignorance
Actually here in PA I've seen an increase in helmet use the past couple of years. Usually it's the cruiser crowd w/o helmets and that is where I've seen an increase in use. It cracks me up to see someone riding in the cold with all kinds of head gear on trying to keep warm rather then put on a full-face and be more then comfortable.

Hawk Joined: Aug 18, 2006 Posts: 272 Location: Alsip, Ill

GB wrote:

Ignorance
Actually here in PA I've seen an increase in helmet use the past couple of years. Usually it's the cruiser crowd w/o helmets and that is where I've seen an increase in use. It cracks me up to see someone riding in the cold with all kinds of head gear on trying to keep warm rather then put on a full-face and be more then comfortable.

Thats interesting, I notice the same thing, because the guys I usually see with helmets is the crotch rocket crowd, and the cruiser guys are almost without exception without helmets.

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:48 am

1. I'm too cool to wear a helmet
2. It'll clash with my flip-flops
3. Shit happens...but only to other people.
4. It'll mess up my spiky hair

Why I wear a helmet

1. I'm 42 and no longer cool (ask my kids Very Happy

)
2. I quit wearing flip-flops when my toe nails turned yellow
3. Shit always happens to me first
4. If I had any hair left I wouldn't spike it anyway

But seriously, it's a whole new breed of bikers out there since the olden days, I've been riding on-off for 30 years and got the scars to prove it, your helmetless cohorts are either young and completely fearless/clueless or old and don't care/don't know.
Personally I value my melon and my lovely face so I wear a full-face helmet every ride, whether it's here-to-the corner or here-to-the Soo.

I know how you feel though, I just got back from Indianapolis and saw only one rider wearing a helmet, he had a Michigan plate Very Happy

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:33 am

On exceedingly nice days i will just ride with sunglasses. Its hard not to some times.

But most of the time i wear my helmet. Its nice and quiet, no wind in the eyes, warm, and girls don't notice when i'm staring at them.

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:45 am

if its not the cool factor, its ignorance....

I never wanted to wear a helmet when i was young, but in texas, back when i got my first bike, it was law. So i got a brain bucket, and called it good. I always thought a full face would impair my vision too much and wouldnt allow me to hear stuff i needed to hear. Now im back home (colorado) and last year when it got fairly cold.... say around the freezing level.... i had to man up and buy a full face to continue to ride. I was this guy

Quote:

It cracks me up to see someone riding in the cold with all kinds of head gear on trying to keep warm rather then put on a full-face and be more then comfortable.

I had the skull balaclava, goggles and trademark west coast choppers beanie to keep me warm. The setup sucked, hence the reason to buy the full face. I was shocked at how nice it was. My peripheral wasnt affected at all and my hearing wasnt impaired that much. So when "I" say ignorance, its not to mean that the people are too stupid to wear a helmet, i just think that a good part of them think they will hinder their natural abilities in doing so. I try to enlighten everyone i can without preaching.

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:32 am

I'm 57 years old and have a 14 year old daughter...I cann't afford to die before she is grown and can take care of hereself.....always a helment.

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:52 am

When I ride in warm weather, I am always amazed at all the bugs and crap I end up with on my helmet and face shield. When its cold thre helmet keeps me warm. Not to mention safe from most head injury. I've seen those too cool for school guys wearing all kinds of stuff to keep warm. What a bunch of maroons! The price for being cool is way more than I'm willing to spend. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:12 am

When I was 14 I endo-ed my buddies 50 cc moped at about 35mph on a gravel trail, my mother about finished the job when I dragged home with blood on every piece of Sunday Best I had on, most of it from my face. I was sore for weeks Laughing

5 years ago I slid my 1100f up an on ramp at about 55mph due to a severe case of brain fart Embarassed

. I wore multiple holes in the Joe Rocket textile pants and coat, scuffed up leather boots and gloves and gouged the front of my full face helmet up pretty good. Walked away with a sore thumb and a bruised elbow and hip from impact.
I rest my case

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:22 am

When I moved to Pheonix Arizona I was in Heaven because they have no helmet laws and I rode around everywhere without until one day I bought a new in box Arai helmet from one of my instructors for $100.00 and put it in the closet. While I went to school at MMI, 6 guys I went to school with died from impact because they were not wearing helmets and then my friend Steve had a wreck with no helmet and got himself 23 fractures in his skull but he lived and is ok now. I have been wearing a helmet ever since.

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 4:00 am

I played paintball this weekend and one of our regulars was on crutches. His shin now has 27 screws, two plates and he is on crutches. He went down because he was silly and switched lanes without proper care. He ran into the back of a slower vehicle that swtiched ahead of him, but at the same time. He went down at 70 mph. He was wearing good upper protection and bad lower protection. His injuries were worst on his lower section. Testament to good protective gear. He will heal fully and other than the break (don't know if that would have been reduced by better gear) his injuries occurred where he wasn't proper protected. I ALWAYS leave the house in full helmet, gloves and armor. If you don't you are a fool. It is that simple as far as I am concerned.

Jose

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 5:02 am

I wear a helmet. About 50% of sport bike riders around here wear helmets about 1 out of 10 of cruiser riders wear helmets around here.

Reasons I wear a helmet...

The helmet protects my head and face... in general

The face shield keeps bugs, rocks and debris out of hair, mouth, eyes and nose

The helmet prevents sun burn

The helmet protects against wind

The helmet (to me) is comfy

A helmet (to me) looks wicked cool Cool

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 5:15 am

Back in my younger days.There were no helmet laws in California. I never wore a helmet when just riding around town. But I always kept one hanging on the thelmet lock in case I got on the freeway. Probably was a stoopid thing to do but I was young and dumb and full of hope. Until one day my friend got cut off and rode off about a 20 ft drop he managed to seperate himself from the bike but landed directly on his face. Would have been really bad but he was wearing a full face helmet. It still scraped down enough the scuff him up but at least he still had a face.

After that I still carried a helmet on the helmet lock but that was just because the one I wore all the time had a really drak tinted shield and I had to have another for driving at night.

And believe me with my big head it isn't easy to find a helmet. I went through many to find one that almost fit. I settled on an AFX st-10 that is (no lie) XXXXL and I still had to remove some of the cheeck padding to get it to fit.

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 5:59 am

I just can't conceive why anybody wouldn't want to wear a helmet! I've also seen so many facial injuries with open face helmets from road debris and low speed spills that I can't think why anyone would have one of them either.

OK, its a pain to deal with once you've got to the end of your journey but I'll live with that downside.

It's been law over here for a long time now to wear a helmet and its pretty rigidly enforced but it always amazes me when you see someone with a badly abused, 10 year old helmet that hasn't been fastened, pratting around: definitely not cool to be a volunteer organ donor.

I don't think its got safer on the roads in the last 20 years on this cage infested, over crowded island but the quality, choice and relative price of good safety equipment has improved!

Hawk Joined: Oct 07, 2006 Posts: 276 Location: Abingdon UK

over here in the uk too it seems to be cool to wear a

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:53 am

Seems to me that a certain film summed it up very nicely - these guys have a total lack of imagination!
Worse for me is when you see a bozo who's got all the gear and the dolly bird on the back is in something skimpy, quite ruins my appreciation of her form!

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:26 pm

I have been riding off and on for 36 years, and when I was a teenager, I lost several friends back in Illinois to accidents on their bikes. Usually the common denominators were alcohol, speed and no helmet. I had one friend who went off the road into a field and flipped several times. When I visited him in the hospital ICU, his head was split down the middle and down across his face. It took over 200 stitches to close him up. That made a profound impact on my decision concerning wearing a helmet the rest of my riding life.

MB-5 Joined: Oct 30, 2006 Posts: 1

I just moved from CA to NM, and I can't believe how many people don't wear a helmet... and not just the harley riders, a lot of the sport bikers have helmets locked to their bike while they are blasting down the road.

even my wife's cat is smart enough to wear a helmet....

I used to wear my leather in the heat of the summer, but I got smart this year and bought a textile jacket, it's cheaper than skin grafts....

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 9:37 am

I've had a helmet save my life once. And one just saved my face the other day. I still believe it should be a choice, but I also believe it is the smart choice.

I dumped my Kwak in the parking lot at work the other day. Came out of it with some bumps, bruises, and a sprained ankle. My gear did it's job. The cuts in the outer shell of my jacket would have been some NASTY abrasions in my shoulder, elbow, knee, and hip. And the armor in those same spots kept the bruises from being much more than a little discomfort. Unfortunately, my boots didn't prevent my ankle from being turned in the wrong direction. Oh, and the huge set of scratches across the left side of the face shield sure looked better on the helmet than my face.

Here in NY, we don't have the choice. The law says to wear them. I know a lot of people that ride over into Connecticut or Pennsylvania just to ride without a lid. I used to be one of those, but when I wrecked my 03 Kwak, and wound up in a ditch with the bike on my head, a 9" crack in the helmet, and a 1/2" deep gouge in it as well, I decided I'd wear the lid all the time.

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:00 am

I wouldn't even dream of getting on a motorcycle without a helmet. Well, that's not entirely true... I have had nightmares where I am riding my bike and suddenly realize that I have no helmet on and I'm about to get into an accident. It's terrifying. ATGATT for me.

What I wonder about are the guys who have the useless little novelty helmets... and a pair of gloves. Like, you're not worried about having your brains dashed against the pavement, but God forbid you should scrape your widdle pinky finger? Rolling Eyes

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 3:09 pm

rastacia wrote:

over here in the uk too it seems to be cool to wear a