"at 60 MPH a helmet won’t do anything" - some motorcycle riders

[David Mary]

As a cyclist who wears a helmet religiously, and dies a little inside when I see cyclist riding without one, this Quora answer resonated with me, and I wanted to share it. Disclaimer: I have never ridden a motorcycle myself.

What help would a helmet give to a motorcycle rider if they crash at 60-70 miles per hour?

“What help would a helmet give to a motorcycle rider if they crash at 60-70 miles per hour?”

I’ve met hundreds of riders in my life who love to throw this idea around… That at 60 MPH a helmet won’t do anything.
The problem is, they are dead wrong and don’t understand the basics of the physics involved in a wreck.
I myself was hit by a car at 65 MPH. They took my lane, hitting my front wheel, and putting me down. I was able to recover the bike, and get it back up on both wheels. My moment of elation was cut short when the car behind me they rammed me from behind wholly pushing the bike out from under me, pulling me under their car briefly, and then spitting me back down the interstate to roll. I rolled at least 30 times before I stopped counting, because I assumed I was not going to live through the encounter.
Every time I rolled, I expected to lose my nose. I did not.
In fact, I came out of the wreck fairly well all things considerred.

This helmet was brand new the morning of the wreck. The doctors were pretty clear about how dead I would have been without it on.
To credit my skill, this is the bike three days later when I came home from the ICU

I was lucky, I literally walked away. I broke my right arm in three places, and took on a lot of road rash. But my skull wasn’t split open like a watermelon like so many riders swore to me it would be.
Wear your helmet, it can, and will, save your life.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

I've seen way too many videos of people getting popped like grapes on donor cycles... but for sure a helmet wouldn't hurt!

 

[MolokaiRider]

I have a Suomi, Arai, and Shoei that I rotate through.

Yes... I feel like a dork.

But I have people depending on me, so a little bit of risk mitigation goes a long way.

My last wreck was while having an employee packing me on the rear rack of a small quad on the farm.

I was in a hurry, and rather than having them drive back to the baseyard and grabbing a truck, I foolishly tried to save some time by jumping on the rack to have them drive me to another plot.

The weight was heavily tilted to the rear wheels, and when she took off, front tires were barely touching the pavement.

When she leaned forward the tires grabbed the concrete and caused the bike to swerve hard.

It launched me in the air, and I fell head first.

I put out my right arm to break the fall, and when I hit, broke my wrist and turned my elbow bone to powder.

I also landed on my right hip, which had a folder clipped to my pocket, which dug into my hip hard enough to break skin and bruising.

All this damage was done at about 7 miles per hour.

Buying a quality helmet and being persistent in wearing it is a good idea.

I head somewhere that most motorcycle wrecks happen within five miles of your home. Complacency and frequency probably contribute to this.

 

[jbmonkey]

full face helmets can work. my brother in law went down on his Ducati at high speed. I dont remember what speed but over highway speeds and well over the limit.

his friend clipped his rear wheel with his front while they were acting like clowns. both had on full face helmets and titanium plate jackets and Teflon jeans with plates and riding boots, full safety gear back then...this was the 90s.....both went down. both hit the pavement and slid face first. my brother in law ended up off the road and stopped. his friend slid into a tree off the side of the road. split his helmet

the friend had brain damage but lived due to the helmet. my brother in law walked away from the accident. his face would have been ground off and he would have been dead most likely. his helmet front looked like it was attacked by a grinder. I was amazed he survived looking at it.

I've lost two good friends, I grew up with, on motorcycles. decades ago. one had no helmet. was killed instantly. other had a skull cap style helmet. he hit the road hard face first and smashed his face so he was unrecognizable. they weren't sure if the impact killed him first or getting hit by a car after the hit finished it. i know others who were killed with no helmets, but think I told enough for this post.

 

[AntDog]

Old on the left, new on the right. I take really good care of my gear, don’t throw my helmet around. The visor on the old one is “clean”. All the marks on it is from stuff hitting it. That’s from daily riding for about 10 years.





Helmets DO 100% save lives. I wear full face instead of a halfy because I kinda like the bottom half of my face.

 

[MolokaiRider]

Something else to ponder...

If you accidentally drop a motorcycle helmet on pavement or a rock, it's a good idea to throw it away and buy another.

They are sort of designed to work once.

 

[AntDog]

Something else to ponder...

If you accidentally drop a motorcycle helmet on pavement or a rock, it's a good idea to throw it away and buy another.

They are sort of designed to work once.

Yes. One use only. You crack the shell or mush the padding inside, they’re toast.

 

[MolokaiRider]

I apologize for flood-posting, but it's a good topic.

Something else to think about when picking out a lid...

Try on as many as you are able, and from different reputable brands.

There ain't nothing worse than a compression headache from a poor fitting helmet.

Your cheeks are gonna be squished, and it feels weird when you try to talk wearing one and bite your inner cheek. But that's ok, it should be snug in that area.

If the helmet is comfortable you will wear it more often.

It is also a good idea to carry visor cleaner. It's annoying to have bug splatter in your field of vision, and that is definitely gonna happen.

I also try to be gentle and take good care of my lids like AntDog mentioned.

They not only can save your life, but are also expensive.

 

[AntDog]

Another biggie is to always look for the DOT logo. They have to pass specific tests to earn that. Even better is the Snell logo. Not many are Snell certified - they have to pass even more involved testing for that certification.

 

[MolokaiRider]

Used to wear this one. Most comfortable helmet I've ever owned, but one day my toddler got ahold of it, so now it's his to play with. He likes to destroy stuff lol.

I have been wearing this Arai, but it has not broken in well enough to not cause headaches. My oval shaped head just doesn't gel with it.


Just got this Shoei and it's a keeper. Not as comfy as the HJC, but it's lighter and has a smaller footprint, so it's not as fatiguing to wear.

 

[Barman1]

I highsided on my R1 a few years back, broke 15 bones and suffered a(nother) major concussion when my head hit the pavement. Put a pretty good sized crack in a brand new Shoei helmet. If I hadn't been wearing one that spill would have been my last moment.
I've always been a proponent of AGATT and always will be.

Here's the offending beast before the incident.
I don't have one from after, just too painful to hang onto but I did rebuild it before selling it...and buying a couple more.

 

[tinfoil hat timmy]

Glad the ol chess computer
is still running man.

 

[MolokaiRider]

I highsided on my R1 a few years back, broke 15 bones and suffered a(nother) major concussion when my head hit the pavement. Put a pretty good sized crack in a brand new Shoei helmet. If I hadn't been wearing one that spill would have been my last moment.
I've always been a proponent of AGATT and always will be.

Here's the offending beast before the incident.
I don't have one from after, just too painful to hang onto but I did rebuild it before selling it...and buying a couple more.

View attachment 2176420

Beautiful bike man. If I woulda continued down the sport bike road it would have been on of those for me next. Love that cross plane engine.

Sold this one back in 2006 for darn near what I paid for it. Only 1500 ever made, with factory upgrades stock.

Realized after a couple years a bike like this needs to eat, and an island only seven miles wide and 30 miles long just doesn't do a bike like this justice.

 

[Drop bear]

We have to by law. So it factors out the image thing. And the helmets have to be rated.

I recently picked up a relatively cheap one that would accommodate my glasses a bit better. A ls2. I believe. FF353.
Which might be this one?

But it's a good hat for little money.

Here we go. With the glow in the dark clown face. And ratchet chin strap.

$150 in Australia.


And obviously the topic. Wear a helmet if you like your head.

 

[Barman1]

Beautiful bike man. If I woulda continued down the sport bike road it would have been on of those for me next. Love that cross plane engine.

Sold this one back in 2006 for darn near what I paid for it. Only 1500 ever made, with factory upgrades stock.

Realized after a couple years a bike like this needs to eat, and an island only seven miles wide and 30 miles long just doesn't do a bike like this justice.

View attachment 2176421

Beautiful! And agreed, they need room to run and with that kind of power on an island that small I'd guess it's pretty hard to stay out of trouble.
I've been looking at bikes again.
Amazing what a few years can do to take the edge off of the memory of a bad experience.
For now though I'm happy with my mountain bikes, probably much better off...and of course I wear all of the safety gear.

 

[beeinak]

I have owned 17 motorcycles, and taken care of multiple motorcycle trauma patients. Of course helmets can save your life, but unfortunately many people don’t wear decent helmets or even wear proper sizes or secure them. I have seen some dead riders (torso trauma) with helmets intact, and helmets smashed with rider skull intact. I have seen faces ground into hamburger and facial bones destroyed while rider was wearing open face helmets even in ‘minor’ accidents.

A very memorable experience was being on a highway in Texas and seeing something at the last moment and feeling a thwack just above my faceshield. The impact was serious and when I composed myself I pulled over to find a cracked Simpson helmet. Something had fallen out of a truck and bounced up into me. I know if I had not been wearing it I would have been killed.

If you are going to wear one, get a good one that fits and take the 2 seconds to secure it.

 

[MolokaiRider]

Beautiful! And agreed, they need room to run and with that kind of power on an island that small I'd guess it's pretty hard to stay out of trouble.
I've been looking at bikes again.
Amazing what a few years can do to take the edge off of the memory of a bad experience.
For now though I'm happy with my mountain bikes, probably much better off...and of course I wear all of the safety gear.

I need to get back into bicycles. I have developed a spare tire and it's not a useful one...hahaha! Last good bike was an old Voodoo.

I have a wee little dual sport for putting around on, which is still loads of fun.

Been eyeballing a Polaris General, but 40 grand for a plastic toy is in Harley territory, and hard to swallow. Pricing is stupid high due to high demand.

Not to mention another 10 grand more for a decent trailer.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Any one who says that has not watched any crash videos. I have watched hundreds upon hundreds.

I've seen real life crashes with and without helmets.

I pulled up on one in my own neighborhood. Harley rider and his wife. Brains everywhere. It was not a particularly high speed crash. Neither vehicle was doing more than 30.

No helmets and two open skulls. They were neighbors of my inlaws. I rode my motorcycle through that same intersection many times!

I've crashed my self off road, ant low speeds and had a helmet save my life.

Hell, I've had a snowboarding helmet save my brain when I went head first into a tree.

There is one video where a guy on a scooter crashes under a bus, and his head gets run over. He had a helmet and popped right up.

 

[old4570]

Hehehehhe ,
A) Depends on the variables
B) The head might be OK , but the rest of the body ( Those nasty variables )
C) Rode a M-Bike for 20+ Years , never dropped a bike on the road .. But those tin tops that try to kill you ! Damned ! They just don't look where they are going at all .. As evidenced by the now growing popularity of DASH CAMS !

For years bike riders said car drivers don't look ! And you know what , they were right ! You Tube is full of the evidence ! Hours and hours of evidence !
Not saying all tin tops are homicidal douche bags , but too large a percentage are just that !
And yes , some bike riders are suicidal . Must be that Human Factor ( Stupid ) .

 

[Wasty]

I ride motorcycles since 1995 and learned my lesson early when a small stone hit me in my mouth at 50km/h when I was 16. What a bloody mess...

That impressed me so much, that I have never ridden without a helmet or proper gear since then.

Right now I use a Schuberth C4 and look to get the C5 next year.