No Helmet. (sport bike post)

[jeepinbanditrider]

Nikon how much riding experience do you have? As a number of times before I witnessed a rookie rider go down on a GSXR-600 yesterday.

He overcooked a very tame corner (I've taken it at around 70 even on my KLR before) and ran slightly off the edge of the road right at the point in the corner where there is a gravel driveway. All me and the two guys in back saw was a bike flipping end over end the rooke cartwheeling down the side of the road.

Scared the **** out of me as he was just laying there not moving. We stopped and he said his neck hurt so we kept him still and left his helmet on. I jumped on the KLR and hauled ass to the end of the road and brought back the rest of the group. When we got back he was up moving around first responders checked him over and released him.

I'm not saying not to get a 600 supersport as my first bike was a 1200 Bandit but you HAVE to be careful and keep your ego in check or **** will get deep quick. There are times on my Bandit that I count myself lucky to still be standing here able to type this.

[DeltaV]

Originally Posted by Cannibul

Here is my thought on helmets.

Make them optional. But with this caveat. If you are not wearing a helmet and you get in an accident and end up with brain damage you and your family get NO assistance of any kind.

+1

I am all for not being told what to do...but I never ride without at least my helmet, armored jacket, jeans and decent boots. Let Darwin do his job on the morons!

[Modificationvt]

Originally Posted by SgtWKPII

Who are you to tell the level of intelligence that a person riding without a helmet has? I bet they would know how to spell helmet at least. (sarcasm! )

I am sure that you have never went out and done something dangerous. So why not judge them and call for a "Darwin moment?"

lol chill out a little, I was just kidding, Personaly I dont think the government has the right to tell us that we need to wear helmets/buckle our seat belts. whenever I bike I wear a helmet, but thats me and I dont actualy judge people for not wearing them.

and I guess people didnt know, that was a line from some comedian (I didnt site it because I couldnt remember what comedian said it)

and as for the spelling issue, I have a reading/spelling disabuility, the best I can do is phenetic spellings of things but I just cant memorize the non phenetic words.

so again, I was kidding, I dont think the government should have a say as to what we do with our own bodies, all drugs should be legal, we shouldnt be told we need to wear a seat belt/helmet, we shouldnt be told we cant do things when the only person they affect is us.

but I still stand by my natural selection stance, its a fact, you ride without a helmet and your more likely to not survive a crash, just like people who drive 100+ miles an hour know they are increasing their chances to die. thats not an inteligence thing (hell the people who do it and survive are ether lucky, or more inteligent)

[NavinRJohnson]

PLEASE take the MSF course before you ride!

Motorcycle Ohio

Then buy a good helmet, jacket, gloves, & boots and go ride the wheels off that thing!

[Allstop]

I have been riding for 30 years. I wear a helmet almost every time I ride. I think I owe it to my family (the people that depend on me) to protect my life. That being said I still think It should be your choice to wear a helmet or not.

[nikon777]

Originally Posted by jeepinbanditrider

Nikon how much riding experience do you have? As a number of times before I witnessed a rookie rider go down on a GSXR-600 yesterday.

He overcooked a very tame corner (I've taken it at around 70 even on my KLR before) and ran slightly off the edge of the road right at the point in the corner where there is a gravel driveway. All me and the two guys in back saw was a bike flipping end over end the rooke cartwheeling down the side of the road.

Scared the **** out of me as he was just laying there not moving. We stopped and he said his neck hurt so we kept him still and left his helmet on. I jumped on the KLR and hauled ass to the end of the road and brought back the rest of the group. When we got back he was up moving around first responders checked him over and released him.

I'm not saying not to get a 600 supersport as my first bike was a 1200 Bandit but you HAVE to be careful and keep your ego in check or **** will get deep quick. There are times on my Bandit that I count myself lucky to still be standing here able to type this.

Oh believe me, I plan to take it VERY easy. I know I'm a novice and don't plan to push my luck. Like I said, my dad told me plenty of stories about bikers coming into the x-ray dept. I also plan to take a riders course. Any other advice is appreciated.

[Majk]

I think it's personal decision. Govt. does enough to tell us what we have to do, no guns, no speeding, cut your grass, pay your taxes, how many pets you can have and the list goes on and on.

I personally use a seatbelt every single time I drive. But when I rode my bike it was 7-30 when I rode a helmet. Most of the time I did but sometimes I didn't.

Saying your family shouldn't get any assistance if you ride without a helmet is like saying you accidentally shoot yourself and vegetable yourself the same thing should happen. Because by far there are more anti gunners than gunners. They would think the same thing. I think we pay way more to house criminals than we do vegetable people that don't wear a helmet.

[jeepinbanditrider]

MSF is good advice but IMO all it does it teach you the very bare bones basics and qualifies you to navigate parking lots like a seasoned parking lot pro.

I understand there there is only so much they can do in the class also. The best teacher is real world experience taken at your comfort level. Unless you can pop the money for a track day or two at something like Keith Code's superbike school. Being able to ride on a track helps a lot of people push their bikes in a controlled environment (EMS is on scene at all times). And people that I know that have went and rode track days usually come back to the street riding at a more relaxed pace.

That kid I noted above rode outside of his ability and probably felt like he was riding on the edge the whole time but let his want to keep up with the group override his own safety. It can happen I've caught myself trying to do it sometimes.

[SgtWKPII]

Speaking of helmets, have you guys seen Rossi's new lid?

MotoGP watch: Valentino Rossi’s new helmet is genius | Gridcrasher - Motor Sports

[Chili1k]

I agree with the motorcycle safety courses, and riding classes. They teach you the basics you need to roll casually down the road. I was foolish and never went and took a course. I had to learned myself on how to do the stuff they teach. My wife however, learned all of that stuff in a weekend. We both ride, we both wear helmets, and I bought us these cool bluetooth communicators, so We dont have to yell at each other about pulling over for gas or using funky hand signals !

Best reguards!
Mike