Gear

[KroSha]

Open face helmets do have one advantage; visibility. Your peripheral vision is much better than with a full-face. I have a flip-front helmet. I tend to ride front up around town and drop the chin when I'm going that bit faster (40mph+) or rain / dust / grit is around. I've got a conversion kit for taking the chin off completely, but it's just too damn convienient to have the option there. The extra view has saved me a couple of times, some of those taxi drivers are too mad for comfort.

I advise new riders to get as good a helmet as they can afford. The ones in the UK tend to fall in the £25-40, £90-150 or £250+ ranges. I just remind them that it's their head going in there. Surgeons can fix most things, but...

The whole leather / textile thing is pretty much down to personal preference. Leather's better for wind, textile's better for water (IMHO). Take your pick. I'm 100% behind the armour tho. My leather jacket has so much it pulled the hook off the wall

[Sev]

I've never had a problem with peripheral vision on any helmet I've worn. This is purely subjective, but I don't see anything to the left or the right, through there is a little helmet above and below to frame the view. Nothing that affects my ability to ride in any way.

Perhaps you just haven't found the right helmet? Or you have better pereiphal vision then I do.

[jmillheiser]

no peripheral vision from a full face, sorry have to disagree with you.

I wear a full face and have ZERO problems with peripheral vision, I can even wear my glasses under my helmet with no problems.

I have never had a problem seeing what i need to see wth my full face on.

if a full face is interfereing with your vision than most likely it doesn't fit you correctly

[J.R. Bob Dobbs]

I agree that peripheral vision is better with a 3/4 than with a full face. Very noticeably so. Try on both, and measure it for yourself. Don't just say it isn't unless you try both in a controlled experiment, like I have

Though I almost always use my flip-up full face, for better protection and overall comfort due to better wind/debris shielding.

[Mintbread]

I wear a full face on my bike and an open face at work. I can see just as well wearing both helmets.
Sunglasses can also restrict peripheral vision and has anyone driven a car? Those B pillars restrict things a little to say the least.
It is splitting hairs to say a full face impedes your vision more that an open face. Just turn your head!

[VermilionX]

He calls it a ninjette because he thinks he is so much cooler with his gixxer 1000, and that the ninja 250 doesn't have a lot of power compared to other bikes, so it is "girly". You base everything totally on looks, which is something you should re-evaluate.

nope, i just thought of it as the little kid brother of the ninja. i never saw it as girly.

like i said, i just heard it from somebody, i didn't come up w/ it.

some people love jumping to conclusions around here.

[Cammie]

it would be impossible for verm to avoid cameras, he's in LA..... the culture and breeding out there makes it so that when someone sees a camera they change and try to be cool. Plus, well, there are probably clicking cameras every 3.5 inches in that area, so, well, he cant avoid them anyways, might as well go along with it.

It would be wrong of me to assume that your misinformed and stereotypical comments regarding the people of LA are the result of the "culture and breeding" in your particular area of the country.

[Cammie]

He calls it a ninjette because he thinks he is so much cooler with his gixxer 1000, and that the ninja 250 doesn't have a lot of power compared to other bikes, so it is "girly". You base everything totally on looks, which is something you should re-evaluate.

I used to own a Ninja 250. It is frequently and affectionately referred to as a Ninjette by both its former and present riders. Many of us who have moved on to other bikes now wish we had kept our Ninjettes. We now know and understand that the Ninjette is one of the few bikes that we could have someday learned to ride to its full potential.

[kabob983]

A good full face helmet should not cut down on your perephrial vision at all...and I just so happen to have a copy of David Hough's "Proficient Motorcycling" sitting next to me. Check out the Risk! section. He's got a breakdown of impact locations and how likely you are to hit certain parts of your helmet on the ground in a crash...the chinbars areas are about twice as likely to hit than any other part of the helmet.

Aah, here we are!



Based on that...I'd sorta like to have a chin bar as I am rather fond of my chin...

And personally I'm not a big fan of the Snell M2000 testing (I'm along side the "too hard helmet" brigade, check Motor Cyclist magazine's helmet test article.). I think they force manufacturers to make helmets too hard which can end up hurting you in a wreck of some sort. But I have great faith in Arai!

No matter what lid you decide on though,I highly reccomend getting full face and make sure you get one you won't mind wearing for long rides. Not gonna do you much good if you're so focused on how unfomfortable your helmet is while you're riding that you forget to...ride!