Rocks in the head - or why fullface helmets are better

[slofox]

Now I know why fullface helmets are more betterer - apart from stopping wasps getting stuck up between helmet and forehead...

Sunday's loop took me along Arapuni Road to Putaruru. The Kihikihi end has a couple of clicks worth of new seal on it - as usual covered in loose blue chip. So I take it easy through there.

Usually the blue chip is pretty fine but there turned out to be a few more substantial stones in there. An SUV (isn't it always?) comes the other way - blasting along despite the speed restriction. As it passes me, a shower of stones comes flying up. One of them was largish. And it whacked into the lower rim of the helmet. A half face helmet would have allowed it to hit me on the jawbone. Ouch. As it was it made a fearsome thwack as it hit. Glad I wasn't wearing an open face...might have ended up with rocks in the head (more of them I mean...)

[Ferkletastic]

I have a nice deep scratch on one of my visors right above my left eye from a stone that was flicked up on the Ellerslie onramp roundabout. If visor wasn't there I'd be rocking an eye patch.

So yeah, I'm all about the full face.

[avgas]

I came off one day as a young-un with open face..........my chin healed in about 9 weeks, the taste of dirt didn't

[The Everlasting]

Yeah certainly pays to wear a full face,but there are still heaps of riders out there wearing half helmets!!

[BiK3RChiK]

Well, I'm glad your face wasn't re-decorated for you! I've often thought about the speed restriction and following cars through fresh seal laid like that recently with stones flying up, I've been glad I wasn't on the bike. That could've been nasty...

[The Pastor]

real men dont give a shit.

[slofox]

real men dont give a shit.

That's OK then - I'm only a cardboard cutout anyway...

[mattian]

With so many high sided vehicles about..... such as my own personal nemesis, the suburban 4 wheel drive! you would be a muppet not to wear one. Think about it,..... you hit one side on, or from the back, whats going to be the body part that makes contact first? its probably your face.

[Big Dave]

real men dont give a shit.

If the rock draws blood I think 'hope that leaves a scar'. You get a memento of the ride a lot cheaper than a new tattoo.

[Swampdonkey]

saw a guy with a nice chrome german style half helmet ride past me the other day....better than nothing i suppose.

[gilly]

saw a guy with a nice chrome german style half helmet ride past me the other day....better than nothing i suppose.

I met that guy at the Westpac Rally on Sunday. He rides a 1968 Norton.

[Griffin]

Wow another gear thread.........

Watch out world - heres another rocket scientist... just out of curiosity, what else were you expecting in the biker gear forum...? .

[caseye]

Went out last week and bought two new Bell full face helmets Apex is the model. D shackles, fibreglass and kevlar reinforcing, custom? paint jobs, awesome pieces of kit .
Will never again use a full face flip helmet.
Convenient? yes.
Handy? yes.
Protect your face in a crash ? NO! @#$%.
Named brand, not super expensive, nor overly cheap, currently available from most bike shops here in NZ, in a low speed ( approx 30-40 K's) straight forward dumping on one side straight into the road, face/helmet hit first, helmet rpomptly split through chin guard area, allowing that side of the helmet to cave in.
She was brought down by a car spare part left carelessly in the middle of her lane, at night, in the Hunua Gorge, one of many, which all attending emergency services also managed to hit, thats 3 fire engines and three police cars not to mention all of the cars arriving at the scene from both directions.
Results, Hospitalisation for 15 hours, no scans, no full medical assestement, a very sore back, a very bruised hip and thigh a mild concussion and a permanent scar from top of bottom lip to bottom of chin where the helmet split in two.
This helmet saved my wife from much more serious damage but it broke! and it's my personal opinion that it shouldn't have.
So from now on it's as good as we can afford(more so when it comes to her) or nothing and we don't ride till we can aford it.
For crying out loud people, the gear is out there it's not always super expensive, but please make sure you are wearing it.
But for that helmet and all the gear my baby would have been badly hurt, as it was , yesterday she rode her repaired(Yeah Right) try restored and so very well, bike for the first time since her off and she enjoyed a day out in the country on some nice quiet roads.
Her helmet and her gear stopped her ending her riding days laid up in a bed or worse and meant she has another shot at geting out there and enjoying her bike.
many thanks to Q Moto for her gloves.
To Lifestyle Imports for her new Bell.
And to Panmure Motorcycles for her fantastically repaired/restored motorcycle.
Cheers guys for all of the efforts, advice and genuine care and attention you gave her while she made her choices.
Shes back and we've already ridden together again, it was brilliant.

[skinman]

indeed, I had a low speed off avoiding an suv thurs. visor has some nice scratchs on it now. if that had been an openface those would be on my face now.

[Laxi]

apart from protection, there's bugs

my visor after a ride on the weekend

[caseye]

apart from protection, there's bugs

my visor after a ride on the weekend

Thats quite a collection you have there, better on the outside of the visor than in yer eyes and teeth.

[caseye]

indeed, I had a low speed off avoiding an suv thurs. visor has some nice scratchs on it now. if that had been an openface those would be on my face now.

Sorry to hear that, hope yopu and the bike are OK did you get a good look at teh SUV?
Perhaps a pos'e pf us Manurewa riders should go cage hunt'n??

[skinman]

in onehunga ??? (thats where I was at time)
that would be one hell of a scrap. the driver did stop & phone ambulance for me so not quite so bad just wish she had looked before crossing intersection.
I have broken thumb so no riding for 6 weeks anyway.

[R-Soul]

With so many high sided vehicles about..... such as my own personal nemesis, the suburban 4 wheel drive! you would be a muppet not to wear one. Think about it,..... you hit one side on, or from the back, whats going to be the body part that makes contact first? its probably your face.
Yeah in all the studies that were done on accidents, the part that made the most contact with objects was the chin.

So thats a great place to start with the reductions then right?

[R-Soul]

Went out last week and bought two new Bell full face helmets Apex is the model. D shackles, fibreglass and kevlar reinforcing, custom? paint jobs, awesome pieces of kit .
Will never again use a full face flip helmet.
Convenient? yes.
Handy? yes.
Protect your face in a crash ? NO! @#$%.
Named brand, not super expensive, nor overly cheap, currently available from most bike shops here in NZ, in a low speed ( approx 30-40 K's) straight forward dumping on one side straight into the road, face/helmet hit first, helmet rpomptly split through chin guard area, allowing that side of the helmet to cave in.
She was brought down by a car spare part left carelessly in the middle of her lane, at night, in the Hunua Gorge, one of many, which all attending emergency services also managed to hit, thats 3 fire engines and three police cars not to mention all of the cars arriving at the scene from both directions.
Results, Hospitalisation for 15 hours, no scans, no full medical assestement, a very sore back, a very bruised hip and thigh a mild concussion and a permanent scar from top of bottom lip to bottom of chin where the helmet split in two.
This helmet saved my wife from much more serious damage but it broke! and it's my personal opinion that it shouldn't have.
So from now on it's as good as we can afford(more so when it comes to her) or nothing and we don't ride till we can aford it.
For crying out loud people, the gear is out there it's not always super expensive, but please make sure you are wearing it.
But for that helmet and all the gear my baby would have been badly hurt, as it was , yesterday she rode her repaired(Yeah Right) try restored and so very well, bike for the first time since her off and she enjoyed a day out in the country on some nice quiet roads.
Her helmet and her gear stopped her ending her riding days laid up in a bed or worse and meant she has another shot at geting out there and enjoying her bike.
many thanks to Q Moto for her gloves.
To Lifestyle Imports for her new Bell.
And to Panmure Motorcycles for her fantastically repaired/restored motorcycle.
Cheers guys for all of the efforts, advice and genuine care and attention you gave her while she made her choices.
Shes back and we've already ridden together again, it was brilliant.


She is lucky the chinguard stayed down. Have a close look at those sharp ratings on the other thread. For flip face helmets - the little pictures that come up when you search for a flip face helmets "Guaranteed to stay down 90% of the time"...
Well gee, thats reassuring knowing that my helmet will work as it is expected to in 9 out of 10 accidents!!!

I dont know about you, but I expect it to work as expected- FINISHED. End of discussion.

[caseye]

Yep, been there and looked and thought pretty much the samea s you, uh huh,no Way! never again.Bells and fully enclosed from now on, what a difference, fit is great, wind noise down at least 89%, wider field of view, lighter, cooler, should have done it years ago.

[HQfiend]

Open face/half shell = face f*#ker!

Seen to many rearrangements to features for the sake of being cool (in both senses of the word).

Although I do subscribe to the Darwinism train of thought! If they want to wear inappropriate attire then they probably won't be breeding for one reason or another.

[Scorp]

Nice thread. Even though I've virtually ruled out anything other than a full-face... this has me one hundred percent convinced. An open helmet seems to make as much sense as an unzipped leather jacket.

[Big Dave]

Nice thread. Even though I've virtually ruled out anything other than a full-face... this has me one hundred percent convinced. An open helmet seems to make as much sense as an unzipped leather jacket.

I think that's a pretty good attitude for a new or returning rider. Nobody would argue they are safer and I recommend that a top of the range full face hat should be in every rider's wardrobe.

But there are also times for an experienced rider, pootling around town on a cruiser or a classic for example, that it's a much more pleasant experience being 'outside' for the ride. A bigger risk sometimes worth taking. I like my Davida Jet a lot - in certain circumstances. Same with my collection of Arai full-faces for open road and track work.

>> Although I do subscribe to the Darwinism train of thought! <<

I don't disagree with the point. But you ride a high powered sportsbike. You do realise 95% of the population says that about your choices?

[onearmedbandit]

apart from protection, there's bugs

my visor after a ride on the weekend

The bugs your way look bigger, but I've got more!

[R-Soul]

The bugs your way look bigger, but I've got more!

Geez, you musta hit a whole swarm of them...

Its a good thing YOU had a full face - you could have suffocated with that!!

[Big Dave]

Some of the big ones don't taste too bad.

[Ocean1]

Some of the big ones don't taste too bad.

My S4 has two wee triangular meshed intakes immediately in front of my mouth. I just love it when you feel that cool burst of moisture exploding over your teeth...

[LBD]

And its not only rocks and bugs....Kamakazi ducks can inflict a fair old injury as well. At 55MPH (Yes back then) I collected 2 ducks in the head, with a Full Face on. The force was enough to stove the visor in and give me a bloody nose and momentary loss of conciousness. Any thing less than a full face would have left we with a broken nose and if the loss of conciousness had been longer than for a moment, I would have broken a lot of other things as well.

The following car stopped picked up the two ducks and drove of with out a thankyou

As an aside I tried on the new CF bell the other day a couple of times, but could not get used to the padding covering 1/2 my ears...darned uncomfortable other wise a very sexy capable lid. It was interesting to hear other bike shops rubbishing CF lids saying they are to delicate.

[Big Dave]

Any thing less than a full face would have left we with a broken nose and if the loss of conciousness had been longer than for a moment,

I've done that, hit a large bird at 85kph whilst wearing an open face - flush on the cheek. Bastard broke my Ray Bans.
Was one of those big brown units. Didn't look like good eating though.

[R-Soul]

I've done that, hit a large bird at 85kph whilst wearing an open face - flush on the cheek. Bastard broke my Ray Bans.
Was one of those big brown units. Didn't look like good eating though.

You can thank your lucky stars you never hit a guinea fowl - hell those must be the toughest birds that I have ever seen. I saw one take two barrels from a shotgun at about 5 meters, get up, and keep running. Their feathers are hard - it almost makes a type of shell around them. And their willpower is huge...

My ex boss had one go through his windshield at about 150km/hr - and it was still ALIVE in the back seat!!

[hellokitty]

I had a teenage boy come into my work the other day (work at a dental surgery), he had a crash with an open face helmet on and smashed his front teeth.
Not a good look.......

[LBD]

I saw one take two barrels from a shotgun at about 5 meters, get up, and keep running.

I think I would give up shooting with accuracy like that.....

[R-Soul]

I think I would give up shooting with accuracy like that.....

hehe thats what I thought. I even chirped my dad about it. But nope it ran across a field and eventually fell. When we eventually plucked it, we found MANY pellets in it.

[racefactory]

What the fuck is the point of a half face helmet? They look so bloody ugly... besides, who wants their chin grounded away?

[R-Soul]

What the fuck is the point of a half face helmet? They look so bloody ugly... besides, who wants their chin grounded away?
And they look so gay!

[allycatz]

Took me ages to get used to a full face helmet being a claustrophobia sufferer from way back...started off with the visor up but a few well placed bugs in the eye quickly cured that.

[tracyprier]

My favorite was a ride back from Hastings to AKL. HJC FF with visor open first click (only 3 clicks on it so open about 2 inches) wearing wraparound sunnies and a big solid insect (species unknown) whacks meon the cheek JUST below the sunnies!! I mean... the chances !!

[Big Dave]

What the fuck is the point of a half face helmet?

It's nicer being 'outside'. It's not as safe and there is a good chance of a stinger or two. But it's the same reason as why dogs put their head out the car window.

[bluebird]

There is a thread on here that gives the UK crash ratings on helmets, the Shark evoline flip face is 4 out of 5, a high score, so not all flip face helmets are rubbish. My helmet has deflected many large stones and insects that could have had a bad effect otherwise, I am amazed at the guys wearing those plastic kraut helmets, I have seen what happens to them in a prang, you might as well have put a tupperware bowl on your head.

[CookMySock]

real men dont give a shit.You'll care when its knocked your teeth out and doctors have to remove part of your sphincter and sew it into your mouth so you can chew with it. :killingme

Yer I got a really loud DANK!! off my fairings some months ago which left a nice mark.. lucky it didnt hit me at all.

Steve

[scumdog]

There is a thread on here that gives the UK crash ratings on helmets, the Shark evoline flip face is 4 out of 5, a high score, so not all flip face helmets are rubbish. My helmet has deflected many large stones and insects that could have had a bad effect otherwise, I am amazed at the guys wearing those plastic kraut helmets, I have seen what happens to them in a prang, you might as well have put a tupperware bowl on your head.

Ah...some just miss the point......

[newbould]

Yeah certainly pays to wear a full face,but there are still heaps of riders out there wearing half helmets!!

But then isn't that where the saying comes from?
"half a helmet is better than no head"

[R-Soul]

There is a thread on here that gives the UK crash ratings on helmets, the Shark evoline flip face is 4 out of 5, a high score, so not all flip face helmets are rubbish. My helmet has deflected many large stones and insects that could have had a bad effect otherwise, I am amazed at the guys wearing those plastic kraut helmets, I have seen what happens to them in a prang, you might as well have put a tupperware bowl on your head.

Look again at the rating

http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/search/details/?id=122

Do you see the part where it says ""Percentage of impacts hwhere the chinguard remains fully locked: 70%"?

What do you suppose that means? Does that sound particularly safe to you?

[caseye]

Yep after having her first off and wearing a full face flip my wife now has a full face fully enclosed Bell.No more worries about if it stays closed the next time aye.70% just not good enough if you care.

[SMOKEU]

saw a guy with a nice chrome german style half helmet ride past me the other day....better than nothing i suppose.

Are those helmets even legal?

[Ocean1]

Are those helmets even legal?

No.

And I've never heard of anyone being pinged for it.

[LBD]

And they look so gay! Look good on a Honda rider but.....

[Tink]

Good move batman!

[Laxi]

Look good on a Honda rider but.....

especially the twat running round wellington on a silver 636 sporting a german helmet:shutup:

[LBD]

especially the twat running round wellington on a silver 636 sporting a german helmet:shutup:

Chrome plated?

[Laxi]

Chrome plated?

nope, flat back, seen him a few times, kind of gets your attention cause it looks like a harley riders bike broke down, so he "borrowed" the 1st bike he could find :laugh:

[howdamnhard]

Glad mrs caseye is up and riding again. Also tried to get myself a Bell apex but they didn't have my size,bugger.
Glad I was wearing a full face helmet when I kissed a power pole ( the solid good old car splitting ones) many moons ago , might have been a short life.Still remember the picture in my head of my feet and hands in the air in front of me as I bounced off it,ha,ha. Was a little problem with target fixation.

[caseye]

Glad mrs caseye is up and riding again. Also tried to get myself a Bell apex but they didn't have my size,bugger.
Glad I was wearing a full face helmet when I kissed a power pole ( the solid good old car splitting ones) many moons ago , might have been a short life.Still remember the picture in my head of my feet and hands in the air in front of me as I bounced off it,ha,ha. Was a little problem with target fixation.

Many thnaks for the gladness, Mrs Caseye is not only up and riding again but after having her restricted postponed repeatedly, the last time due to her and her bike being incapacitated for 6 weeks, she now has said Restricted as well, breezed through and arrived at my work with L plate intact so I could cut the BARSTARD damnd dangereous thing off! Glad you were wearing a real lid way back then mate, it's not total insurance but it beats nothing.

[howdamnhard]

Many thnaks for the gladness, Mrs Caseye is not only up and riding again but after having her restricted postponed repeatedly, the last time due to her and her bike being incapacitated for 6 weeks, she now has said Restricted as well, breezed through and arrived at my work with L plate intact so I could cut the BARSTARD damnd dangereous thing off! Glad you were wearing a real lid way back then mate, it's not total insurance but it beats nothing.
Send my CONGRATULATIONS to Mrs Caseye for getting her restricted. Awesome more bikes = less cars on the road. Was only wearing a full face way back then because I thought they looked "cool" (ha,ha) pity about the jandals , T shirt and shorts though. With time comes wisdom.