how do HD riders do it?

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Part of it is many cruiser style bikes have windscreens, etc. which help keep some of the bugs and rocks from hitting you.

To be honest, you haven't really ridden until you've at least tried it. I totally respect everyone's decision to wear what they want though.

I bought mine during the heat waves of last summer. The sweat running down my full face helmet was appearing to cause me to have massive breakouts of acne. Since switching to my open face, I really haven't had a problem.

As soon as it's warm enough, I'd much rather ride with the open face.
 
SkyRider said:
often i see HD riders on the hwy with half helmets and just glasses. bikes had no windshield. how do they deal with road dirt hitting their faces? this one time i had a 20 mins ride with face shield open. when i got home there's a thin layer of black stuff all over my face, like i just came out of a coal mine.

these HD riders are pretty much "eating and breathing" dirt riding this way. it boggles my mind.
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Actually I've never noticed an issue with dirty being all over my face.... Been for many rides and no issue.... did you ride thru a construction site?

MacDoc said:
If you are always riding closed helmet I suggest you are missing a lot of the fun of riding.
Those riding closed faced all the time boggles my mind. ;)

eye protection - now that's a must have - safety glasses are cheap and optically correct. I carry a couple pair all the time.
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Agreed!!! I love my full face when its cold.... thats it.... But I won't ride without eye protection... or if I do its short distances (heading home) and because I didnt think about grabbing my clear safety glasses and am stuck with my sunglasses.

nakkers said:
Truthfully? Bugs and dirt automatically give way to all Harleys. It's the massive glare from the chrome and/or the sonic boom from the pipes. Doesnt work for other makes. Honest.

OK, seriously. How do you think Harley riders get so fat? Coincidence? I think not.
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Haha the chrome is not a harley thing... my dads c50 is practically all chrome.... I need two pair of sunglasses on to ride with him now.

As for fat harley riders I know at lest one really hot female harley rider... And I wouldnt say I'm fat either and I'm recently in love with the street glide...
 
MacDoc said:
I ride open face 90% of the time and my vision line is well above the windshield on the Burgman.
You get as much dust and dirt from the swirl behind a windshield anyways. I sometimes look like a racoon from wind, sun and dirt.
Who cares.

If you are always riding closed helmet I suggest you are missing a lot of the fun of riding.
Those riding closed faced all the time boggles my mind. ;)

eye protection - now that's a must have - safety glasses are cheap and optically correct. I carry a couple pair all the time.
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Seriously your mind is boggled when somebody chooses the correct safety equipment?
 
Freestyle72 said:
Seriously your mind is boggled when somebody chooses the correct safety equipment?
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Don't be shocked... I saw a lady riding home from work on a Burgman yesterday. Open face, sandals, and no gloves. Burgman's might be the new Gixxer. This is infront of One London place when the traffic goes to 3 lanes at 5.

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Yeah I don't get it either. Even if I just crack my visor I often get something in my eye asap and have to blink like crazy to get it out. I've taken a bug in the eye at 40 KPH and that wasn't fun either. I never ride with it fully open now unless I have at least sunglasses... even better are tinted safety glasses. Even with a full helmet I find I get a lot of dust in the face so I don't know how they do it. My RSX isn't nearly as bad as my RSR2 (that thing practically vacuums up dirt it seems like sometimes and bugs will survive a trip through the vents which is awfully annoying) but I still get a fair amount of dust and sometimes bugs will survive the trip.

I'm paranoid about getting pwnd with road debris at 120+ even with all my gear... I'd be way more afraid of it if I were in a t-shirt with no face protection. Part of the reason I have two Shark helmets is their 3mm visor (the fact that the RSX and RSR2 use the same visor is also nice). There's been several cases of people killed on the highway when stuff went through their CAR windows... never mind if they had no face protection at all.
 
Try it, but not on a SS.
Try riding with open face helmet on a standard/naked bike without fairing and bugs wont smash on your face.
The windshield of SS bikes makes riding w open face unbearable because all the air is directed to your face/chest and make everything caught in that air stream a faster projectile(makes bugs splat). While riding a naked bike, everthing that hit you will just have the same speed as your going or no change based on how it got up in the air.
 
I survived the 70's so a few bugs and dust is nothing compared to making it out of those dark times alive, now thanks to lawyer's and big brother, skinned knees and broken bones are a thing of the past,

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live in us forever.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little league had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

So after such a traumatic childhood, getting on the old HOG with a half helmet is a way to keep in touch with the world around me and not completely block it out, I would get claustrophobic in a full face.
 
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I don't know what the big deal is, or what people don't understand. I alternate between riding with a full-faced and a half-helmet. I save the half-helmet for the hottest days, and always with proper riding glasses. Earplugs are also a must. I generally don't come home with a grime-encrusted or pock-marked face. And this is even riding without my big Harley windshield, which I take off the Sporty as soon as the weather warms up.

It's doable and it's enjoyable. Although I love my Shoei and use it most of the time, there is a certain amount of detachment from the road vs open faced IMO.
 
To me it just seems like the natural way to ride, I love the wind in mt face, and my shirt blowing in the wind, weather it's just down the road or all the way to Halifax N.S. If I was all bundled up in full gear and a full-face helmet I would feel like an astronaut, not a guy on a bike enjoying the country and fresh air.
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+1

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Seriously your mind is boggled when somebody chooses the correct safety equipment?
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Yeah - drive a cage or a virtual reality motorcycle :rolleyes:

You don't experience a tenth of what goes on out there swaddled up in a closed helmet.
Maybe deep sea diving in a hard suit is your thing.

When I started riding a bathing suit was it. Period. and that for modesty only. Some areas even that is optional.
Sunglasses were always a good idea.
Shoes once in a while.

Pennsylvania you'll see everything included nekkid on a Harley. :confused1:

Correct is entirely in the eye of the beholder and somewhat the legal dept. of the jurisdiction.
Millions of people ride motorcycles and scooters daily around the world with diddly in the way of protective gear.

The nanny state here is a tad over the top - seems to be breeding a rather timid set of riders that think gear will save them.
 
2 years ago I got caught in a hail storm in summer time on the highway. I took cover under a bridge and a few minutes later a cruiser pulled up. He had a bucket helmet and sunglasses... no gear what so ever. His face was complete red from bruise marks. When the hail stopped he started riding again like nothing ever happened.
 
Silver Ghost said:
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
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Legally you can still do this if you add seats (with belts) to the bed. However, no one will insure the truck like that. I find it funny that it was legal and insurance had no problem with it until they made it illegal but once I offer to do a change to make it legal (and way safer) insurance wants nothing to do with it.
 
On the topic of gear, some people just prefer to keep their skin a little more than others I guess. Even with all the gear most of my friends (non riders) think I'm going to kill myself. Even with mostly full gear except just jeans and running shoes I've had friends be like, "You're going to ride in that?!?"

Riding without gear to me is like climbing a mountain without ropes or skydiving without a backup chute. Perhaps riding a rollercoaster with nothing to hold you in.

I also wouldn't drive any appreciable distance without a seatbelt which was also mentioned in your rant thingy (which I've seen before). I've only benefited from the belt once but the possibility of flying through the windshield is enough to keep me wearing it. But my car is lacking ABS or airbags.
 
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Man what the open face guys experience is nothing compared to racing motocross.
After a 15 minute moto my throat is so covered in dirt I can hardly swallow. Dirt in between your teeth and the biggest dirt boogers you've ever seen. All worth it!
Never been sick from it never developed a lung infection or sinus issues. The body is designed to keep crap out and it works.
 
rmemedic said:
Man what the open face guys experience is nothing compared to racing motocross.
After a 15 minute moto my throat is so covered in dirt I can hardly swallow. Dirt in between your teeth and the biggest dirt boogers you've ever seen. All worth it!
Never been sick from it never developed a lung infection or sinus issues. The body is designed to keep crap out and it works.
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Never done it. But completely believe it.

Besides, a few rocks in your stomach just helps digest your food better. Like a bird. ;)
 
If I have to explain it to you, ... you won't get it :)
 
Silver Ghost said:
So after such a traumatic childhood, getting on the old HOG with a half helmet is a way to keep in touch with the world around me and not completely block it out, I would get claustrophobic in a full face.
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See, all that lack of coddling and protection from yourself and positive reinforcement did mess you up... it turned you into a Harley rider! :D
 
mjavor said:
Also see some of them out in low temperatures. I'm freezing with a full face helmet...
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Ride a snowmobile for many years and riding with your visor flipped up at -10c for a while and being comfortable makes riding a motorcycle with a 1/2 helmet and no visor in the single digits is no big deal.

But I'd agree, rain isn't terribly comfortable hitting your face, nor are large bees. Can't speak for June bugs.

The fresh air is fantastic.
 
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