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Black or White?

Well I must live in a strange area?

EVERYONE here wears black. 90% don't wear helmets. Fewer wear armored jackets, to the tune of maybe 2%. Armored pants are even more rare.

I know that I am the oddball on the road wearing protective gear. In fact so odd that when I see anyone else wearing gear I actually notice it. My buddies are HD/cruiser guys. They wear leather vests, or t-shirts.

In a strange way, it pleases me to know that there are so many riders out there that wear minimal safety gear. What it says to me is that some serious injuries and deaths among motorcyclists are partly the result of widespread lack of safety gear. This makes motorcycle injury/deaths statistics worse than they need be, and are as much a reflection on riders attitudes toward safety as they are the result of the inherent danger of the sport. So, when I ride with safety gear, I feel like my chances of survival are better than what overall statistics might suggest, because there are so many “careless” riders that I assume are accounting for more of the injuries and deaths. The more riders I see with bare heads, t-shirts, shorts, and sandals, the better I feel my survival chances are compared to what statistics would suggest.
 
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... The more riders I see with not helmets or jackets, the better I feel my chances are.
Also, let’s face it, a goodly percentage of motorcycle riders travel well above the speed limits. The other day I was intending to practice twisties using tips from “Proficient Motorcycling” and quickly realized they were unnecessary unless I was going nearly twice the speed limit or more. At legal speed I could pretty much stay next to the fog line throughout the curvy section.

I don’t speed (much), so I figure I’m way, way safer than those who do.

Edit P.S.—I think the white helmet effectiveness is at least partially because that’s what motorcycle cops wear. People’s brains send an alert when detected.
 
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In a strange way, it pleases me to know that there are so many riders out there that wear minimal safety gear. What it says to me is that some serious injuries and deaths among motorcyclists are partly the result of widespread lack of safety gear.
Also, add rider impairment to the calculus:

An astounding 40 percent (!) of single vehicle motorcycle fatalities have a BAC of .08 or higher (!)
Overall, about 27% of all fatal motorcycle accidents involve an impaired rider.

I know these are correlations but I think most reasonable people would agree that riding while impaired greatly increases your risk.

Don't ride impaired and when you do ride, make sure you have protective gear. Your chances of making it back home to your loved ones increases dramatically!

https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812148
 
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Also, add rider impairment to the calculus:

An astounding 40 percent (!) of single vehicle motorcycle fatalities have a BAC of .08 or higher (!)
Overall, about 27% of all fatal motorcycle accidents involve an impaired rider.

I know these are correlations but I think most reasonable people would agree that riding while impaired greatly increases your risk.

Don't ride impaired and when you do ride, make sure you have protective gear. Your chances of making it back home to your loved ones increases dramatically!

https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812148

That reminded me of a recent rally I attended. Strolled by a vendor as I was checking out the goods and the person working there made a comment (favorable) about the hi-vis jacket I had over my shoulder. After a brief exchange about the positive effects of being conspicuously clad while riding, i turned to leave and head for my bike. The person working the booth then said, “you want a beer before you go?” And no, it wasn’t a joke..

I was speechless.

To paraphrase an old saying, the enemy is “us”.
 
In a strange way, it pleases me to know that there are so many riders out there that wear minimal safety gear. What it says to me is that some serious injuries and deaths among motorcyclists are partly the result of widespread lack of safety gear. This makes motorcycle injury/deaths statistics worse than they need be, and are as much a reflection on riders attitudes toward safety as they are the result of the inherent danger of the sport. So, when I ride with safety gear, I feel like my chances of survival are better than what overall statistics might suggest, because there are so many “careless” riders that I assume are accounting for more of the injuries and deaths. The more riders I see with bare heads, t-shirts, shorts, and sandals, the better I feel my survival chances are compared to what statistics would suggest.

The problem with those “other guys lacking a little common sense” is that as they help drive those accident statistics up they also help drive up the push from lawmakers (We know what’s best for you...) to enact and shove more laws down everyone’s throats to solve the problems associated with those devil machines known as motorcycles.
 
That reminded me of a recent rally I attended. Strolled by a vendor as I was checking out the goods and the person working there made a comment (favorable) about the hi-vis jacket I had over my shoulder. After a brief exchange about the positive effects of being conspicuously clad while riding, i turned to leave and head for my bike. The person working the booth then said, “you want a beer before you go?” And no, it wasn’t a joke..

I was speechless.

To paraphrase an old saying, the enemy is “us”.
Awe c'mon man, gotta have the 3 B's! Bikes, Beer, and Babes! LOL

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Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
When i purchased my helmet i remembered reading a National Traffic Safety (blah blah) report years ago that stated White helmets were the most common/easily recognized. Fine, so i bought a white helmet. :{)

Helmet= HJC MaxxII Modular and it's White.
Jacket= Summer-is a Hi-Viz SS mesh/armour. Winter- is a "Fly" HydraGuard and it's black with well placed reflective stripes.
Pants= Summer-Black Klim Teton armoured, Winter-Black, removable thermal/waterproof liner.
 
When i purchased my helmet i remembered reading a National Traffic Safety (blah blah) report years ago that stated White helmets were the most common/easily recognized. Fine, so i bought a white helmet. :{)

Helmet= HJC MaxxII Modular and it's White.
Jacket= Summer-is a Hi-Viz SS mesh/armour. Winter- is a "Fly" HydraGuard and it's black with well placed reflective stripes.
Pants= Summer-Black Klim Teton armoured, Winter-Black, removable thermal/waterproof liner.
I wasn’t paying much attention and realized the other day that my blue LS2 “ADV” helmet is now over 7 years old. Overdue for replacement according to manufacturers & Snell & most others. So I ordered a white Bell SRT modular from Amazon... then saw that RevZilla had a cosmetic blemish discount on a white Schuberth C3 Lite modular, only $10 more than the Bell. It was too late to cancel the Amazon order. I ordered it anyway and we’ll see which one I keep, depending on fit.

My wants: White or HiVis. Modular ‘cause I had one once and absolutely loved it. So much nicer with prescription glasses. Drop-down sunshield so there’s no getting blinded or having to fiddle with changing to prescription sunglasses, etc. Snell doesn’t certify modulars because reasons, but for me there are other safety factors at least as important as crashworthiness which they don’t test for. (e.g. face shield optical clarity, which the ECE does test; other things that PREVENT crashes, potentially) The Schuberth is both ECE and DOT, though as of 2018 they were no longer allowed to put the ECE sticker on helmets sold outside Europe.

Anyway, I hope the C3 fits well. I prefer its specs and features.
 
Snell doesn’t certify modulars

This is false. Snell is very happy to test and certify (if they pass the testing sequence) modular helmets. In fact, LS2 has (had?) a Snell-certified modular motorcycle helmet. The problem with modulars seems to be that their makers don’t make them to be as good at protecting your head as the non-modulars. You’ll also find few or perhaps no Snell-certified helmets with built-in sun visors. The makers apparently compromise forehead protection in order to make room for the ‘feature,’ so they won’t pass the tests.
 
The problem with modulars seems to be that their makers don’t make them to be as good at protecting your head as the non-modulars.

Yet Snell certifies open face helmets and we all know how safe those are compared to say, a quality modular LOL
 
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This is false. Snell is very happy to test and certify (if they pass the testing sequence) modular helmets. In fact, LS2 has (had?) a Snell-certified modular motorcycle helmet. The problem with modulars seems to be that their makers don’t make them to be as good at protecting your head as the non-modulars. You’ll also find few or perhaps no Snell-certified helmets with built-in sun visors. The makers apparently compromise forehead protection in order to make room for the ‘feature,’ so they won’t pass the tests.
Yes, I should have worded it as “Snell does not certify any current modular helmet”. Coincidentally, your post is close to word-for-word what the Snell chairman said on the Adventure Radio podcast recently. The one modular in the past that was certified would not be certified today—they raised the bar against modulars since then, a decade or more ago. (Also in the podcast from the Snell chair.)
 
This is false. Snell is very happy to test and certify (if they pass the testing sequence) modular helmets. In fact, LS2 has (had?) a Snell-certified modular motorcycle helmet. The problem with modulars seems to be that their makers don’t make them to be as good at protecting your head as the non-modulars. You’ll also find few or perhaps no Snell-certified helmets with built-in sun visors. The makers apparently compromise forehead protection in order to make room for the ‘feature,’ so they won’t pass the tests.

I believe it is HAD a Snell modular. The LS2 modular helmet was a 2013 model. It was certified to Snell 2010 standards, which are out of date as of 2015. Snell is introducing another update with their 2020 standards.

Snell claims they will gladly test modular helmets. Apparently the manufacturers do not submit modulars to Snell.

My gripe with the DOT certification is that the helmets pass a test that is known to be fatal to humans.
 
The one modular in the past that was certified would not be certified today—they raised the bar against modulars since then, a decade or more ago.
"Raise the bar"... Kinda ironic since that is why modular helmets don't pass the Snell....When Snell drops their 11 lbs of steel weights on the chin bar of a modular, the bar will deflect in response to the impact. Even if the modular chin lock mechanism holds (and they do) the modular will fail simply due to the amount of deflection. Obviously a full face helmet is more solid in the chin area (since they don't open) and being more robust have no or very little deflection.

Yet, Snell will pass an open face helmet. I don't know about anyone else, but I rather have 11 pounds of steel land on my non-approved Snell C4Pro modular chin bar and have it absorb some of the energy than have 11 pounds of steel land on my chin while wearing my Snell "approved" open face. Idiotic.
 
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...
Yet, Snell will pass an open face helmet...
Yup that is one of the gripes I have with Snell. I'm not a fan. No rating system is perfect.

But then again, DOT approves skull buckets.

And both ESE and DOT pass open face helmets too.
 
Fortunately there are a lot of nice choices out there, whether my priority is crashworthiness, crash prevention, or ride enjoyment enhancements. Choose your blend of the three. I happen to lean more towards the latter two than some would.

If I was a racer or wanted to keep up with the Banzai Boys on the Tail of the Dragon, you’re darn tootin’ I’d get the best full-face Snell-approved helmet I could afford. But I’m just a wimpy slowpoke who likes to enjoy the ride at my own pace. And if I was going to go all out for crash safety I wouldn’t be riding a motorcycle in the first place. :p

May each and everyone find the balance that works for you! See ya on the road! :cool:
 
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