mpg9999

Your right, and while we are at it, let ban Mcdonalds. Stupid fat people raising my health insurance. Lets also ban any risky sport, becaues those guys are increasing our insurance rates too. wait, riding a motorcycle is kind of risky, isnt it...?

The sarcasm aside, people should be able to decide whether or not they want to wear a helmet. I always wear one, but I shouldnt be forced to. Also, I am not aware of any study showing that non helmeted (or people not wearing there seatbelts for that matter) riders cause any signficant rise in insurance rates. If you know of any im all ears.

-Mike

sprayedcivic

it doesnt really matter how fast you are going or were you are there is always the chance of the drunk driver hitting you or grandma not being able to see you and side swiping you i believe that yes it should be your choice put i also believe that it is stupid i have dropped a bike before at like 10 mph (sand) and if it wasnt for the helmet my head would have been fugged up...

xshanex

I'd be missing part of my jaw and have a scraped up cheek and forehead if I didn't have my helmet on when I wrecked so my feelings about them are pretty obvious. Nothing like knowing your face would be horribly disfigured. I don't get why the no helmet thing gets all the RUBs' panties in such a bunch. Its simple....wear a skull cap illegal helmet like everyone does and it will feel the same


I can take the chance of a horrendous and random accident like a person making a left turn in front of me or being hit by a drunk driver. Dying in a parking lot or side street doing 10mph and falling wrong would be really lame. Kinda like Indian Larry the builder who died at a motorcycle show doing less than 25 mph.

Del La Sol 1320

hmmm you'll have to refer me back to the part where I said lets ban motorcycles... and aren't football and hockey players REQUIRED to wear helmets? thought so

in indiana, a no helmet law state, out of maybe 50 sport bikes i only saw one of them not wearing a helmet, out of just as many cruiser guys i didn't see a single one wearing a helmet, so atleast we are a bit smatter

cbr, being on a cbr 600 or CB doesn't make you any less immune to a deer running in front of you or a grandma running a stop light, i can't see letting the type of bike i'm riding dictate how much safety gear i wear, hell the CB has inferior tires, brakes, and suspension so if anything it would to me seem more dangerous to ride with out a helmet... same goes for the track, there you have nothing but an open field to slide across, on the street you have curbs, telephone poles, cars, guard rails, etc.

CBR600F4

I know what you're saying Del...........but it does make a difference to me.

I ride complety different out in Pungo than I do on the way to work. To and from work I'm doing the speed limit (or close to it), I'm not worried about corner speed, or looking through the turn, or late braking, yadda yadda.

And when I rode my Cb750 it was the same way. I ride easy, take my time. Enjoy the actual ride instead of enjoying "how" I ride.

I've had a deer jump out in front of me on the Cb...........I didn't wreck or hit it. I've had people slam their brakes and so on and so forth. No problems yet. In fact; I have yet to have a wreck in my 12 years of riding.

I was even hit by a car on my VT500 and kept the bike up without wrecking. No one was injured and I was lucky it was a female driver or I would have probably killed her if it was a dude instead.

It's NOT about being lucky. It's about knowing what your bike can do and keeping a level head in hazardous situations. Knowing HOW to react to keep you up and alive.

I'm sure my first wreck will be on the track while I'm trying to push it too damn hard and riding beyond my limits. I haven't done it yet; and I don't plan on doing it. But if I had to guess has to how my first wreck will happen I'd say that will be it.

Wether or not you or anyone else agrees with me on this; you have to at least agree that wearing a helmet or other safety gear should be the riders choice.

If you enforce a helmet law; then a back protector, full leathers, gloves and the like aren't that far behind. Just wait for it.

Remember when Sonny Bono died while skiing 'cause he hit a tree head on? I was just expecting a new helmet law for skiers and snowboarders.

And don't try to say that the laws haven't gotten more extreme in the past few years because they have. When I was a kid I NEVER wore a helmet while riding my 900 pound huffy. NEVER! But now most states/cities have adopted helmet laws for bicyclists.

Never had a seatbelt law either. Now most states enfoce it and can pull you over for that single infraction only.

Some laws are good. Like car seats for infants. But sometimes we go too far while using the word "safety" to cover up for it.



I'll get off of my soap box for now.......................

Del La Sol 1320

and I also agree with what your saying, you can look at it both ways... thats really good you've been riding that long and haven't had a get off

i think some things are carried out too far in the name of safety, like things that limit our privacy, but i just don't believe helmet laws intrude into our lives, i think most people that are against them are doing so just because, if you ask someone why there shouldn't be a law they will answer "because they shouldn't tell me what to do with my own head", ok, why not? "uh because, its my head", the flip side if you ask someone why there should be a helmet law you'll be bombarded with pages of statistics, stories of lost loved ones, real facts, and all of the risks, to me there is no arguement

i've ridden around the block with out a helmet on and screw that, i cannot imagine going above 20mph, too much wind and crap flying in my face

but you said "Wether or not you or anyone else agrees with me on this; you have to at least agree that wearing a helmet or other safety gear should be the riders choice.", that is the very arguement in question and completely disagree

CBR600F4

I've been off of my bike twice.

Once I was doing a stoppie and didn't have my elbows locked. I slid forward and my right thigh took out my right mirror, and my shifter peg broke. Bike landed like it should have; I just slid off of it like a dumbass.

Second one I was doing rolling burnouts in the wet grass. Decided to come back on the pavement while doing said rolling burnout. As soon as my rear tire hit the pavement it froze (scrubs) and the bike stopped and didn't move. I just tipped right over to the left. Scratched my stator cover a little bit.

I just wanted to make sure you guys knew I wasn't trying to sound "hollier than thou" with the never having wrecked thing. I just haven't had an "actual" wreck. Just me being stupid at speeds of less than 5 mph. That's actually what my signature says over on Cycleforums.........................



So you disagree that it should be the riders choice as to wether or not he wears safety gear? On the street?!?!?!?!?!?

C'mon del, you gotta be kiddin'. If not than you should be all for enforcing full leathers, helmet, proper boots and back protectors. Right?

I mean, helmet or not you can still get paralyzed without a back protector. Lose a foot at the ankle without proper boots. Yadda yadda yadda.

So are you wearing all of that gear EVERY time you are on the bike? I doubt it.

CBR600F4

I almost forgot, that stoppie was done without me wearing a helmet or any other safety gear of any kind. I know it was stupid, will I do it again? Probably not. But it was fun.................even though it was caught on video.

Jesus

When I saw people in Fl going 100 mph with sunglasses. I thought that was crazy. I cant ride without a helment but thats just me.

FlipLegend

I've spent many days in Myrtle Beach, SC during bike week and to me, crusing the strip at 10-15MPH max is ok without a helmet. Anything faster than 25MPH, a pebble can do some serious damage.

I think it should be rider's choice but helmets should definitely be enforced on roads that have more than a 35MPH speed limit. .02