Harleys \ helmets..

[vonuber]

Is it some form of legal requirement that if you ride one you must wear an open faced helmet? Oh and not bother with any form of protective gear either. Most odd.

Real rash of them about London as the sun has come out.

[Hooli]

Why dress for a 160mph smash on something you'll only be doing 60mph on?

Saying that, I only wear a full face in winter. Nasty horrid noisey things they are

[spareparts]

Loads of scooteristi and R1/GSXR riders around London in T-shirt/shorts/jeans.
More chance of them coming off in a bad way than a slow chugging HD which has loads of grip at 'Harley speeds'.

[GrumpyTwig]

Used to use a FF helmet on my Harley, but then I didn't exactly ride it like the open face bandanna brigade either....

[Fort Jefferson]

[vonuber]

Hooli said:

Why dress for a 160mph smash on something you'll only be doing 60mph on?

Saying that, I only wear a full face in winter. Nasty horrid noisey things they are

Well obviously far be it for me to tell people otherwise, but the thought of going face first into some tarmac at 60mph with nothing to stop my face grinding down the tarmac just doesn't thrill me.
Anyway, it's just that it seems to be some form of unofficial dress code.. or am I missing something?

[Legacywr]

vonuber said:

Well obviously far be it for me to tell people otherwise, but the thought of going face first into some tarmac at 60mph with nothing to stop my face grinding down the tarmac just doesn't thrill me.
Anyway, it's just that it seems to be some form of unofficial dress code.. or am I missing something?

An open face helmet is a bit of a dress code on a Harley!

[srob]

vonuber said:

Well obviously far be it for me to tell people otherwise, but the thought of going face first into some tarmac at 60mph with nothing to stop my face grinding down the tarmac just doesn't thrill me.
Anyway, it's just that it seems to be some form of unofficial dress code.. or am I missing something?

Oh FFS.

What does it matter to you?

[Hooli]

vonuber said:

Hooli said:

Why dress for a 160mph smash on something you'll only be doing 60mph on?

Saying that, I only wear a full face in winter. Nasty horrid noisey things they are

Well obviously far be it for me to tell people otherwise, but the thought of going face first into some tarmac at 60mph with nothing to stop my face grinding down the tarmac just doesn't thrill me.
Anyway, it's just that it seems to be some form of unofficial dress code.. or am I missing something?

Well for a start an open face is cooler - as in less sweaty & hot.

[vonuber]

srob said:

Oh FFS.

What does it matter to you?

Matter? It doesn't, just something I'd noticed as a oddity. No need to get all het up.

Hooli said:

Well for a start an open face is cooler - as in less sweaty & hot.

That is true, and it is tempting - but I'm not sure I am willing to risk it personally for myself.

[srob]

Well don't wear one then. But don't keep going on at those of us that do about what injuries to expect.

[Legacywr]

That escalated quickly!

[srob]

Legacywr said:

That escalated quickly!

Every time an open face lid is mentioned on here you don't even need to read half the thread before someone is telling you how you'll lose your face in a crash.

Gets tedious. In the same way that people who start an "I saw a bike crash" thread tend to get told we (as bikers on biker banter) don't need to hear about every bike crash random people see as we know the risks, those of us that choose to wear an open face lid know the risks of wearing it so don't need telling constantly.

[RumpleFugly]

It's no less of an oddity than wearing a race rep lid on a sports bike or a peaked lid on an adventure bike.

There's a certain aesthetic that is synonymous with a style of bike and many people chose to adopt said style.

[vonuber]

RumpleFugly said:

There's a certain aesthetic that is synonymous with a style of bike and many people chose to adopt said style.

I see what you are getting at, I just never really thought to much about people buying into that sort of thing (mainly due to my complete lack of interest in fashion / style etc!).
Although coming to think of it, seeing someone wearing a full face helmet on a Harley would seem... odd.. in a way, I guess that's the power of marketing.

[Legacywr]

When I started riding, 35 years ago, FF helmets were a joke!

[black-k1]

There is a dress code, it's called the law, and both full face and open face helmets are acceptable within that dress code. what is strange about that?

Does anyone on here actually know of any other rider who, wearing an open face helmet, has suffered a facial injury in an accident that they possibly wouldn't have suffered had they been wearing a full face helmet?

[BIRMA]

I've been using an open face helmet since 1966 when I bought my first Bantam it lasted through my 'mod' phase with my Lambretta and for several years thereafter. These days I have an open face for riding my Velocette as I like to ride along taking in the smells of the countryside at 50-60 mph. I can understand why when I'm passed at warp factor four by someone on a new bike they have a full face helmet it makes sense at that speed, in all my time of riding I've never known of anyone loosing part of their face due to wearing an open face helmet but I'm sure it can happen.
The only negative thing I have found so far wearing an open face helmet was the other day I got hit on the chin by a large bee neither of us enjoyed that encounter.

[RemaL]

I don't care if they wear open face lids, the same As I don't care if youths wear flip flops, a tee and short on scooters or sport bikes riders wear the same. it's their skin and the law only says wear a lid that is done up. So they are all legal

[bogie]

I ride a Harley but I dont wear an open face lid ....im I doing something wrong? will the style Police pull me over ?