Flip Front Helmet
A few months ago I was out and about on my bike when I was passed by a man riding a large Harley-Davidson (that is to say, not a Sportster). I can't say exactly which model it was; they identify them these days with more letters than are found in a Polynesian alphabet, but his helmet caught my attention. It was black, very skimpy, and on it was printed "I am not wearing this helmet through choice". I wouldn't wear a helmet like that through choice either. It looked silly, and gave little if any real protection.
I may be getting soft with advancing age (I'm now an expert at being 33, with a quarter of a century's practice behind me), but I still use a motorcycle as my only transport. To do this in most developed countries, a helmet is as necessary as a licence, and for good reason. So, since I have to wear a helmet, it might as well be a good one. Because I wear glasses, a full face helmet is a little inconvenient since I have to remove my glasses to put it on or to take it off. I have an open face helmet, which I sometimes use in Summer, but not on long rides because the wind gets under it and plays with it, and it's tiring and distracting to keep resisting the pull on the strap. Since I ride a BMW it's appropriate that I wear a flip front helmet, a type pioneered by BMW, although, in my case it's not made by them. The only fault with this particular helmet is the visor attachment method. It was easy to remove the visor for cleaning, but it usually took between thirty minutes and an hour to put it back on, and once it was fitted I couldn't figure out how I'd done it. This was frustrating, because I hate not being able to figure out how another engineer did something. It took me just three minutes to fit the new visor yesterday; I finally figured it out. Worth noting: a buffing wheel will clean up small scuffs and scratches, but if you've carelessly allowed your new helmet to fall visor down on to coarse New Zealand Standard tarseal, you might as well not bother buffing. Scratches that deep are there to stay. My head was inside mine when it met the road.
I bought my present helmet four years ago, to replace a full face helmet which I bought with my Yamaha XS650 (remember them?) in 1981 because it had the novelty of click-stop incremental opening and wouldn't arbitrarily close itself at 60km/h regardless of how tight I had the screws. Regular waxing, careful handling and occasional buffing meant that it still had its original visor, so I don't know what a replacement cost, but my new visor yesterday was $70. Ah well; I wouldn't work for 1980 wages, so I can't expect to pay 1980 prices.
But why is it important to wear a helmet while riding?
I have heard most of the arguments against helmet use. One of these, the argument that being required to wear one is a violation of a fundamental right to free choice, has some merit, but that is a separate issue. Other arguments against helmet use include:
1: A helmet impairs the rider's hearing and is therefore a safety hazard.
2} The weight of a helmet increases the risk of upper spinal injury.
3: A full face or flip front helmet blocks peripheral vision.
4:A visor mists up in bad weather and reduces vision.
5: Wearing a helmet reduces riding pleasure by reducing the sensation of being in the open air.
1: These arguments are less than convincing. The wind rushing past uncovered ears impairs the rider's hearing far more than a helmet will, and the impairment is more likely to be permanent. Besides, you should keep an eye on what is beside and behind you. Use the mirror(s) to see what you might not hear.
2: Modern helmets give much better protection to the neck than older ones, and a slight risk of neck injury has to be balanced against a high risk of death or severe disability through head injury without a helmet.
3: This used to be true of some helmets, such as the Bell Star. It is not a problem with modern helmets. Try swivelling your head; your neck is designed to allow this.
4: Rainwater streaming into the rider's eyes also impairs vision, as does misting of goggles or safety glasses (I hope you don't ride without some sort of eye protection). Most helmets are ventilated, and in my experience misting is not a serious problem.
5: I've heard the same said about condoms. I can't say I've ever noticed that alleged loss of sensation reducing my enjoyment of a good rogering. My enjoyment of the ride is probably enhanced by the lack of sensation of impacts with insects, the occasional bird (I once got a black-backed gull full on my visor at high speed), and small stomes or abrasive dust. Oh, and don't forget about high-speed raindrops, hailstones and even snow.
Like most regular motorcyclists (I ride about 17000km in a typical year) I have - not often - fallen off my bike or even been knocked off it. In most such cases, my helmet has acquired some marks of contact. Not enough to necessitate replacement, although the scoring on the chinguard of my flip front helmet from my involuntary dismounting last month came close. And those marks, with the ones which caused me to replace the visor, had me reflecting on the effect which not wearing it would have had on my good looks, clear speech and my even white teeth. I wasn't even going fast when I found that the resurfacing contractor hadn't cleared away the surplus gravel from that bend.
