Back on the bike, happy!

Nobody who rides a bike that looks so good is ever going to drop it on the road.

robs ss said:

You really are a little ray of sunshine, aren't you Al?
At least it's not drum brakes this time - oh, didn't see that in the second sentence!

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Attention to detail is important. Little things sometimes have big consequences. Motorcycles are meant to be fun. Unsafe is not fun. I have written-off two crash helmets. It does not make me feel happy to be alive. I know I should not be here. I was extremely lucky the last time. I went down the road on the top of my head and ended-up with a dislocated collar bone. Not something to joke about !

yves norton seeley said:

Hello CJ, hope that Megoni and you are doing wel, do you plan to go back to the USA one day?
Yves

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That's the million dollar question for me at the moment Yves, since I'm due to submit my 5-7 year extension request paperwork to Uncle Sam soon. If it's not approved then yes I'll be returning sooner rather than later. I do get homesick for Houston though

ashman said:

Sometimes a helmet won't save your life, just keeping a good eye out in what is going on around you is better, one of my best mate's got killed in a crash, not a mark on him but broke his neck from his full face helmet, so really lots say full face helmet are the best, didn't help my old friend and to this day I prefer to ride with my open face helmet, better vison and able to turn my head more.
The old pudding helmet do look good on a old classic bike but.
But then look at some of the gear young ones wear today on their powerful rice burners, my youngest daughter just got back into riding bikes her first road bike a Triumph 650 triple she came around the other day with her BF she is on L plates so has to ride with a open licence rider till she goes for her test in 3 months she had all the good riding gear on but the BF on his high powered Honda had a jacket, good helmet and gloves but down below shorts and soft sneekers without socks, a real young man trendy look, as we all know the legs do get bad injuries.

Ashley

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I can remember police motorcyclists in the UK refusing to wear full face crash helmets back in the day
I assume the argument was they'd rather wipe their face out with an open face than die from a broken neck with a full face?
Interesting that when the helmet law was introduced in 1973 most people wore helmets anyway
And it made barely any difference to fatalities from what I have read

baz said:

I can remember police motorcyclists in the UK refusing to wear full face crash helmets back in the day
I assume the argument was they'd rather wipe their face out with an open face than die from a broken neck with a full face?
Interesting that when the helmet law was introduced in 1973 most people wore helmets anyway
And it made barely any difference to fatalities from what I have read

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I believe racers felt the same. I think the argument was that the added weight and size of the helmet could cause neck and spine injuries.

My first crash was prior to the helmet law and I was only wearing a beanie hat (well it was winter) Then, fast forward to 2010 and I had a very high speed off doing a top speed event, amazingly to me and all around I was able to stand up and walk to the ambulance sent to scrape up the bits, my crash helmet saved my head and face with a huge scrape down where my left eye would have contacted the tarmac. To this day I don’t recall my head hitting the ground, but it did.

Also around 1971/2 there was a head on collision between 2 motorcycles, 2 riding the one bike were both decaptitated wearing full face helmets, and the lad riding the other way without a helmet lived but spent 12 months in hospital having his face reconstructed - he never looked the same afterwards.

Personally I’d prefer to be dead, out of it, than fearfully disfigured like he was.

Today, I wear my open face helmet on the Norton, but only ever a full face on my ZZR or Busa. and not the other way round.

Joke:
Joe and Maria are just married, they've never slept together.
During the wedding night Joe gives his wife a kiss and falls asleep.
The same thing the following nights.
Maria talks about it to her mother and she says: tonight you tell Joe to lie on top of you and to move and sing; nature will do the rest.
In the evening Maria told Joe to lie on top of her and move and sing.
Joe lays on her and moves and sings:
Lalalalalaltchichi
Maria tells him it's good but lower, lower
Lalalalalatchitchi

Flatspot said:

My first crash was prior to the helmet law and I was only wearing a beanie hat (well it was winter) Then, fast forward to 2010 and I had a very high speed off doing a top speed event, amazingly to me and all around I was able to stand up and walk to the ambulance sent to scrape up the bits, my crash helmet saved my head and face with a huge scrape down where my left eye would have contacted the tarmac. To this day I don’t recall my head hitting the ground, but it did.

Also around 1971/2 there was a head on collision between 2 motorcycles, 2 riding the one bike were both decaptitated wearing full face helmets, and the lad riding the other way without a helmet lived but spent 12 months in hospital having his face reconstructed - he never looked the same afterwards.

Personally I’d prefer to be dead, out of it, than fearfully disfigured like he was.

Today, I wear my open face helmet on the Norton, but only ever a full face on my ZZR or Busa. and not the other way round.

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Any accident can kill you and no matter what helmet you are wearing, with my mate the chin guard on the full face helmet was forced into his chest which broke his neck, and some have lost their heads in high speed accidents, I been riding for near 50 years mostly with open face helmets, I have a flip top helmet for traveling long trips and a full face motox helmet when out on the dirt bike, I been down more with the open face and so far still have my good looks and teeth, but most of the times I been down was from my own mistake or gravel on tight corner and the bike just went out from me, it happens so quick, each person has their likes in what helmet to wear, but still not garranteed to to save you.
Yves what a good way to start the day with a joke

Ashley

Joe and Maria are just married, they've never slept together.
During the wedding night Joe gives his wife a kiss and falls asleep.
The same thing the following nights.
Maria talks about it to her mother and she says: tonight you tell Joe to lie on top of you and to move and sing; nature will do the rest.
In the evening Maria told Joe to lie on top of her and move and sing.
Joe lays on her and moves and sings:
Lalalalalaltchichi
Maria tells him it's good but lower, lower
Lalalalalatchitchi

acotrel said:

Nobody who rides a bike that looks so good is ever going to drop it on the road.

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Its not the dropping you got to worry about Al, but of course you don't ride on the road.

you da MAN!

I see a lot of cruiser riders in helmet-mandatory states wearing pudding pots as they are the absolute legal minimum. I've only owned 2 open-face lids, one of which I still have, and I tend to shelve a helmet after 5 years use even if it doesn't have a scratch. American football players have their damaged and outdated helmets taken away from them by equipment managers. I'll be responsible for my own safety. It used to pain me to see people riding helmetless and I had nearly the same reaction to pudding pots. Anymore it's "whatever blows yer dress up"

Danno said:

I see a lot of cruiser riders in helmet-mandatory states wearing pudding pots as they are the absolute legal minimum. I've only owned 2 open-face lids, one of which I still have, and I tend to shelve a helmet after 5 years use even if it doesn't have a scratch. American football players have their damaged and outdated helmets taken away from them by equipment managers. I'll be responsible for my own safety. It used to pain me to see people riding helmetless and I had nearly the same reaction to pudding pots. Anymore it's "whatever blows yer dress up"

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t's crazy how wearing a Cromwell in 2021 can lead to such discussions.
In the sixties, the entire starting grid of a Grand Prix wore Cromwells, including Hailwood, Agostini, Redman, Pasolini, Read, Findlay.
And I don't believe Cromwell ever paid a star to wear their helmets.
The fact is that each type of helmet has its advantages and its dangers, if you hit a tree headfirst at 200 km/h, no helmet in the world will save your life.
But I pay a lot of attention to the aesthetics of the motorcycle/rider combination.
That's why I wear my Cromwell, I grant you that a full face helmet would hide my dirty old face, which would also contribute to the aesthetics.
Last W.E. I rode on Saturday and Sunday, beautiful weather, enormous pleasure!
Fabien and his friend followed me in the car and they made videos, which I hope to post soon.
Keep you posted
yves

Yves, you've earned the right to ride and wear whatever you want.
Enjoy life and Carry on!!!!

Why I wear my open face helmet is better all round vison, I can turn my head further around good to be able to see what's coming up you from behind and side as well further down when need to, when I wear a full face or flip top helmet I can't turn my head as much and the shape of the visor area is harder to see what's coming up behind or side of you and of course can only look down so far with the chin guard before it hits your chest and you have to rely on your mirrors to see what's coming up behind you or on the side of you and we all know mirrors have blind spots, to me that extra turning of the head is very important to me with better vison all away around me, so I prefer my open face to my full face, but of course traveling long distances and rain the full face with a good visor wins all the time.
But if you going to hit something hard or that instant stop, will any helmet save you, its the risk we all take when out on the bikes and as someone keeps telling us its safer on the track, but is it, that's no fun not being able to ride when ever and going out riding with our mates is the best thing life can give us and I still ride with mates I grew up with, so what helmet we wear is up to each person, weather safer than the other, they all have their faults, and the old Cromwell helmets look so good on a classic bike.
A lot of my old mates wear full face helmets because they are so ugly lol.

Ashley

yves norton seeley said:

t's crazy how wearing a Cromwell in 2021 can lead to such discussions.
In the sixties, the entire starting grid of a Grand Prix wore Cromwells, including Hailwood, Agostini, Redman, Pasolini, Read, Findlay.
And I don't believe Cromwell ever paid a star to wear their helmets.
The fact is that each type of helmet has its advantages and its dangers, if you hit a tree headfirst at 200 km/h, no helmet in the world will save your life.
But I pay a lot of attention to the aesthetics of the motorcycle/rider combination.
That's why I wear my Cromwell, I grant you that a full face helmet would hide my dirty old face, which would also contribute to the aesthetics.
Last W.E. I rode on Saturday and Sunday, beautiful weather, enormous pleasure!
Fabien and his friend followed me in the car and they made videos, which I hope to post soon.
Keep you posted
yves

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Back in their day, Cromwells were state-of-the-art. 90% of the people one encounters know nada about such things. I prefer to maximize my chances of survivng a crash unscathed. If I could afford it, I'd ride wearing airbag leathers, too, regardless of aesthetics.
Yves, I've come to appreciate you and your humor and would hate for anything further to happen to you after what you've been through already. The Cromwell would be appropriate on an Old MV, but I doubt you'd violate anyone's sense of taste wearing a full-face on it.

Italians make some nice rides. Enjoy

Goggles and an open face helmet are probably refreshing on a warm day. It looks good on you yves.

I have no clue what the laws are regarding helmets where I am. I wear a full face hat because it is warmer.

Danno said:

Back in their day, Cromwells were state-of-the-art. 90% of the people one encounters know nada about such things. I prefer to maximize my chances of survivng a crash unscathed. If I could afford it, I'd ride wearing airbag leathers, too, regardless of aesthetics.
Yves, I've come to appreciate you and your humor and would hate for anything further to happen to you after what you've been through already. The Cromwell would be appropriate on an Old MV, but I doubt you'd violate anyone's sense of taste wearing a full-face on it.

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Thank you for worrying about me, with or without Cromwell, I fully intend to die in my bed, as late as possible. I am seventy-one years old and I still hope to ride a motorcycle for the next five years.
After my misadventures of the past few years I am more cautious, at least I think.
yves

yves norton seeley said:

Thank you for worrying about me, with or without Cromwell, I fully intend to die in my bed, as late as possible. I am seventy-one years old and I still hope to ride a motorcycle for the next five years.
After my misadventures of the past few years I am more cautious, at least I think.
yves

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You have more than 5 years riding left in you Yves!!!

yves norton seeley said:

Thank you for worrying about me, with or without Cromwell, I fully intend to die in my bed, as late as possible. I am seventy-one years old and I still hope to ride a motorcycle for the next five years.
After my misadventures of the past few years I am more cautious, at least I think.
yves

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Reminds me of the joke about the man saying that he wanted to die peacefully in his sleep, just like his Uncle John, the bus driver, and not terrified, screaming out in fear like his passengers