Are open face helmets stupid?

[Brewbacca]

Full face or loose face hmm tough call, I dont even like rolling around my block with out a lid. And I used yo ride a scooter around SF with a cheap bicycle helmet oh yeaah . GET A FOG CITY fog shield thingy, it will also take you a bit to get used to the full face deal, but you'll get learndid

 

[Brewbacca]

At the ripe age of 6 I had my first two wheel crash on a 10-speed. Face-first and a few plastic surgeries later I still have a crooked smile as I tore off the left side of my face. I can only imagine what would happen at 60MPH...

It's your head and statistically your chin will take the impact.

reeeeallly, no wonder you always have that evil smile

 

[tzrider]

I did not know that helmets also had an IQ rating...going to garage to see what mine says...

A helmet's IQ depends on whose head is in it.

To the OP, I prefer a closed helmet, but an open face is certainly better than none. Within the requirement that we wear DOT helmets, we each get to choose the combination of protection and comfort that suits us.

 

[Gixxergirl1000]

And he has more options than just the fullface he got. Fullface helmets vary widely in their fit and fogproofness and visibility. The fogging issue has been beaten to death in threads that are only exceeded in frequency by Harley threads. The visibility and fit-with-jacket issues can be addressed by trying on a multitude of helmets in the store (and if it's CG, you can take it back for another one if it doesn't work in the real world even after your 20-minute try-on session - you did that, right?).

I don't like flipfaces; just one more potential failure point.

+1 on everything you said.

Additionally, having had a simple lowside at the track earlier this year, the only marks on my helmet were on the chinbar on the right side from sliding across the track. Had that same sort of crash occurred on the street in a half or 3/4 helmet, I would have had to have plastic surgery to fix it, and probably would have broken my jaw.
Personally, I like being able to chew my food, and I like my face just the way it is.
Why risk it?
And for anyone contemplating those POS modular helmets- take a real good look at the pivot points on them... weak... the plastic is so thin, it's not going to offer much in the way of protection...

 

[louemc]

Helmet threads get too crazy.

This one starts...Open face vs full face, and goes into field of vision, fogging, feeling close to the enviroment. Even a dirt bike visor catching wind (or air at highway speeds).

What a crock...visor catch wind? Well, just because the visor was a design that had trail riders, and even MX racers, in mind...doesn't mean You have to buy that dirt helmet.

The desert racers doing 100 MPH have visors that have huge holes at the back of the visor, for air to exit through, and a savvy street rider, can look at the helmet before buying, and think...I can make those holes way bigger, plastic cuts real easy.

The real issue is..what does the rider think of protection. There are street riders that think a Do-Rag is all they need.
There are riders that don't think very well.

You want full face, because you want as much protection as you can get...and you know that when you hit the pavement (or what ever is getting hit) you aren't deciding what gets impacted...Then you have two or three choices.

MX helmet.
Dual Sport (in between and a little of both).
Road, with face shield.

If someone can't buy several helmets, to have the best choice for the day they are riding...it's because they have different priorities, than riding protection...that's a choice they make.

Maybe that choice will bite them in the face, maybe not..Who Know's?

 

[GAJ]

Posted 3 weeks ago on the BMWF800 forum:

"One of my riding club members got clipped by a goddam taxi that just took over his lane without looking, and he was pushed out of his lane into the curb, where he went sailing onto the sidewalk (city street). He would be just fine (his bike is a write-off), except that he was wearing NOTHING except a stupid half-helmet.

Why are these so-called "helmets" legal, or considered "protection"? I'd say it's even worse than no helmet, since the rider thinks they have some protection, or are in compliance with a helmet law?

My friend's face hit a tree, and basically, every part of his face got crushed into the shape of the helmet. I can't even look at him for more than a second, and I've got a very strong stomach for these things and as a premed/human physiology major have dissected everything under the sun including cadavers.

They say they think they'll be able to start reconstructing the bones under his face after at least a month to allow the swelling to go down. With no jaw to speak of, he isn't talking, but his eyes are intact.

it was a choice he made - I never, ever wear anything but a full-face track-ready helmet. But it's just not protective, unless you can make sure only the back of your head hits anything in a crash??"

http://f800riders.org/forum/showthr...-king-protection!?highlight=open+faced+helmet

 

[Entoptic]

Speaking from experience here! I crashed at 70 miles an hour and after sliding 120 feet i took my helemt and look at it.

The chin bar area hit first and hit so hard it popped out a tennis ball paint chip and dented the helmet! There was massive scratches along it as well but the popped out paint just said "you are fucking lucky you had a full face and by the look on your friend with a brain bucket, he is going to buy a full face."

Needless to say my friend is now wearing a full face helmet.

 

[V4]

My dad was riding dirtbikes in the 70's, and tells a story about a dude in a open face helmet who lowsided and went face first into a tree on the way down. He broke his jaw ... OFF. One of his cheeks was ripped and his chin and lower jaw were dangling from the other cheek. The next day dad went out and bought one of the new fancy fully face Bell Stars.

seen that happen about 10 years ago to a woman who was passing up traffic on opposing lane only to go head on with an old Ford van coming over a hill...

i had to hold her head until the EMT came so she wouldn't drown in her own blood....

 

[EjGlows]

You could ride a 10-speed bike with 26" wheels at age 6?

If true, you crashed because the bike was too big for you. Were you wearing any sort of head protection?

Old school step-through. No helmet and it wouldn't have helped anyway. I didn't sit on the seat and "lost the front end" on gravel. Slid face first uphill with enough force to tear full holes through my cheek exposing my teeth. The goal was to ride downhill fast enough to get up our driveway without pedaling. I've always thrown a bit of caution to the wind - it's inherent. I now do dangerous things as safely as possible.

reeeeallly, no wonder you always have that evil smile

Don't you know it! arty

 

[Roadstergal]

Slid uphill with enough force to tear full holes through my cheek exposing my teeth.

I didn't get it quite that badly, but I was older and should have known better... while screwing around in college, I got thrown off the bicycle and knocked the tops of two canines off. I also got a long scar on the underside of my chin. I now use a fullface bicycle helmet - I'm not pretty enough that I can afford to lose any more looks. arty

 

[Aluisious]

Half helmet is better than no helmet for sure. Now for the other issues...a half helmet doesn't do shit for you if you fall on your chin, which is a large percent of falls. I'd prefer to grind a helmet into the ground instead of my mouth and jaw.

As for feeling confined...get over it I noticed the other day while riding with an exceptionally clean shield that it was almost like riding with nothing at all. I really could not tell, visually, that I had anything in front of me. Then a bug died on it, which beats having a bug die on my face, unless you like feeling really immersed in the world around you.

Limited vision...nnnnot really. What full face helmet are you wearing? The sides and top of the view port are probably roughly where they would be on your open face helmet. So you can't stare at your navel while riding...that's not a real problem.

Fog...they have inserts for that. Goggles and glasses can fog too. If you don't use the visor the full face helmet will not fog

Helmet to jacket interference...as long as your jacket doesn't have ceramic plates that's not a real problem either. Just move your head anyway. I bet your jacket and gloves resist some range of movement of your body already, you just learned to ignore it.

There, I'm done dismissing all your concerns You probably knew all that already.


PS I'm sure someone already posted the old phrase: "Open face, closed casket."

 

[AOW]

Pinlock visor & insert FTMFW over fog

 

[Marcoose]

My open face helmets are extremely stupid. They lose their keys, forget the lights on, can't manage money, etc. Just for starters. My full face helmets, on the other hand, all have PhDs, married, great kids, do well, etc. Night and day.

OK, that aside, the number of objects that hit the shield is sufficient to talk me into letting the shield do its work, versus my face.

 

[Aluisious]

Besides the convenience of running into stores without removing your helmet, under 40mph the wind doesn't bother me as much, and while it is an increased risk, I think I will be ok without the full face.

I wear my full face helmet in stores all the time, it's not a problem. It's actually kind of funny if some loser gets wigged out, especially because they can't see me grinning at their stupid expression.

 

[westie]

As a kid racing bmx, I saw another kid endo off a jump and jam a jofa rock guard so far up his nose that they carted his bloody, unconscious body away in the meat-wagon. Very sobering for a 12 yr. old to see. I too immediately threw away my open face with jofa and picked up a bell moto3. Circa 1981.

 

[Carlo]

Since I started riding again in March of 2008 I've been using a Scorpion EXO-200 open face (3/4) helmet (see avatar). This month I got a Suomy full face.

Big difference! The full face feels more confining, has less field of view, fogging in cold weather is suddenly an issue, and I can't easily swivel my head as much as before (top of jacket meets bottom of helmet).

The feeling of openness, being closer to the world around me, is a huge part of why I like motorcycling. The new helmet seems to take some of that away. Certainly I don't like the thought of having my lower jaw ground off in an accident, but OTOH these other drawbacks (fog, vision, etc.) add their own risk.

Discuss.

I always insisted that I'd never wear a full face helmet.
That was before I bought a bike with a full fairing. The windscreen on the fairing concentrated the wind blast right in my face. I just couldn't get used to it, so I bought a flip-up full face helmet.
Now, I prefer a full face for most riding. I found it to be a bit confining at first, but I got used to it.
My most recent helmet is a Scorpion which allows the chinbar to flip clear over to the back, where it blends aerodynamically with the helmet to convert it to an open face. For the rare times when I'd rather have an open face helmet, it's perfect.

Oh, and a look at the collections of bashed chinbars that some dealers keep on hand to show their open face using customers can be sobering. Imagine that was your face instead of the chinbar!

 

[Cabrito]

It's a personal choice.

I'd imagine that if you are used to your open face helmet that it would take a while to get used to a full face, but you will get used to it. Just give it time.

You learn to deal with the feeling of reduced vision. You learn to crack the shield at stops to keep it from fogging or get one of the many products to reduce the fogging.


I personally prefer the full face helmet. It has saved my head in a 75mph crash on the Waldo grade on 101. I'd feel naked with a open face helmet.

 

[blackrat]

Both times I've dumped on the street the chin bar on my full face is what eventually ground me to a stop. Friend of my stepdads slid out on sharp park rd. and hit something face first, did heavy damage go his face and he lost an eyeball.

 

[sanjuro]

I wear my full face helmet in stores all the time, it's not a problem. It's actually kind of funny if some loser gets wigged out, especially because they can't see me grinning at their stupid expression.

Well, the other reason is that once I was fucked with when I pulled off from Haight Street.

If I was not wearing a full-face, I could have heard or seen the people screwing with me.

 

[Gnarly Cranium]

I've had one crash, and it landed me more or less facefirst in somebody's trunk. Without a full face helmet, I'd probably be picking teeth out of the dent in the car. No thank you.

My helmet is a Scorpion EXO 900. The pivot points on the sides are nothing but plastic hinges-- because the chin bar actually hooks on pretty close to the front, with metal latches. In this pic, right below the H in 'Headset', see that shiny rectangle? That's where the latch is, the chin bar has hooks that go through the hole beneath the rectangle. It may not be quite as strong as a regular full face chinbar, but it's not flimsy either. Makes a nice, solid, KACHUNK noise when I close it down.

I run errands and stuff all the time-- I look like a gigantic neon yellow bobbleheaded jackass, sure, but I don't have to juggle my helmet while I duck into the store for something. Love this helmet. It was $280. Not shown in the pic-- integrated sun visor, you betcha.