How many here/ Riding without helmuts

[Skyryder]

There's a fair mixture of ages here, some young, some even younger.

When I first started riding (Tiger 100) some time in the early sixties helmuts were not compulsary. While I would not ride without a helmut now even if I could I do sometimes miss the wind in my hair. The traffic was less and there were not the same kind of hazards that there are today (cell phone use to name one). In those days riding with a helmut was considered.............a little prissy. Some did not many.

How many of us here can remember riding without helmuts and do you miss the wind parting your hair? It was a good feeling.

Skyryder

[Sutage]

Aint been riding long, always been compulsory, i never ride without a helmet, even i just go to the dairy.. when i see ppl riding in movies without them, like in Top Gun etc, Quadrophenia etc etc it always looks great fun, but those are just movies

[texmo]

A school kid from up north had no helmet on and when he went to take off he though he would doo a wheelie to be cool he did a flip and smacked his head on the curb....

[Oakie]

I did it once at night on a country road for 3 minutes one night many years ago. Never felt the urge to do it again.
If you're ever tempted to give it a try, can I suggest you first eject a good solid head size pumpkin from a car at 100kph ... or even 70 kph. The results will put you off going lidless. (Yes kiddies, when going out on your bike, always make sure your pumpkin is wearing a helmet)

[Ixion]

I remember riding helmetless. Don't miss it.

[Wolf]

In those days riding with a helmut was considered.............a little prissy. Some did not many.

Or, in my uncle's case, be considered a hoon. The cop that pulled him over (one of those pudding basins with the dinky peak and the leather side flaps, FFS) pretty-much accused him of being some kind of racer-wannabe. I can't recall why he was stopped, but he was doing the legal limit at the time so the disparaging comments were entirely due to the helmet. I guess the cop just didn't believe anyone travelling at legal speeds would need a helmet.

Used to ride without a helmet on the farm and dad took us up the road to school (both me and my brother) on the farm bike a number of times - no helmets, no protective gear, no rego, no warrant (country roads, bugger-all traffic back then, too).

Then again, "back in the day", we'd all pile on the back of the flat bed truck - us kids in the centre surrounded by adults - wearing nothing more than a pair of togs and a towel draped over our shoulders and travel through Waipawa to go for a swim. Cops saw us and couldn't give a damn. If we'd been cavorting about on the back of the truck and running the risk of falling off, I'm sure they'd've been concerned, but so long as we were sensible the cops weren't going to hinder a tribe of kids and adults from going for a swim on a hot summer's day.

[Motu]

I started riding when helmets weren't compolsory...below 30mph that is.I used to love the no helmet - long hair streaming behind...turn to look behind (no mirrors either) and the hair would flick around into your eyes,riding pillion you would get the riders long hair in your eye too.Lot's more noise,cold ears in winter,eyes streaming water back to your ears....very wet in the rain.

I had a white pudding basin when I got my Bantam - Mum said I should wear it,but I was so bloody embarassed I wouldn't be seen dead in it.When I started off road riding I got a helmet because we were falling off so much it seemed a good idea,but I didn't use it on the street.

16 to 20 with no helmet - the years you crash...and I crashed,many times - but the only time my head hit the ground was when I jumped backwards off a moving van and hit my head on the concrete footpath...no injury,not even a headache or bump.

When I rode trials in the 80s we didn't wear a helmet either,I wore the traditional cheese cutter,what a cool dude eh? I only remember seeing one minor head injury in trials,and we started to wear helmets from our own accord,thinking that if we weren't obviously seen competing without helmets they wouldn't make it compulsory....but they did.Still,a trials helmet is less restrictive than any other helmet....not road legal though.

[zadok]

Wouldn't even consider it.

[R6_kid:Me]

i only ride without a helmet when im going up and down my street at 10-20kmh to check changes to fix 'noises' that you cant hear so well with the helmet on, otherwise its a big no no for me - always wear it

[Kickaha]

Got a ticket for it once cost me $50, used to ride a few back roads on the trail bikes without one, but we recently rode part of Ruapuna without helmets and I didn't like it much at all

[texmo]

I saw a picture a while ago but cant rember the web site i saw it on with a dude who was wearing a 1/2 face helmet he came off on the motorway and landed on his chin... not nice

[Motu]

I saw a picture a while ago but cant rember the web site i saw it on with a dude who was wearing a 1/2 face helmet he came off on the motorway and landed on his chin... not nice

Come and have a look at my face sometime - I've crashed with NO helmet,many times...it's not a pretty sight believe me!

[Holy Roller]

Never wore a helmet on the farm or going between paddocks on the open road. Though I did wear a peaked cap to keep the rain out of my eyes and the glare from the sun. Its just what one did then. Though out on trail rides I did don a lid.

[dhunt]

Yip use to ride all the time without helmets, made my eyes water though when you did more than about 80k most of my riding was off road though.

[Odin]

I can't say it's something i do. First I'm a father and owe it to my kids to be a bit responsible and try to stay alive long enough for them to take care of them self. second I don't really want to look like Niki Lauda. Third its illegal
But...
When i sold my fist bike (a savage 650, back in 95) It had been standing still for about 3 months and i was fighting it for a while trying to get the thing started. So when i finally bump started it I was not about to stop it and go find my helmet and all that so of i went for a blast on some nice windy, hilly country roads with little or no traffic. And even though it was a bit drizzly and that i enjoyed the hell out of that ride. I did have a pair of sunnies on to keep bugs from blinding me but other then that i was lid less. I wasn't pushing it or anything, just prattling along and having a Great time.