What do most wear on their bonce?
I've got a mac#1 aeroscreen on my st locost and have been driving it lately without a helmet, just some safety glasses and a beanie/cap. I
can't help feeling a little vulnerable though in case something got flicked up off the road. Is it generally no windscreen = wear a helmet or
not??
The first couple of times I drove my kit with aeroscreen I had my helmet on. In these drives I got a stone flicked up and hit square on the forehead of the helmet. Then a bee splattered right on the visor. After that I didn't even consider going out without the lid on.
It is a worry tbh,but I drive with just glasses on.
Especially seeing as most of the time I've got a passenger it's much more sociable with out helmets
My aero screen is a westfield one it's quite high.
I have 3 good stone chips on my lid, one on the visor just above the right eye. All would have been painful
So I say helmet at all times.
Full face lid for me every time
I have just fitted an aeroscreen to mine, took it for a quick spin round the block(5miles) and got smacked straight in the forehead with something.
Straight home and bought a cheap lid.(don't want to wreck my arai) stops you making stupid faces in the wind too!
Helmet every time. But never an open face. Ever!
[Edited on 31/8/15 by 750mc]
Jesus, frightening to think people would risk this - without a windscreen I can't see how you'd risk being without protection! If you want to be sociable get an intercom!
Depended on where i was going. I used to go shopping in my striker so never went over 30. If i was going out of town then i would use. Bash hat.
I have been hit in the head from a bee. It might as well of stung me!
Only a matter of time. Getting hit by almost anything at 30mph will hurt if it's in the wrong place. Each to their own but if you've an aero screen on for the road you increase the chances. why take the risk for the sake of a cheap helmet
I have been with aeroscreens for over 5 years now.
I tend to take a helmet for when I get fed up of the wind noise or (even more so) if its likely to rain.
I use safety shooting glasses for my eyes, but i do like to get the full open top experience. Bees do hurt though
but luckily its only ever been a couple of times for me.
If your driving in icy weather, then a lid is a must. otherwise its like brain freeze x 10
Andi
I certainly won't be going out without a lid on again. For the record, I bought a cheap new helmet at £46 posted, it has a better sharp rating than my £550 arai! No excuse not to really.
quote:
Originally posted by Andi
I tend to take a helmet for when I get fed up of the wind noise or (even more so) if its likely to rain.
I use safety shooting glasses for my eyes, but i do like to get the full open top experience. Bees do hurt though
but luckily its only ever been a couple of times for me.
If your driving in icy weather, then a lid is a must. otherwise its like brain freeze x 10
I've been hit by a bird at speed - its an ex bird now. I don't ever want to go on a motorbike without a helmet so why would I sit in a VERY low car without one?
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
Jesus, frightening to think people would risk this - without a windscreen I can't see how you'd risk being without protection! If you want to be sociable get an intercom!
Yeh. Right. No one ever got whacked in the mush sat behind a computer screen...
Comments above pretty much tell the tale. Make you're own mind up.
Almost always wore a lid over 30' pooling through town, safety specs only.
Just wear mine on the motorway
quote:
Originally posted by CosKev3
Don't be such a faggot
How many miles do you do in your road car per year?
And how many stones/chippings etc hit your windscreen directly in line with your head in those miles?
Exactly, none!!!
The odds of someone not seeing you in a kit car and pulling out in your path/into you are much higher than the odds of something big enough to hurt hitting your face/head.
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
How many times can you get smashed in the eye/face by something large at high speed and still keep full control of the car without risking yourself or others. Hmmm, not sure I'd like to find out, for the sake of wearing a helmet.
Helmet - Yes
Passengers - No
Faggots - I'm vegetarian
I know plenty of bikers who constantly wear open faced helmets. They are not losing eyes on a daily basis. In fact in a whole family of bikers (I am the only car person) and all their mates I know of zero one eyed bikers.
In my view not having a windscreen spoils these cars for anything other than a track day. Mine has a full screen and it is really nice to be able
drive down a country lane with the top off and no helmet. Also, motorway driving with a screen and side screens is remarkably civilised compared to an
aero screen.
So my answer is forget the helmet unless on a track day and buy a windscreen and side screens.
Stu
I once had a large stone/small rock hit the side window of my tin top. Sheer luck kept window intact but it left a 1 inch gouge in the window. It
came from a skip lorry going round a bend the opposite way to me. If my window been open or id been in opentop or kit, it would have been my head,
and would more than hurt.
With regards to blindspots, if you have decent set of mirrors you shouldn't have any blindspots. And driving small kits that can be missed by joe
public expecting full size cars, you should be driving more aware anyway, a helmet shouldn't stop that, certainly not an excuse bikers ever use
who also nees to drive more vigilantly.
Not sure I understand what is going on here - OP asked for peoples opinions on helmet wearing and there seems to be abuse and intolerance of peoples simple point of views, with me its a helmet as I will have to save up until windscreen, sidescreens etc arrive sometime after IVA. My tin tops have had several stone chips and two windscreens in the last decade. I've been hit several times by stones, once by a bird (and that hurt) insects and even raindrops at speed, so I choose to wear a helmet and visor. If you don't want to then that's fine with me
quote:
Originally posted by ianhurley20
Not sure I understand what is going on here - OP asked for peoples opinions on helmet wearing and there seems to be abuse and intolerance of peoples simple point of views, with me its a helmet as I will have to save up until windscreen, sidescreens etc arrive sometime after IVA. My tin tops have had several stone chips and two windscreens in the last decade. I've been hit several times by stones, once by a bird (and that hurt) insects and even raindrops at speed, so I choose to wear a helmet and visor. If you don't want to then that's fine with me
Helmet everytime.
I've had 3 screens this year in my Audi and the current one has a massive chip just above eye height. I wouldn't have fancied taking any of
them on the forehead!!
I dont have a screen, i wear motorbike sun glasses which have a foam surround to stop the wind. I wear a hat all of the time as well.
I only drive countrylanes at current and stick far behind other cars so not to get hit by anything.
If i was to drive on the motorway i would put my helmet on however.
Yesterday, Asda had some full-faced, flip-up lids for £13! I wouldn't recommend one for bike use but ideal to keep bugs and pebbles out of your head.
I like to go without on short trips, just with some sunglasses. By short, I mean 20-25 miles total.
Unless you are behind another car the only thing that can hit you are insects, which can sting. It is a trade off if you want a more
'visceral' experience.
Any longer than that I wear a helmet because:
a) I value my hearing
b) I look like Stirling Moss without the driving ability (see below)
c) I will likely as not spend some (more) time behind other cars and time exposed to dangerous stone chips etc. is extended.
I wonder how often drivers like Stirling coped back in the day? Were any hurt/killed due to stone chips/flies etc.? Surely they got it worse than us
following slick shod cars so closely at high speed. Or was the drive to full face helmets due to crashes?
The comments like "I've ridden a bike for years, never got hit in the face" misses a significant point - a biker's face is a lot
further away from the road than that of a seven driver.
When I only had an aeroscreen I always used a full-face helmet, and my wife used an open-face helmet with a full-face visor. I think I got hit on the
visor about 4 or 5 times - sometimes gravel, occasionally bumble bees. All made a hell of a bang and would have hurt me enough to potentially mess up
my driving. There's also the lesser problem of sand and grit off the back of builders' lorries, which I used to encounter quite often
(although goggles would have been enough for that).
I've now got a full windscreen, and I frequently get significant bug strikes on the screen at or around eye level...
[Edited on 1/9/15 by David Jenkins]
Loads of crap blown up full face even visor up loads of stuff in the eyes. Bikes have a screen and head in downward position.
I had the same dilemma as you recently so fully understand the pros and cons of each argument.
Safety glasses don't protect your hole face, and as I found out, an insect to the forehead at 60mph really hurts. Plus even cheap safety glasses
won't stand up to a stone chip at speed --> look into ballistic safety goggles, there are loads out there made by ESS and the like.
Whilst I am inclined to wear a helmet, having an extra ~1.5kg on my neck is a fair weight. Especially as I've got low-back seats, I don't
want to imagine the effect that whiplash would have. Even HANS devices only cover you for fore/aft movement, nothing lateral. Out of curiosity, has
anyone here crashed with a helmet on?
quote:
Originally posted by DapperRob
Whilst I am inclined to wear a helmet, having an extra ~1.5kg on my neck is a fair weight. Especially as I've got low-back seats, I don't want to imagine the effect that whiplash would have. Even HANS devices only cover you for fore/aft movement, nothing lateral. Out of curiosity, has anyone here crashed with a helmet on?
Well, thanks for all the input
Drove a good 50 mile today with the helmet back on (mixture of A/B roads), and I'm glad to say it didn't really dull the
enjoyment/experience as much as I'd remembered. It made a a refreshing change to not worry about my glasses and/or hat flying off 
too.
I always wear my lid
mainly so people cant see the fear on my face when I'm out of control
I don't enjoy wearing it, so in towns I have the visor up to make me feel less trapped in.
Even then I get flies and stones in my face at least once a drive!
I have sometimes had an unexpected passenger and given them the helmet and me go without, its horrendous I must say.
The worst part is wind noise!
rain is like daggers too....
another point is... what if you were involved in a crash? side impact, your head is going to hit that vehicle pretty hard! a helmet can only help!
I've never ever had an issue with visibility out of a helmet either
Just Dixon balastic safety glasses ear plugs and a beany hat for me, if I had to drive on a motorway i'd wear a lid as your behind more cars and
the extra noise.
does make me laugh the people that wear lids need to justify it by how many windscreens they've gone through! maybe because your driving on
motorways more often or driving to close to the cars in front!
[Edited on 26/9/15 by Johneturbo]
As some others have mentioned, I'd worry more about loss of hearing than anything else so if you're going to go without a lid then at least
wear ear plugs. The wind noise is really bad otherwise and leaves you feeling quite queasy at the end of anything more than a 5 minute low speed
journey.
As for eye protection, I bought a pair of these: http://www.uksportseyewear.co.uk/product.php/2/anti-mist-safety-glasses
They are ballistic safety glasses with different, replaceable lenses and work either as spectacles or goggles with headband etc.
I bought a pair of Box helmets a while back and use them for longer journeys but it certainly does detach you a bit from the action which isn't
ideal. That said, I have been hit on the 'helmet' by an acorn or something while driving beneath oak trees and it sounded like it might have
been painful without the skid lid on.
I have a full screen on my Striker, though it's probably the narrowest screen of all sevens. Without side screens I struggle to breath over
60mph, I can't imagine what it's like with an aeroscreen. How much does the aeroscreen deflect the airflow over your head?
[Edited on 27/9/15 by Toys2]
quote:Based on the experience of the one I had on my MK, not at all!
How much does the aeroscreen deflect the airflow over your head?
yer, if anything mine directs the air directly at my face...
I have one of these
http://www.motolegends.com/helmets/harisson/harisson-corsair-helmet-matte-black.html
Its great, open face or with the mask, in and about town I wear it open, soon as i'm going to be doing any real miles i put the mouth piece and
screen down.
Only thing I dislike though, when you get to 60-70 my head gets bounced around with the wind...with goggles and a hoodie..much more comfortable..
To be perfectly honest..i like the look of my helmet and I sometimes feel like a bit of a plum when waiting at lights and such because a lot of people
look at the car. I suffer social anxiety so the helmet gives me something to hide behind
quote:
quote:
How much does the aero screen deflect the airflow over your head?
Based on the experience of the one I had on my MK, not at all!
Interesting, thanks, I was thinking about making up some short side deflectors like you see on the Cobras
I had a Cobra kit a few years back, those small deflectors made a big difference but didn't make you feel enclosed
I was wondering if anyone had ever tried an "Air windscreen" as used on the Lotus 49, air was funneled into a narrow vent and was meant to
work well at deflecting the air over the driver......did nothing for stones though!
[Edited on 27/9/15 by Toys2]
Side and top deflectors make a big difference.
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When its cold i wear a helmet, when its warm i wear ess advancer goggles which are great, they keep your eyes totally free from the wind which i love as that bugs me with wearing a helmet or sunglasses
I prefer to wear helmet for longer runs because it dulls noise and wind exposure which takes its toll on me after an hour or so. Mines now running aero but i did have a screen and still prefered the helmet as stones really hurt when hitting my head.
quote:
Originally posted by Toys2
I have a full screen on my Striker, though it's probably the narrowest screen of all sevens. Without side screens I struggle to breath over 60mph
I assume that it is the way the air comes around the edges
of the windscreen. I usually keep the sidescreens on anyway, so no problem normally.
quote:
Originally posted by 40inches
Side and top deflectors make a big difference.
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