No Helmet. (sport bike post)

[Gravel]

Originally Posted by SgtWKPII

Laughing my ass of here!!!!

[billbrasky]

Ok the weird thing to me is the looks, do they think they look bad ass with out a helmet? Much of the bike scene is looks and appearance, how cool can you look with the back of your scalp bald and rubbed off, I mean even if you wreck and nothing else happens but you loose the back of your scalp, to 99% of the chicks out there you are a freak.

Do you look lame in a helmet, and do you like biking? Well you look allot cooler on your 1100 CBR WITH a helmet, than you do in a wheel chair drooling or being 20-30 years old and peeing your pants, needing to be turned over in bed to no get bed sores, and crapping your pants, or needing someone else to wipe you. That’s hella cool, totally gansta! How can one continue to bike after being a cripple, or afford to bike after 100k in bills, and lose of income and job etc. Biking with helmet is always superior to lose of biking if you are a biker. Seems obvious to me.

I really wonder where folks brains are, I have wrecked dirt bikes so many times, quads, three wheelers, been run over by all sorts of stuff, and with the exception of a bmx bike accident when I was 10-11 and a resulting concussion and getting knocked out and bleeding out my ear, I have never been seriously hurt. With a helmet you can not worry about your head, and fall correctly and walk away from amazing stuff most of the time.

Only thing worse than no helmet is stunting on public roads. Only thing worse than that is wrecking and killing an innocent in resulting accident, or wrecking and bankrupting and burdening your family with your cripple arse for 30 something years.

[retired]

I agree with you Nikon completely. I always wore mine when I rode in the early 80s. If I hadn't, I would be dead. I was on my Honda 750k on the fwy riding into L.A. to work one morning. I was splitting traffic (legal here) and in the #1 lane. The guy in the #2 lane, who was parallel to me and the car I was next to, knew we were both there. He waited until I got into the middle, came into our lane and tried to kill me (long story, but he did).

I was knocked unconscious and don't recall the crash. My other gear kept my other injuries down to bruises and some cuts, but my helmet ( a 3/4 face) saved my life. It was cracked and I had a headache for two weeks but I lived.

When the bike and I were both fixed, I had a full face helmet. I changed my driving habits also.

I am sure that you have never went out and done something dangerous.

SgtWKII, it is not went; it is "gone out" (sarcasam)

Just something to think about also. One argument for helmets is that insurance costs and other cost increase because there tend to be more injuries/deaths when not wearing a helmet. Those costs tend to be passed on to us by insurance companies or governmental agencies who are sued.

So, because someone didn't like the govt. telling them to wear a helmet, my insurance or govt. fees might be higher when they die or get injured when they don't wear one. Personally, I really don't care if someone doesn't care if they die or are injured and don't want to wear a helmet. When it affects my rates, taxes or other fees, then I care.

Here is just one link I found that explains it. Look at #6&7 specifically.

Q&As: Motorcycle helmet use laws

[CajunBass]

I just sold my BMW K100LT when my wife got sick and I realized I couldn't justify keeping it anymore. (I'm pretty much a full time caretaker now.) But I wouldn't have ridden to the other end of the driveway without a helmet.

But I see manditory helmet/seatbelt laws in the same light I see anti-gun laws. In both cases it's the government telling people what to do with their own personal property. My head is my property. If I want to bash it up, it's my business, not someone elses.

The "health cost" issue is a smoke screen. Has anyone ever heard of taxes or insurance costs coming down after a manditory helmet/seatbelt law was passed? Of course not.

Have you ever noticed the people who advocate these things are people the law won't affect? People who want to outlaw guns, don't own guns, so the law won't affect them. People who would mandate helmets/seatbelts are people who either don't ride motorcycles, or who already wear helmets or seatbelts. Either way a new "law" won't affect them. People who want to ban smoking don't smoke. See my point? It's always someone ELSE's ox they're goring. How big a jump is it to having someone tell you what kind of car you can drive, where to go on vacation, and what church to belong to.

It's not about costs. It's not about guns, or smoking, or eating fast food. It's about control. It's about taking just a little bit of freedom every chance "they" get because "they" know what's best. Like boiling a frog. You turn the heat up just a little bit over time, and pretty soon the frog is cooked and he never noticed it.

[devildog12210]

A gsxr 600 is not a tame bike by any sense of the word. If I took what bikes have been wrecked the most in my bike club it would be the 600 class. Everyone thinks they are great starter bikes and they could be o further from the truth. They will put you down hard. The brakes and throttle are very "touchy" and the slightest misjudgement can end your day and possibly your life. Sure they look bad a$$ and all but get something else as a first or get an older carbed on where the throttle response isn't as bad. I used to manage a bike parts shop and saw guys and gals come in day in and day out with the same mentality. Sorry but that is my opinion. Helmets should be a choice for the rider. For me the choice is simple. I had a fellow rider ask me why I wore a helmet one day. I told him safety reasons. I proceeded to ask hin why he wore one. He said he hated them and if it was his decision he wouldn't. He said he wore it for his mother. "The way I ride I will wreck and die one day. At least with a helmet it will be an open casket, thats what my mother wants." I still feel a little weird about that but thought I would share it none the less. Just my 2cents though. Happy hunting.

[wombat13]

Originally Posted by nikon777

I want to get a sport bike, probably next summer. I see a large amount of people on the freeway with no helmet. No offense if you don't wear one, but to me thats NUTS!

My dad is the head of an X-RAY dept, and Ive heard bike stories my whole life.

Doctors call them donorcycles for a reason.

[daveIT]

First, I believe it's a personal right. I don't agree with mandatory helmet laws. I wish people would wear them. (I also hate getting hit with bugs!)

Second, I don't currently ride motorcycles but have in the past (I also grew up with dirt bikes) but I ride bicycles a lot.

I saw what happened to a gentleman who tried to jump his bike off a set of stairs (only about 6 steps) and ended up hitting the tarmac with his head. I was the second person on the scene and had to call 911. He ended up with a cracked skull, I could see his brain pulsing and his face got really swollen. It's a picture I will never forget. Luckily a doctor was the third person to bike by and he stopped. We treated him for shock, but he died on the way to the hospital. He left behind a couple kids.

If that can happen on a bicycle I'd hate to see what can happen on a motorcycle. I've worn my helmet everytime I get on my bike since I saw that.

[Fish609]

I had a buddy get into an accident on his bike. Luckily he had a helmet and one of those leather jackets with the hard plastic plates on the joints on or he would be dead. He had a broken pelvis, ribs, wrist, and some fingers I think.

My buddy was stopped at a stoplight with his Ducatti 749R and some ********* in a ford 500 didn't see him and tried to run the light. Hit him doing about 35 miles/hour. That is one quick way to turn a $20k+ bike into rubble. My buddy flew over 30+ feet into the highway intersection (almost past it) and is so damn lucky no cars hit him.

I think helmets should be a choice, but I also think they are an easy choice.

[gsh341]

I am living proof that helmets save lives.

Back in 1988 (I'm old, get over it) I crashed a bike while riding through a canyon in AZ. I was going too fast for the corner, hit a piece of the mountain that extended like a curb almost to the edge of the road and was sent flying over the handle bars.

I landed on the back of my head and shoulders and was fortunate enough to come out of it with nothing more than some really bad road rash on the shoulders and a bunch of other aches and pains, but nothing broken except my bike and a bit of my pride.

Someone, probably the Hwy Patrol, sent my helmet in to the manufacturer for analysis who then sent me a letter with their findings. They discovered that the impact had cracked the helmet front to back and had ground a flat spot on the back that almost went through to the padding.

If I had not been wearing a helmet I would be dead, or at the very least I'd be a vegetable in a nursing home.

Be smart and wear a helmet. If you don't do it for yourself, do it for your family.