How I got married today--to my helmet

I can relate to your description:"On the parked car I whammed my head about as hard as it could have hit anything." That is exactly how I felt. That impact and the resultant freedom from injury had the effect on my mind of a really powerful religious conversion. I mean, it was like I had been born again.And what I had been born again into was the sure and certain knowledge that I would never get on another two wheeled vehicle without a helmet. But I can also relate to your going helmetless just a few weeks later--you do things like that when you're 24. I haven't got that excuse.

I consider myself fortunate to have taken the advice of the knowledgeable members of this forum. I also chose a DOT helmet to ride with - right before my accident in 2010. A truck turned left at a green light while I was still going straight. Since his was a very gradual turn, he hadn't slowed down much at all, so he pretty much blasted me off my bike and sent me tumbling through busy morning rush-hour traffic. I was VERY lucky that he was the only one who hit me (as far as I know).
Now, at the time, I was wearing my helmet and my very-stiff biker jacket. So when I came to in the hospital, from the waist up all I had was whiplash, deep bruising, lacerations, and multiple dislocations. BUT, from the waist down, I had a shattered tibia & fibula, torn up knee, cracked pelvis, broken tailbone, and more dislocations. And I later got a staff infection shortly after the second operation.
But the hospital staff saved my helmet along with my other belongings. And the surgeon got to see it before I did, and it was his opinion that I owe my helmet my life.
I still have it in the back room. Of course I don't wear it (I have a new one pretty much just like it). But I can't seem to bring myself to pitch it just yet. And I've had the opportunity to show it to a couple kids who asked me if I thought helmets did any good.

I am looking around for a leather jacket. I used to have one but just recently I tossed it--trying to make some closet space available for things "I really needed". Now, of course I could kick myself. And that was a really nice jacket.

Oh yeah. A really good, thick, heavy-duty leather biker jacket is a form of armor. I've never met a guy who said he was okay with getting road rash or worse (especially if he'd already had it).

Because of this thread, I *finally* decided I'd dump my spare cash into a helmet. I was planning on getting one for a while but I had to special order one for $200 in town here because my noggin is so big, then when someone listed the ironhorsehelmets.com site, I decided to see if I could find a canadian supplier. Found this, and ordered one. Another part of what held me back was I didn't want to look like an idiot wearing a motorcycle helmet on a bicycle, but once I drilled my transfer ports and replaced my cylinder and found all that extra power in my motor, I decided now would be a good time, since I'm keeping up rather effortlessly with traffic. I wanted a modular one, but this one's pretty close too, has a removable chin bar . Eventually I'll be getting my woman one, they make one that has pink floral patterns, but doesn't include the chin bar (Second link).

http://www.canadasmotorcycle.ca/ls2-of569-scape-helmet.html
http://www.canadasmotorcycle.ca/ls2-of569-floral-womens-helmet.html

good ooking helmet mew905

map

Thanks, I'm actually looking forward to wearing it. I had one before that was a bit too small for my head and rather uncomfortable. Also it was open face, your basic helmet pretty much, but sand attacking my face on a windy day or rain running into my eyes while riding was a distracting problem, even with sunglasses on (at least it kept the dirt from hitting my eyes). That and I had a bug smash into my forehead the other day lol. No, I think this'll be great for me.

Now I just need better brakes... haha, Gunna buy 200mm (~8 inch) AVID BB7 disc brakes

EDIT: Ordered them immediately after posting this reply. Safety first guys

Good looking helmet, Mew. The price is pretty good too, nice find.

Those are some nice looking helmets, I really like that composite one, but the ladie's helmet is also really nice.

I've been getting my helmets from Cycle Gear over here when they go on sale and they've all been really nice, I prefer a full face design and my wife likes the 3/4 design helmets best, I got her a full face and she was complaining about it being too hot so we went back and I got her a 3/4 made by Vega and she loves it... especially after I put some of my airbrush work on it. we always buy just plain black helmets then I'll paint them to look really nice, which also lands me a lot of airbrushing jobs when we go out riding... Here's the latest one that she wears...





And this is my full face after the repaint...







I got more of them in my facebook albums but this is just my favorite riding helmet... and hers... I could post more but limited to 5 images at a time

I wish I was wearing my helmet in the kitchen last Saturday morning.

I was out doing just a couple of light chores but even at sunrise it is 90F here now.

Anyway, I walked into the kitchen, promptly fainted, and dropped like a bag of rocks to the hard floor.
It bashed in the back of my head, knocked me out, and gave me a concussion.

You know that commercial with the old gal and she uses some necklace device to call for help... 'Help, I've fallen and I can't get up'?
It was just like that.

My wife was right there though and her and my son got me to the couch where I stayed all weekend.

I'm in the shop today but not for long.

Yes... it's that easy to pass out sometimes too... That's why my wife told me she didn't like the full face because she said she was feeling faint while not moving on the bike when it was like 100 over here then add to that because of the hot pavement and the heat reflected back up. I made sure she had a 3/4 helmet or a half shell next time we rode...
Man that's really dangerous when you fall back and hit your head like that... Be really careful the next few weeks not to take another impact as you can have a blood clot that could become fatal if it works it's way into the brain. We recently lost my step daughter to a blood clot from a broken ankle, she was ok but after removing her splint she was complaining about it being hard to breathe, then the next morning she was still feeling it and set up a doctors appointment but when her ride got there she said she couldn't get off the couch and they called EMS, EMS talked her into going to the hospital because she didn't want to go but they finally got her to agree and she went. The EMT's were telling us she seemed ok and was joking with them all the way to the hospital but as soon as they got her off the stretcher into the hospital bed, she stopped breathing and then her heart stopped, they tied at the emergency room for over an hour but she didn't make it. She was only 36 years old and this all stemmed from a broken ankle where a blood clot released and went into her lungs.

I've also had concussions and broken bones before from all my martial arts training and a few good crashes when I was younger and I've always had a problem taking it easy like the doctor said, but after this all happened I'm extra cautious about head injuries or broken bones etc...

Just take it real easy until the doctor tells you it's ok...

Ya, I'm just taking it easy, still woosey today so I have to.

My tire skipped when riding my bike, flopped on my side, and I hit my head really really hard on the street. I would have been knocked CLEAN out at the least without my $25 helmet.

Davezilla said:

Those are some nice looking helmets, I really like that composite one, but the ladie's helmet is also really nice.

I've been getting my helmets from Cycle Gear over here when they go on sale and they've all been really nice, I prefer a full face design and my wife likes the 3/4 design helmets best, I got her a full face and she was complaining about it being too hot so we went back and I got her a 3/4 made by Vega and she loves it... especially after I put some of my airbrush work on it. we always buy just plain black helmets then I'll paint them to look really nice, which also lands me a lot of airbrushing jobs when we go out riding... Here's the latest one that she wears...

I got more of them in my facebook albums but this is just my favorite riding helmet... and hers... I could post more but limited to 5 images at a time

Click to expand...

Damn man, I wish I could do that. I want to paint my bike and helmet in a "bumble bee" theme, the running joke at work is that I sound like a bee when I go by.