Are open-face motorcycle helmets any good?

Hi all,

I just bought a 50cc scooter to get me around the center of London and
I need to get a couple of helmets for me and my girlfriend.

I see a lot of people riding scooters with an open-face helmet but
almost all the people riding a bigger bike use a full-face one. This
makes me think the open-face helmet is not very good/safe, even though
it looks much beter.

What do people think about open-face helmets and which brands would you
recommend for one?

Thank you

KZ

 

Cross the road running as fast as you can, then just before you get to the
otherside take a dive and chin the kerb.

Now, what do you think ?

 

I just bought a 50cc scooter to get me around the center of London and

Before you buy, try rubbing your nose or chin down the road and then draw
your own conclusions.

 

I know someone who has a fully reconstructed chin and almost all of
his face replaced with skin from other parts of his body and no nose,
just holes that dribble snot because he used an open faced helmet.

I'm not a fan of open face helmets as you get so much wind in your
face and stones thrown up by cars, insects that glasses just don't
stop.

I suggest you get into a car, get up to about thirty, then throw
yourself face down and scrape along that road surface to simulate the
damage to what will be left of your face.

Smile: <http://members.lycos.co.uk/basmaf/face.jpg> (Not work or
family or upset tummy or gore safe)
(Also: Oldest doctored photograph on the internet)

 

Looks like a pretty simple decision. Full face it is...

Thank you all.

 

Compromise and get a flip-top. Just remember to close the front as
you fly through the air before hitting the deck.

 

I cannot equate the constrictive feel of a full face helmet with an open
face or even no helmet
like having a screw with or withoiut a johnnie
every opportunity I ride into work 3 miles on back roads without a helmet
If Ive had a shower it dries the hair off beautifully
then when I started riding you could learn on any capacity bike stil #ive
laasted this long withoput body armour and an open face bit like the current
view that kids should be protected from themselves by not participating in
competitive games.
I really feel for the poor underprivelidged sods when the get into the real
world
or are they the next generation going to be either care in the community or
"on the sick" from stress
We are breeding a generation of unprepared kids who are not going to cope in
the real world!1

 

When I had my 'little offing' in April I was wearing my flip top HJC
SyMax. After I'd finished bouncing, skidding and otherwise polishing
the road I noticed that the front had flipped up while I was playing
Mr. Gravity Puppet.

It appears that when I instinctively put my hand out to stop my head
hitting the road (no chance!) I whacked my hand/glove with my
head/helmet (which smashed my knuckle armour) and in that action hit
the Quick Release button on the outside of the SyMax
(<http://motorcyclecruiser.com/accessoriesandgear/FF-HJC-clsd.JPG> &
<http://motorcyclecruiser.com/accessoriesandgear/FF-HJC-open.JPG> red
bit on the front) which is ever so slightly worrying.

However, I've seen that a few Nitro Helmets also have a similar Quick
Release system, but the button appears to be positioned on the inside.
But I don't have a Nitro shaped head.

There are some reviews of various flip up helmets here:
http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/accessoriesandgear/fliphelmets/

 

says...

Buy whatever style you like, as long as you buy a Nitro helmet from a
dealer on my patch.

 

How does he smell...

 

Worrying, I have just got a cheap HJC flip-top to see if I like the
concept (so far I do). On mine (can't see the model name - CL-Max?)
you have to hook the thumb under the catch and pull away from the face
for it to release.

 

He doesn't. He doesn't taste either.

 

KZ emerged from their own little world to say

with the advantage that nobody can recognise you riding a scooter

 

came up with the following;:

I wear 'em all the time .. but then I ride Trials bikes at **** all mph ..


On the road, or Moto-crossing, I wear a full-face, and wouldn't wear
anything else.

 

Correction to my post: I actually have to reach into the helmet
slightly and 'pull' out to open it, not just push it. Similar design
to how you describe.

....Which makes me wonder HOW it opened in the first place! There are
no scratches on the quick release button, and even now if I grab it
and try to force the front up it doesn't give way. The system appears
undamaged as the only impact (apart from to the rear of the helmet,
which occurred when I rolled out of the road after I came to a stop,
hitting the back on the tar as I tried to convince myself I could
still breathe) was to the right hand side of the face plate
(<http://hayn.gotadsl.co.uk/bike/crash/helmet.jpg>)

I'm no expert, but from the scratch patterns they appear to have
happened in two directions. Perhaps one when closed, one when open.
I wasn't taking much notice of things like flip up helmets at the time
otherwise I'd have paid more attention. I was more concerned with...
**** knows. Thinking things like "I'm going to be late for dinner",
"I forgot to get that book back from Maria", "Pay day today!" and
other obscure things unrelated to the event in hand.

 

fumbled, fiddled and fingered:

I have one for those nice sunny days when going on a steady back lane
bimble on my smaller bike.

They're not as "safe" as a full face but sometimes the "pleasure" of
having high velocity bumble bees/bluebottles/horseflies/midges smaking
you in the face is too great to resist.



--
Steve Parry
K100RS SE & F650
and a 520i SE Touring for comfort [de-scarred]

(not forgetting the SK90PY)

http://www.gwynfryn.co.uk

 

BGN wrote

It probably wasn't closed fully. Every now and then I will be riding
along and the world just don't sound right. A quick smack in the face
with my left hand (the right being busy holding the throttle jammed to
the stop) closes the helmet properly and all is right with the world
once again. Not often but it does happen.

 

Must get cold in winter, though?

 

Good grief...

 

wrote

**** all that bollox about avoiding road rash, that only happens
occasionally. Every bit of shit on the road going straight into your
face happens every journey. Full face yerrats offer you a fly, stone
and dog-end free ride, end of story.