Motorcyle Helmets

Oh boy........you just opened a can and don't realise it. Most on here are hardcore full faced helmet folk and not without good reason. However myself I wear both depending the ride and weather.

As far as what is out there.....Personally I will never buy another Bell helmet. I am looking into outlaw brand half helmets. Make sure what you get is definately DOT certified at minimum. Best thing to do is go to a shop and try some on to see what fits your head shape. Also be careful about local laws concerning the quick release features. Some states have banned them.

I much per full face or atleast a modular.
In an accident half helmets provide no protection for road rash on the face and chin, and no impact protection to those areas. Statistics show that head impacts in a accident happen more often to those locations.
In addition full face helmets provide protection to your face for insects and rocks kicked up by vehicles at high speeds. These can cause minor injuries but more importantly getting hit in the face at high speed can lead to an accident.

Craig

bro you should check out www.sportbiketrackgear.com they have scorpion helmets for under $100. which is the best helmet ur gonna find that cheap.

It's all about risk management. If you are willing to hit the pavement in a half-helmet in order to get the wind on your face, and you've really thought through what it would be like to die or live life with a horribly disfigured face, then get a half-helmet. If you'd like to avoid said consequences and are willing to put up with a few stuffy moments, get a full-face helmet. There is no debate about which is safer. None. A full-face helmet protects the most likely impact zones. A half-helmet does not. Notice that visor+chin+base-of-skull account for more than 60% of all helmet impacts:

It's just a question of balancing your desire for physical comfort and risk, and that's entirely up to you.

ROFL.... see ...told ya..... a whole new can!

It is all as anything else is, a personal choice on what you wear as "safety" equipment just as long as you understand the risk. This helmet this and that business will go on for as long as there are motorcycles on the road, and as long as there are folks that feel the need to tell others what they think is best for ya. Only thing that can get aggravating is that the actual question rarely gets answered.

For a total beginner straight out the gate I do echo the concern and highly recommend a full face helmet. Most falls and spills will be at lower speeds and as Jack said.... a broken jaw aint no fun, and there is nothing "badd ass" about telling your friends that you did it at 3 mph and forgot to use the back brake. ( see I to am another person that...well I don't feel the need to)

Later down the road you decide more open air is to your liking. As with the FF helmets. Go find a shop and test them out. They do make them to different head shapes and depths.

I have a front "faring" on my 9 and rocks and such really are no matter to me, and....well I still exaggerate the following distances behind the vehicle in front of me so cigarettes are not a threat either. I did take a plastic bag to the leg once though... led to an interesting dilemma..... grab it off your leg at 80 mph ...now what.... do you let it go and become a 2nd hand litterer, or keep hold of it looking like your trying to contribute to the capture of all things air born? As far as air flow goes. If you have no windshield or faring of any type yea.... the speeds above 55 will create havoc on your helmet/head.

The helmets I have are...
~~HJC Full Face...forget the model number as it has been re painted to my liking. Love this helmet and is always on my bike, wether on my head or not.
~~A Bell Drifter half helmet, although more comfortable of my 2 half helmets I get uneasy about the quality. The helmet was supposed to be flat black textured but after a day in the sun the over coating began to melt and that's when it showed that Bell being the cheap asses that they are just sprayed the coating over their standard glossy black helmet of the same design.
~~A Fulmer half helmet....this thing is ok, the straps have a lot of "cushion" on them and the fit is decent for my head, but most of the time I feel like I am wearing a bicycle helmet from when I was a lil kid. So sometime for the nostalgia I will wear it.
~~HJC 3/4 helmet...never get worn. The thing is over sized and for my aesthetic taste belongs on the head of the folks riding the Beemers. Or if your behind the big shield holding a baton.

I am still searching though for both half and 3/4 styles that I like.

Shamrock...... I know your town, been there many a time and the train near the paper mill down Madison highway has got to be the most annoying train section I have seen.

I cannot comment on the relative merits of the half helmet models as I'm another FF only guy but I do ride with people who wear half helmets. One thing to consider is that apparently riding in rain above 40mph gets painful. So much so that these guys frequently carry a FF with them in case of bad weather. That just sounds like way too much hassle to me.

I would add to the concerns of riding in a half helmet without a decent size windshield in front of you. Just this weekend I had a bird strike at 60mph about the level of my chin but thankfully it hit my windshield. Even with a FF if that had hit my head it would have been bad but in a half helmet I have no doubt I would have gone down.

Just something to consider.