What's up with no safety gear in the southeast US?

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Buelligan · Thu Jun 30, 2005 5:26 am

You might be right, I just read an article that said you should ensure you Full-face has very good padding in the chin area which will absorb energy on impact as other wise a blow there can cause a broken neck.
This article also questioned the Snell helmets, seems to be some question as to them being too rigid and not absorbing enough energy on impact. Don't know if anyone else saw the article, I think it might have been one of the Canadian Magazines.

#22 Unread post by **cb360** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:57 am

I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to the safety stuff. Although I ride in jeans on short rides in town, that's my only conceit to comfort. I always have my thick leather jacket, leather gloves, boots, and full-face helmet. I saw somewhere that graphic showing 40% of impacts happen in the chin area and it stuck with me. It does get hot sometimes, but I'm not riding without a full-face helmet. A lot of people swear by the Snell rating - I figure either snell or DOT (for the US - not sure of the Canadian equivalent) is fine. Someone posted an excellent article recently in another thread where the DOT helmets - even the cheap $85 ones - performed excellently in extensive safety testing. Just as good as the $500 helmets and in some cases better. I figure once you get over $100 you are paying a bit extra for colors, fancy paint, name brands and maybe some better visors/ventilation.

AmericanWeiner · Thu Jun 30, 2005 7:55 am

t_bonee wrote:
Was loss of member due to lack of gear? Or was it one of the no matter what gear you have on something bad is going to happen situaiton a la running into a semi head on.

I just can't imagine a pair of leather pants saving someone from that type of injury. Anyway, I am going to start riding with a cup from now on.

Probably not.

I think the gas tank tore it all off when he hit something.

macktruckturner · Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:18 am

I've always lived in the heat, I've always worked in the heat, and I've always raced in the heat (78 'Vette, 500hp, no insulation, open side pipes, nomex == hot). Considering it was 131F/55C the other day, and I was outside in full battle rattle for most of it, I'm pretty sure I can live with the riding gear to at least keep my bones in one bag should I eat it hard. It'd be more comfortable to run around Iraq w/o my plates - but they stop bullets a lot better than air. Kinda like leather/good textile protects better than cotton.

Anthony

mysta2 · #25 Unread post by **mysta2** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 10:57 am

Here in Tejas, you see maybe half of riders wearing helmets (I think that's stretching it though) and only the superbikers wear jackets.

I'm usually in boots, jeans, T shirt, gloves, and a full face, and I feel noticably overdressed (not that that will stop me, I can't wait to get a good mesh jacket)

oldnslo · #26 Unread post by **oldnslo** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:28 pm

Obviously those helmetless, gearless people you see know what their brains and bodies are worth.

c-los · #27 Unread post by **c-los** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 8:26 pm

I recently took a cross-country trip from NYC to LA (14, or so, states) and I saw probably a couple hundred bikers and out of all those, maybe less than 10 of them had full face helmets, less than half had jackets, most were in long or short sleeved shirts with jeans. I remebered thinking how BAD a fall at any speed would be for those people. Its a national thing, i guess.

Pogu · #28 Unread post by **Pogu** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 6:24 pm

cb360 wrote:I figure once you get over $100 you are paying a bit extra for colors, fancy paint, name brands and maybe some better visors/ventilation.

When I bought my Shoei Rf1000, I tried on all the helmets they had starting with HJC (their cheapest Full face). I chose the shoei because it fit my head perfedtly. At the time I had budjeted myself $500 for whatever helmet fit me best, at $350 the Shoei fit there to.

Oh, I live in Florida and wear Helmet, jacket (Alpinestars air-flow), jeans, and boots (normaly I need to have their soles fixed). All the time, no matter what. I often see people on "streetfighters" aka wrecked bikes around here wearing shorts and flip-flops, maybe sunglasses, no shirt.

#29 Unread post by **cb360** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 7:17 pm

Pogu wrote:
cb360 wrote:I figure once you get over $100 you are paying a bit extra for colors, fancy paint, name brands and maybe some better visors/ventilation.
I chose the shoei because it fit my head perfedtly.

They do make nice helmets. Maybe one day I'll get one in the budget. And I'm glad someone in Florida dresses safely

poppygene · Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:17 am

I've mentioned this before, but my home is 2.2 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway. You can no doubt imagine that I get to see a pretty good cross-section of the riding public that cruises by. Most folks that make this pilgrimage are well-geared... full-face, boots, gloves, etc.
One evening this week as I was coming home from work I noticed three touring rigs traveling together - a GoldWing 1500, a Concours... I don't remember what the third was. These guys really had me shaking my head because the following was the full extent of their safety gear: each wore a black, unlined novelty helmet. That's it. No boots, gloves, jacket.
What struck me as odd was the fact that folks who ride the dedicated tourers are ATGATT people as a rule.
I'm gonna go ahead and say it... these guys looked stupid as #@$%. I had to

. I didn't see their plates, but I guessed that they must be from a state that doesn't mandate helmet use. I suppose they bought those little beanies at the Dollar Store specifically for their "big ride."

BTW, NC is a helmet state, and those little salad bowls from McDonalds tied on with a shoelace aren't considered as legal helmets here. If you get stopped, you gotta have at least a DOT to avoid a ticket.