Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

I've had an Arai full face for a number of years, although it's been languishing since I've had no sports bike for it. Great helmet, good recommendation.

...............Best bet is buying a mates bike when he's already told you what's wrong with it before he knew he was going to sell it to you!

i love that. good advice :-)

speaking of bmw helmets. schuberth make an open face helmet with a chin bar that is not too bobbly. model name is j1 , the chin bar is removable.

i love that. good advice :-)

haha very true.

bought a nice helmet today.

what did you get?

Open face no no no never. Seen what a stone thrown up from the back wheels of a lorry can do to your front teeth? Guy in my old scooter club found out the hard way. Fuck that

Open face no no no never. Seen what a stone thrown up from the back wheels of a lorry can do to your front teeth? Guy in my old scooter club found out the hard way. Fuck that

Whenever I wear my openface helmet I get "hope I tightened those wheel nuts properly" pr " what would a blowout on a motorbike be like?" popping into my head when leaning over into corners.

Did 105mph in an open face the other night too, terrifying!

agreed open face on the motorway doesn't appeal but around town its okay i think. we dont wear full face helmets on our bicycles and we go down hill at a similar speed to what we legally can on our motorcycles.
just a thought, just a thought.

I've a Caberg breeze that I love, amazed it even passed EU regs! Matt black goodness.

agreed open face on the motorway doesn't appeal but around town its okay i think. we dont wear full face helmets on our bicycles and we go down hill at a similar speed to what we legally can on our motorcycles.
just a thought, just a thought.

This. Around town the added peripheral vision is more beneficial to your primary safety than the chinbar is to your secondary safety.

That's why my full face is a flip front.

I like my flip front helmet. Best of both worlds - though I still look like a tool in it. Ach well... The price of safety.

I've been commuting to pinewood every day this week - the little CLR is good up to about 45mph. Then I can limp it up to around 65 tops... Need to get the test done and onto a bigger bike ASAP.

Still finishing each ride with the sense of accomplishment... "Yes! That's another one I've survived!"

I've been rocking open face lids since I stopped riding long distances on fast bikes in all weathers with no fairing. Still prefer full face for motorways etc but the Arai visor on the open face gives protection to below chin level.

Also toured on 2 continents with an open face lid but behind a massive fairing.

To say never wear open face is a bit simplistic but my primary helmet would be full face and the rest open face. I've got a roof boxer with the swivel chin bar but rarely used the chin bar so ended up with the straight open face version too. It really depends on how you ride your bike.

If it's your first and only helmet full face would be a better investment.

Whenever I wear my openface helmet I get "hope I tightened those wheel nuts properly" pr " what would a blowout on a motorbike be like?" popping into my head when leaning over into corners.

Did 105mph in an open face the other night too, terrifying!

I've ridden miles on loose wheel nuts and had several deflations at illegal speeds. If you loose the bike in a corner or while leaning, you and the bike depart company and hopefully don't reunite until after you've stopped. If you are loosing the bike on a corner you better hope you don't stand it up and go over the top, that's when you will wish you had an abs suit on.

In my experience you should avoid any riding that terrifies you :) When you are sure about the bikes mechanical fitness and the gear you're wearing you can take measured risks with enough confidence to stay safe.

Most bikers accident stories start with "I was doing x miles per hour" where x is 2x the legal speed limit.

Other features of the story are usually :-

Wet drain cover/diesel/pothole/object in road/gravel
Car door opened/car pulled out
Pedestrian/Animal

So make sure you tighten your wheel nuts and worry about the things that help you survive the unexpected.

Having said all that, my first accident I went over the bars when I ran off the road. I was 3 times over the legal limit (alcohol not speed) and my nose still bears the scar (open face helmet). What I didn't notice for 30 years was the damage to the vertebrae in my neck which now stops me from turning my head side to side as it's calcified and scrapes the nerve. If you are unlucky enough to have an impact which involves your head, make sure you get some X-rays afterwards, mine could have been sorted at the time but now I have to live with it.

flip front helmets are great. i had a boxer helmet which i sold because i found it too noisy but it might just have been down to it being old. testimonies i have heard from boxer lovers is that because the chin bar can be rolled right back over the head it makes for a much more comfortable 'best of both worlds helmet' because you no longer have the weight at the top of your head the way you do with conventional flip helmets.

also they look better when they are flipped all the way over than when they are down in their full-face guise.

... had several deflations at illegal speeds.

Done that one. I've always wondered if it was going so fast that saved me as the tyre was being flung away from the wheel into an inflated shape becuase of cuntrifugal force.

In my experience you should avoid any riding that terrifies you :)

Dunno, al;ways good to do things that scare you.

Thrill yes, if I'm shaking after a ride I don't mind. If a rider takes that level of risk too often though, they will run out of luck. Always ride within the limits of your setup and the conditions, that way when the shit hits the fan you have a good story to tell!

flip front helmets are great. i had a boxer helmet which i sold because i found it too noisy but it might just have been down to it being old. testimonies i have heard from boxer lovers is that because the chin bar can be rolled right back over the head it makes for a much more comfortable 'best of both worlds helmet' because you no longer have the weight at the top of your head the way you do with conventional flip helmets.

also they look better when they are flipped all the way over than when they are down in their full-face guise.

That is exactly my take on the Boxers, I tried the C3 pro but didn't like the close fitting of the chin bar against the chin and the weight up top seems unnatural. Totally agree about the Boxers being noisy, I can hear every mechanical noise on the bike wearing mine.

The Arai jet has been my best compromise for a while now, I stopped looking for alternatives for a few years. The model I have is the SZ/f, available new for just over £200 which is good value.

i'd be interested to know what the newer lighter and quieter helmets are like in practice.

The CT-z or x-tend? I'm not finding the weights listed anywhere expect some mention of the CT-z at 1500g, that's 250g heavier than the SZ/f (at least the figure on the back says 1250, I've never weighed it!). The ram system and peak must weigh something though.

Cleared my first big tabletop today! Proper air....

And soft, sandy berms. If it's possible to have much more fun on two wheels, I dunno how.

Pandoras box has gone under the bus.

I've got a Nolan N44, for a full face pepipheral vision is excellent - it can also be an open face and all sorts of hybrids - the only thing it doesn't do is flip front

It's pretty noisy though

The N44 looks good, ear plugs would sort out the noise for longer rides I guess. Be interested to see how the interior stands up to use. Arai is the only type I've owned where the interior doesn't get loose.

I did start to wear ear plugs on the commute now I generally don't bother

My Davida is the quietest helmet I own (also the dearest) and I have to say, I don't like that part of wearing it one bit. Feels like cycling with music in or something.

I got the Scuberth C3 pro, amazingly quiet. I wear moulded ear phones and listen to music, and have the GPS on sometimes too. I can't hear anything going on outside, but it doesn't bother me, I find the wind noise on a long ride really debilitating. I would much rather have some entertainment!

I've worn Shoei helmets for more than 15yrs. Think the current one is an X-Spirit which is a little louder than the previous iteration but with much better vents. All helmets are noisy at 70 plus (I like foam ear plugs for long journeys.) Arai are great quality too but seem better for those with rounder heads than breadbaskets....