Helmets Part 1,489,348 - To Wear Or Not To Wear

[spinningmagnets]

Small/light people have on several occasions been killed by the sudden inflation of an airbag, damaging their necks. These happened in a car that was struck at a fairly low speed. So...there is ALWAYS a counter-argument. But literally thousands of people are alive today because of airbags.

When the Helmet law was passed in California, the Harley riders began wearing the skullcap "minimum" DOT helmet, with no chin protection. I actually read some of them saying if their chin hit the pavement, they would rather go through chin reconstruction surgery, than take the risk of hitting the chin guard of a helmet and having their skull separated from their spine...I've NEVER heard of a skull separation due to a helmet chin-strike. But, if somebody found a record of an incident like that, it would be one in 100,000 incidents of a biker surviving because of a helmet.

Heads HAVE separated, but on an impact that hard, the lack of a chin-guard helmet and cushioning the impact with your face-bones is NOT going to help you live.

 

[1of3]

Yea, my 'mean ole' parents had two rules when I bought my first dirt bike. Always a helmet (mom) and all maintenance done by me (dad)..... mean.... just mean......

 

[liveforphysics]

I wear a full face. Always.

I also wear superbike gloves which feature titanium and kevlar inserts, and have proven to hold up under +100mph crashes with no hand damage.


On my superbike, I have a full superbike racing suit. Spine protectors, massive kevlar armor over all contact areas, and thick leather that is stitched together triple thickness in critical areas.

On my dirtbike, I wear full upper-body exo-skeleton armor.

If I'm going to be trying crazy stuff, I put on the superbike race suit, then the exo-skeleton armor on over the outside of it.

I've broken full face shoei motorcycle racing helmets twice now from impacts. I wrecked dicking around on a dirtbike into MY OWN parked racecar so hard I KO'd myself through the helmet. (omg my neck was sore. lol)

Helmets are a God send. So are superbike gloves. I would never want to make a rule the limits personal freedoms, but I can personally strongly recommend to always wear a real helmet. I don't consider most bicycle helmets to be real helmets.

 

[liveforphysics]

This is a picture of me 5 minutes after coming back to consciousness (thanks for the shaking dad, lol). I was seeing spots still, but boy was I happy with my helmet! Cracked the helmet rather than my head! Horray for helmet!

The car on the right is the racecar that I crashed into. The other civic has way too gay of wheels for my tastes, but I figured the picture would get no complaints either way. lol

 

[AussieJester]

I cracked my 600 dollar SHOEI helmet from the base to the top center of the helmet when i had my lampost accident (that put me in wheelchair) without a helmet i would brain damaged (shutup Luke hahaha ) Having grown up around motorcycle racing all my life and seen the result of of people dropping bikes at speed (my father made and repaired tailor made full piece racing leathers for 25 years) It was obvious early on the benefits of wearing the right clothing before throwing your leg over the bike. I have also seen a full face helmet (the chin section) worn to the point the road stopped millimetres short of starting on the wearers chin, without the full face there would of been no chin to re-construct, his leathers had worn that thin you could see through them when held up to the light, he came off doing over 200plus km/hr at the end of the back strate at Barbegelo Raceway here in Perth..aside from road burn he was uninjured.

I will be getting myself some of the downhill armour the fellas use before i start caning my new bike along with a quality helmet gloves and anle high boots, the bicyle helmet i have now wont cut it if i fall of this bike that i know...

KiM

 

[Sheriff Jon]

his leathers had worn that thin you could see through them when held up to the light,

When I was a kid I had an Uncle who owned a Yamaha shop. We were on our way out of town on vacation and we stopped by to say Hi. One of his mechanics was a road racer and had a very cool Ducati cafe racer. My Dad was admiring the bike and the mechanic offered to let my Dad ride it in the back alley. My Dad had grown up riding Ariels, Matchless, BSA's and Harleys, but recently had gotten used to the Jap bikes and the shifter being on the left side. Anywho....my Dad took off down the alley, rode to the other end and started the run back towards the shop and the street. As he passed us (at speed) he went to use the back brake, but accidently down shifted. It sent the bike lurching forward and caused him to pull back on the throttle as he headed for the busy street. Luckily he had the presence of mind to clamp on the front brake and lay the bike on its side as he slid towrds the traffic rolling by. Thank God that he stopped in time with both wheels laying in the gutter just as an 18 wheeler rummbled by. I will NEVER forget that image. We ran to him as he lay there in a streek of his blood and skin. No broken bones, just a lot of raw hamburger. I saw a coin on the ground and picked it up, it was a penny that had been in his pocket, which was now completly gone along with the whole pant leg and worn away during the slide. The penny had been ground so thin that it folded in half between my young fingers with very little effort.

This has nothing to do with helmets, as this was before helmets were required by law so very few riders wore them on the street. But an interesting story non the less.

 

[AussieJester]

But an interesting story non the less.

Very much so...incidence like this tend to stick in ones mind forever, i still remember quite distinctly my first crash
while racing my minibike a Honda MR50when i was
~5-6 years old i went up and over a berm into a wire fence getting me head stuck under it howling like a stuck pig
until the marshals got there and freed me.haha wasn't hurt at all but scared me enough not too forget it

KiM

 

[methods]

My Uncle rode my 100V 100A cruiser bike
Had a 9x7 9C on the back

More power than the brakes could hold back...

He was doing a U-turn, accidentally blipped the throttle, panicked, squeezed full throttle/ full brake, hit the curb head on, flew over the bars and into the bushes.

A branch opened up the entire side of his head.

wear a helmet.

WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC PICTURES - CLICK IF YOU WANT TO VOMIT

Here he is walking it off..... The man is carved out of wood.



-methods

 

[Lapwing]

Fook! Glad he didn't loose an ear!

Who the hell stiched him up though? Handy work looks worse than the large animal Vet that did my cow. :lol:

He's gonna look like a bloody pirate .... with sword scars to show for it.

 

[liveforphysics]

Good toughness. You come from tough stock.


Glad he wasn't hurt seriously, and hopefully he will value a helmet from now on, even for just a quick lap around the block.

That should be a lesson to all you guys who think you don't need a hemet, but just looking at pics seldom is enough for those foolish enough to not want some skull protection in the first place. The importance of gear is a lesson best learned by watching your blood spill out fast in puddles around you, and when those thoughts of wether is going to stop, or run out first enter your head, that is when the lesson is properly learned.

Protect your hands too. Bike gloves don't to jack. Get some superbike gloves. If you've ever had to stay with a friend at the hospital getting palm shaped pathes of skin cut out of there inner thighs to be used to make new palms for the ones they ground clean off, you will value some superbike gloves.

 

[methods]

He's gonna look like a bloody pirate ....

LOL!!!!


I actually posted this after watching Matt ride the KMX with no helmet.

I have a strict rule - I ALWAYS wear a helmet and my wife ALWAYS wears a helmet
Mine is full face.

I no longer let people ride my powerful bikes either.

Even when I let people ride my normal bikes (44V 60A 9C) nearly every single one has some incident... The most common is grabbing a handful of gas and brake at the same time.

I am NOT a captain safety and I always ADVOCATE RISK TAKING but only a retard does it without a helmet.
Gloves are good too.

-methods

 

[deronmoped]

Problem with the helmet argument is it does not go far enough.

Your chances of dying from a bicycle accident are like 1in 4,000.

Your chances of dying from a fall are like 1in 200.

So why all the fuss about wearing a helmet when your only on your bicycle? Your probably much more likely to die in a fall around your house. Climbing a ladder, wear a helmet, up on the roof, wear a helmet, climbing a tree, wear a helmet...

It's like buying earthquake insurance but skipping out on the fire insurance.

Deron.

 

[johnrobholmes]

Problem with the helmet argument is it does not go far enough.

Your chances of dying from a bicycle accident are like 1in 4,000.

Your chances of dying from a fall are like 1in 200.

So why all the fuss about wearing a helmet when your only on your bicycle? Your probably much more likely to die in a fall around your house. Climbing a ladder, wear a helmet, up on the roof, wear a helmet, climbing a tree, wear a helmet...

It's like buying earthquake insurance but skipping out on the fire insurance.

Deron.

Your argument does not go far enough either. How many hours are spent on a bike, vs at the house? What is the chances of dying with a helmet vs without?



I don't always put on a helmet when riding bicycles, but lately I have rarely gone without helmet, gloves, and jacket. Ride smart, and ride tomorrow. It is a good thing that the moped crew I ride with all wear full face helmets too.

 

[Dee Jay]

Geebuz, hope he'll be OK...

Thanks for sharing this incident, it's a good reminder for us to teach our clients, friends and/or family to respect that Silent Power called electricity !

 

[methods]

This was actually a few months back
Total recovery - you can barely even see it.

Could have been his eye... Even with a helmet on!

-methods

 

[patrickza]

Even if your head survives the impact with the ground it hurts like a b*tch when they scrape the tar from your face...

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13237

 

[dogman dan]

Dying in a fall around the house statistics involve a lot of 80 year olds, who can't heal from a broken bone, and shatter like glass when they fall.

Once you've "used" a helmet, you won't ride without again. As several just pointed out.

 

[317537]

There seems to be more emphasis on motor bikes here and motor bikes and bicycles are different, however some here have bicycles that go a lot faster than a push pedal and the normal street legal E-bike.

Discern the difference between human mass inertia vs a car and its mass inertia, the speed of a legal ebike and a motor bike or 84v x5 and the variables do differ to a larger degree.


On a push pedal I had good reason to not wear a helmet as they caused me really bad migraine headaches because of the heat, but there is a huge difference with electric assist and the body temperature than there is with push pedals up hills.

One arguement is that you hear better with no helmet but that isn’t true either as the wind in your ears makes it hard to hear anything and a helmet or cover over the ears makes a good difference IMO...

I was trying to prove to myself that helmets over the ears caused hearing impedance but after trying it I came to the honest conclusion that ear covers improved sonic road awareness.

 

[Ypedal]

Gawdamn !!!! .. Ouch !

I always wear my Giro (full head ) on the high-powered bikes and a bicycle helmet on my 36v rigs, and ALWAYS wear gloves.. i've hit the pavement a few times and the 1st thing you do is extend the hands to brace yourself...... picked enough gravel out of my palms to learn this lesson good !

But holy frock that's a scrape !!!!

 

[317537]

Respect the 10kw beast. You know they dont look as powerfull as they are and I guess people think wow this would be fun little bike, and na I dont need the helmet.

Ironic after the helmet thread and the dick riding the Grace no helmet on his balls, 8) hey mom look how stupid I look,.

I am a supporter of choice in most matters but when someone has to hose your brains off the sidewalk gutter someone has to do it and there is no choice about it.

I hope your uncle Mark heals up OK.

 

[patrickza]

When people want to try my bike I always put the speed setting on the lowest with my hidden switch. At least it slows the accident down to more survivable speeds...

 

[methods]

He said that he could feel the skin sliding back and forth under his hand on the way to the hospital :|

-methods

 

[Sheriff Jon]

I started this thread to hear the opinions of a group of people who because of our hobby or by Law have to choose whether to wear a Helmet or not, and I thank everyone for their opinions....pro and con. As I figured most in here are mature enough and smart enough to see the common sense in taking this small and only slightly inconvienent precaution.

If one wants or needs to use some convoluted facts or formulas in an attempt to proove (to themselves) that wearing a helmet is not safe, too inconvienent or dosen't offer any worthwhile measure of protection....they probably ain't gots nuthin up thar worth protecting :wink:

 

[velowatt]

Helmets are essential. My wife's boss was killed last Spring while trying out a rented e-bike. She went less than a lock, and was found on the ground with a head injury, helmet was hanging from handlebars. She never regained consiousness. Sunny day, not going fast, no traffic or collision. Nobody knows exactly how the crash occurred.

Riding without a helmet is dumb, unless you are gunning for one of those "Darwin Awards".

 

[Cackalacka]

Your chances of dying from a bicycle accident are like 1in 4,000 <blah blah blah>

Deron, what orafice did you, like, pull these stats out from?