Why the difference in motorcycle helmets?

Full face. Rogue. Half helmet.

Does it really matter?

I ask because I was trying on helmets today, and the modular, for example, I can't get on with my eyeglasses. And I have to wear glasses.

Do any of our ADV motorcyclists wear glasses when you ride? And what kind of helmet do you wear?

Thanks.

Full face.
Take your glasses off, put helmet on, put glasses back on.
??
Do they not fit inside the helmet?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I wear a full face helmet. I take my glasses off, put my helmet on, put my glasses back on.
I tried on a modular helmet. I still had to take my glasses off to put it on. Of course, there may be some technique to be developed to avoid removal of glasses.

edit. 205'd

Full-face are the safest kind. A good modular is just as safe, since the jaw bar locks down solidly. The nice thing about the modulars is that you can flip it up to talk to someone, take a drink, sneeze, vomit, etc., without removing the whole helmet.

I wear glasses when I ride. I wear a full-face helmet for trips that are mostly road (like my commute), and moto-cross helmet with goggles for trips that are mostly dirt.

Umm, did you try putting on the helmet without your glasses and then slide the glasses on?

I'm just making an assumption by the way your worded your post.

Pull the straps outwards thus pulling the sides of the helmet out. Its what I do when putting my modular helmet on and off. Sometimes I still knock my glasses off.

Yes, but my glasses are ultra lightweight with curved earpieces. The earpieces are coated in soft rubber. It's impossible to slide them on with a tight fitting helmet in place.

But my sunglasses, also prescription, have straight earpieces. That might work. I didn't try it with my sunglasses.

I guess Monday I'm going shopping for a full face and see if I can put my sunglasses on.

I actually liked this one, but I guess it's out based upon the above criteria since it's classified as a half helmet. The part that covers the mouth is just soft rubber.

You may want to get yourself a pair of more robust spectacles. I have a pair of very nice but fragile spectacles for everyday use and had an old frame fitted with similar lenses for motorcycling. Cost a bit, but far less expensive than my 'good' specs. Oh, and have always ridden with modular helmets. You need to bend them just a bit open when you put them on you head.

Modular. There are many benefits besides donning and doffing with glasses.

Past: Zeus (good, cheap, first helmet)
Now: HJC IS-Max BT (a step up)
Next: lots of good choices, always wanted to try a Schuberth or Caberg, but Nolan, Shoei, etc. etc. etc.

Two articles from webbikeworld may be helpful.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r4/motorcycle-glasses/

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r4/randolph-engineering-aviator/

I always thought of half helmets as more of a fashion statement than real protection. Talk to folks with real world experience going down. Then look at their helmets. Almost without exception you will see most of the damage around the chin and side of the head. Unless they go off backwards.

Here's why it matters - 35% of impacts happen to the chin area. You effectively give up 1/3 of the protection of wearing a helmet by not going with a full-face. Some of the better modulars may be as good as a full-face but I'd be very weary of the latching mechanism if it's not all metal. The main problem I see with modular helmets is the temptation to ride around with it flipped up. I see it all the time. People rationalize it because they're just riding "around town" but landing on your chin at 35 miles per hour will still be a catastrophic injury.

This graphic says it all. The half helmet provides less than half of the protection needed, in real world get-offs.

To answer the question, why are there different types of anything? Variety: people want choice.

El Gato, not doubting you, but where did you get the stats, and who compiles them? The helmet impact area is not on a Uniform Traffic Accident Report...only if a helmet was worn or not.

This is oft-repeated on many forums. Unfortunately it's advice that's worth exactly what was paid for it.

Every accident is different. I personally know two people who had horrific accidents who weren't wearing helmets. Both spent the evening at home with their families with minimal injury. I had a good friend who died in a full-face. Nothing short of riding in a Buick would have saved him. I was hit by a Honda Civic 2-1/2 years ago while wearing a $60 half-helmet. $24,000 worth of damage was done to my bike, the damage to my head consisted of a mild concussion, some scrapes on my nose, and a couple of stitches around my eye.

My $60 half-helmet saved my life. A full-face would have saved me the scrapes and the stitches.

There's simply no telling how your accident is going to go (should you have one). It's a no-brainer that you're generally safer with more helmet and more gear (I told the paramedics at my wreck site, "thank God it's not July").

It all comes down to risk assessment. Wear what you're comfortable wearing.

The data comes from the Hurt report, one of the most often-cited reports on motorcycle safety. The report is from the 70's so some of its conclusions are dated, but stats like this are likely still relevant. The way people fall probably hasn't changed in the last few decades.

Its from the COST action 327 report. (over 300 pages long, this graphic is on page 25). Data used was gathered by German British and Finnish institutions.

Edit: Couldn't find it in the Hurt report. COST report gives different (lower percentage for chin area) numbers, as does their database. That diagram is supposedly by Dietmar Otte, a co-author of the COST report.

Anectotally, I can't argue that your half helmet saved you some injury in your crash. However, unless you have the ability to control where on your head you will land in future crashes, using this anecdote as validation of your decision to wear a half helmet is faulty logic. Is it your choice to do so? Sure.

I wear glasses and an open face helmet mainly because that's what I've always done. Full face helmets were a new idea when I started riding and modulars weren't invented until much later. Will probably go modular when it's time to replace my current helmet.

It doesn't mean much but I totaled a Goldwing against a pickup and hit a moose at 60 mph and only had minor scratches on the helmet. Both times my glasses flew off and I had to hunt for them.