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And I don't feel particulary sorry for anyone who wrecks on their bike when they have a perfectly safe cage parked in the driveway. Or for skydivers who die after jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. Or for rock climbers who fall to their death after leaving safer ground. Or for scuba divers that die after submerging themselves in water where they cannot breathe. Or for race car drivers that die after pushing their cars to the limit trying to achieve glory.

Apparently you can hop aboard an inherently unsafe two-wheeled vehicle and yet remain beyond reproach. But if someone else takes that activity just one step farther, they're an idiot. We're all thrillseekers by virtue of the fact that we ride. Why people here continue to insist on creating a rift in the motorcycling community with gear bashing is beyond me. I'm not defending the helmetless rider's comment, he's just as bad. I'm just always surprised to see how intolerant this group of self-proclaimed "open-minded" people can be at times.

A well stated point to which I very much agree. I'm a regular rough sports guy (skiing, MTB, lacrosse, etc), all of which have an option for additional safety gear...and all of which I CHOOSE to wear. No matter what sport you participate in, you'll always have this safety equipment debate. The fact of the matter is...unless there's a law, it's a personal choice. I don't feel it's necessary to criticize other people's choices unless it directly effects me of those close to me...which this guy didn't. On the other hand...if someone is an idiot and mocks a person for wearing a helmet, jacket, boots, gloves, armor, jock strap, mouth guard, etc...without provocation...then we can make fun of him; not because he's not using it, but because he feels it necessary to point out a level of "coolness" which only makes himself look dumb.

I apologize if I implied that guy was an idiot for not wearing a helmet in my story...my intention was to make fun of him for commenting on my choices; it was his comments I was after. His life...his choices.

VermilionX wrote:but that kid who insulted cylax is just aking for it.

agreed

There's nothing wrong with having an opinion on the matter, but to be openly critical of another rider just for a different preference doesn't seem right. We could all lock ourselves at home and avoid any unsafe behavior, but all of us accept and embrace different levels of risk.

That being said, I beleive at a certain point you cross the line between accepting risk and being stupid...

Andrew78108 wrote:
That being said, I beleive at a certain point you cross the line between accepting risk and being stupid...

Yeah like when you go the wrong way on a one way street...or run lights....or ride wheelies in traffic on the interstate....or touch someone elses bike....

choosing to not rap my head in plastic isn't stupid....sure it would be safer to do so...but it ruins the experience for me...worst part of my trip to tenn was miles with a hat....

that said do they make a faceshield without the helmet...bugs suck

ZooTech wrote:

roscowgo wrote:I don't feel sorry for someone that cracks their head open on a low speed fall because they don't like helmets.

And I don't feel particulary sorry for anyone who wrecks on their bike when they have a perfectly safe cage parked in the driveway. Or for skydivers who die after jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. Or for rock climbers who fall to their death after leaving safer ground. Or for scuba divers that die after submerging themselves in water where they cannot breathe. Or for race car drivers that die after pushing their cars to the limit trying to achieve glory.

Apparently you can hop aboard an inherently unsafe two-wheeled vehicle and yet remain beyond reproach. But if someone else takes that activity just one step farther, they're an idiot. We're all thrillseekers by virtue of the fact that we ride. Why people here continue to insist on creating a rift in the motorcycling community with gear bashing is beyond me. I'm not defending the helmetless rider's comment, he's just as bad. I'm just always surprised to see how intolerant this group of self-proclaimed "open-minded" people can be at times.

Thats not what i meant.... I agree, get your rocks off however ya like, be that diving from planes trains and automobiles...good for you and let me know how it went. Scuba diving....sweet, bring back some pics, no helment, awesome thats gotta be an interesting sensation.

What i'm saying is, that it takes a very small bump on the noggin to really really really screw you up. I don't mean a 6' hole and some dark clothes. I mean a chair that you operate by blowing into a little tube. That a helment would be the First piece of gear i would put on, and not the last. If someone else has another preference... good for them. As long as i'm not footing the bill, have at it.

But yes. If i see someone on the road with no candy shell.... i think... goofy. If that makes me intolerant, and not open minded, then yes i am.

roscowgo wrote:me? spoiled college kid?


cool. somebody thinks im smrt! erm you did mean me didn't you?

Dag nabitt. now im confused. /sigh.

No, the kid riding around with a backwards hat calling them 'gay'

D'oh. So still nobody thinks im smrt enough for higher learning. /sigh


woe, Woe is me!

Sorry, they fed me coffee at the office today. Me on caffiene is like taking a paranoid schizophrenic to see the exorcist.

KingRobb wrote: that said do they make a faceshield without the helmet...bugs suck

I subscribe to Rider magazine and was always irked by Lawrence Grodsky's "Stayin' Safe" articles. It wasn't the fact that he promoted safe riding or wearing gear, but because the guy seemed to suck the fun right out of motorcycling with his constant droning about people he saw who didn't meet his gear standards or how stupid his students were because they couldn't attack every single corner at maximum speed while maintaining a perfect [imaginary] line in his head while doing so. He apparently spent so much time counting various things and observing how much better he was than everyone else that he didn't seem to have any left to just enjoy the ride.

Well, recently, while out on his bike and no-doubt clad in the finest gear available, he hit a deer and died of his injuries.

Moral? Gear or no gear, when it's your time to go it's your time to go. The choice we need to be focused on here is that he chose to engage in a risky activity in an attempt to reap the rewards all of us here enjoy. If the "Top American Expert on Motorcycle Safety" can be taken out by a deer while wearing premium safety equipment, then any of us could go for any reason. That's what "the wave" is all about, and that's why people should get off eachother's case about what they wear. The comment that was made about a helmet being "g*y" was just as inappropriate as calling someone a squid for not wearing, not to mention the fact that the vast majority of Ohio riders must be squids since hardly anyone here wears one. The choices I make about my personal safety will not affect anyone but myself. Those are the choices that need to be left alone. Now, behavior that stands to do harm to a bystander is fair game.

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*edit* - spelling

Well said, man.