Why do YOU wear, or NOT wear, a helmet????

Hi All
In 1968 a 1956 Chevy 6 cylinder hit me broadside. My right shoulder and head with a bell full helmet doubled the hood bent the radiator back to the motor.
My head took the carburetor off the intake manifold. A year later I learned to walk. Before walking I put a new cylinder on the 1967 BMW R60 I put a Triumph TR6 gas tank that I painted and pin striped. I traded it in at the dealer for top dollar. I got me a new 1969 R60. made sockets to hold the tips of my crutches. A bungee cord across the seat held the crutches to the seat and me and the wife could ride. One other thing the cast went to my crotch. I cranked the new BMW with my hand. No electric start back then.
The head is OK some times my remember don't work to good but I'm still here.
Just thought you might get a kick out of my hard head story.One more thing last year I sold the BMW for more than I paid for it.
Later Ole Ted

Yeah, those 56 Chevy's weren't very robust

Dude, your like that guy on the fantastic 4 - made of stone..... kinda

Do you have an pictures ?

Not of your head... of the Chevy.:roflmao:

Nice to see you didn't loose your enthusiasm.

I dont wear one, & dont think its foolish either....at 60 miles an hour all the helmet is gonna do is make me a better looking corpse. I've been in the public safety sector for 18 years & have seen a few cases of road rash. Had one guy who we had to cut his helmet off cause it was choking him. I seemed to survive alot of falls off my bike (as in bicycle) as a kid without a helmet, but if you ask a parent today...they want to call child protective services out if you send your spawn out scurrying around without one on. I pay attention on the road, which is more than I can say for most of the cagers, who are drinking their morning coffee, listening to the radio, having a smoke & doing their hair while driving. ok...I'm off my :soapbox:

Nice lid Az...If I had to wear one I'd pick that style. Mainly because if I'm bein made to wear it, Im gonna show how I feel about that law.

started out not wearing them back in the late 60's but we have no choice here and you get used to having them on.

Don't have a choice here in Michigan. The Bit$h that calls herself governer vetoed the helmet choice law this summer. I have ridden with and without. I agree with FlynDutchman. If ya take a direct hit, your probably S.O.L. However, when I had to lay it down because some a$$hole ran me off the road, I was glad the side of my bucket was scrapped off and not my scalp.

And let me tell ya, I rock or Junebug in the forehead at 70 isn't high on my list of favorite things either.

I believe you should have the choice but my choice is to wear one. It doesn't take much to bust your head open, like Indian Larry, and my fear is that it wouldn't kill me but make me a vegetable or paralyzed. They are not comfortable but hospital beds aren't either. I would rather not but my common sense says I should so I do.

Hi Tomflhrci98
I wish I did had the pic's to show the young guys the benefits of a good helmet. The hood ornament was 1 ft. from the firewall. One other thing I didnt mention. A cop was riding on the bike with me and when the light turned green and I took off he seen the car coming and slipped off the back and stood in the street and seen everything. Have a nice day Ole Ted

I agree with you, Slimjim... I think that there should be choice. I really have never experienced riding without a helmet (not on a several km/mile ride anyway). But when I hit Montana on my way to Sturgis, you can bet that I will be taking the bucket off for a bit and "testing it out"!!

Ahh....junebugs.....

Wear a AVG 5047 quick release, it is modular helment sold at HD. Its a modular full crash helment. It adapts me to many situations mother nature might dish out.
To each their own on what their choices are on wearing or not wearing on helments. Yer an adult and you should be able to make yer own decisions on how you want to live yer life.

In NH helmets are not required unless you are less than 18 years of age. With such hazards as sand on roadways, cars, bugs, animals crossing roadways, and general all around a'holes in cars and bikes too, I prefer to wear one.

This year during motorcycle week a large increase in helmet usage was noted over past years. Also noted were the number and type of mutiple fatalities involving bikes during this period. Surprisingly other than a biker killed by a tree that ran out in the road in front of him, the other fatalities involved other bikes which had crossed the yellow line into the opposite lane of travel striking a bike going the other way. The struck bike ended up taking down the other riders that were with him. There were five such incidents during this week involving about thirteen people. Other than the tree climber that died who was wearing a helmet, all of the others were not.

You choose!

helmet laws

I wear one for in case i wreck and really because of bugs.I hate to get hit on the head by a big bug when going down the road.lol. But I think everyone should have a right to wear or not to wear.Just my two cents.Canholder.

I've always believed that it's riders choice, and I still do, but it's like this.
Years ago when California passed seatbelt laws I was in my mid 20's.
I instantly started ranting about personal freedom, or more to the point, lack of it.
The guy I was working with at the time, who was about my current age of 50, said something
that pretty much shut me up on the subject.
All he did was ask me this question: How are you going to explain to your wife and kids, or
anybody else that you matter to, that your dead because you just can't have someone telling
you what to do ?
That logic simply hit me where I live and I have absolutely no argument for it.
I decided then that law or no law...... you have to do what you can to take care of yourself even if only for those that love you.

I wear one because I saw with my own eyes a friend get hit comming out of a parking lot at a high school and lose his life nothing high speed about it just pulled out at the same time as a paralel parked car fell over and hit his head on the curb I miss him Like one of the previous post keep yourself as safe as you can for the one that need you.

Pennsylvania rider

Free choice law in Pennsylvania is only a couple years old. Since the Pittsburgh Steelers QB ended up with a faceful of some old lady's station wagon last year while riding a cafe racer (her fault, not his), the legislature is threatening to repeal the no-helmet option. Statistics aside, I wear one because our roads are in pretty poor shape most of the time. Here in Mercer County we have Amish buggies, hay wagons, milk trucks, gravel roads and lots of blind corners. As long as I ride in this area, I will continue to wear one regardless of the laws.

One other factor - I have never been able to get past the noise factor when riding without one. Tried soft earplugs, even a short windshield on my FXST. Still sounds like standing in a wind tunnel. I would like to know how others deal with it.

At the end of the day, though, after 33 years in the saddle, I come down on the free choice side. If I rode in the plains states or big sky country, I would quite probably do without one.

You make a great point about the wind noise factor. I rode across Utah almost 10 years ago..over 300 miles blasting along at freeway speeds..without a helmet (had to put it on at the Nevada border because of the helmet law). When I got to my motel room in Ely, I felt like I'd run a marathon. It's amazing how fatigueing the wind noise can be..along with destroying your hearing. I wear a helmet as much for comfort as for safety.

Because I have to and becuse some times I want to

Some days are just to perfect and a country road cruse is like god touching your back and telling you, "It is all worth it.". No helmet would be nice on those days.
When I started riding under 18 it was required and apparently for good reason. I seen some leaves and being a kid, I rode the Honda 90 into them, tagged the throttle for a for slip and slide, weeeee. When I was at about 45mph, the bike slipped out from under me and I slid past 2 houses, across a street, that I was lucky that nobody was driving on at the time, and into the curb on the other side. After checking the torn jacket, shirt, pants, underwhere, and shoe, I checked the helmet and realized the sound of a cracking bat was my helmet and my head would not have survived. I did not complain that I had to buy a new one. High school 1982, $180 for a top on the line Bell full face helmet on sale. Hard earned money.
I stay with full face helmets because of bugs and I smile and collect bugs without.
I plan to look into the full face helmet that the chin area lifts up and get a half helmet for short term passengers. I sure wish we had the choice, the way I remember it, it barely passed a general election.

Toms story sure is impressive.

ruffrider11 story is super tragic, kids are not supposed to die.

Bicycle helmets are for stunt riders and racers. Most of the kids around here do not even hit 15mph( week ). I recommend circling Lake Tahoe, entering Nevada from the south on bicycle. I ended up swerving between cars as I passed them on the highway , the brakes only shuddered at that speed and seemed completely ineffective. I wished during that day I had a helmet even if I did not use it.

Circling Lake Tahoe..man..that brings back many memories. I'm hoping to move to the Reno/Carson City area next year where I can hop over the pass to Tahoe whenever I want. Plus..skiing in the Winter. Skiing down here near Las Vegas is two runs on top of Mt Charleston dodging drunks on a two minute run.