When I Ride, I Wear:

While I know that I should always wear the correct gear and more often than not, will do so, it is also nice on a warm sunny day, to wear a short sleeved shirt and open faced helmet to go and buy some bread!!

You have better situational awareness with an open-faced helmet. Having said that I often wonder what percentage of bike crashes result in facial injuries?

...to wear all the gear all the time, but I'm with Eddie that there are just some times that it's great to be a bit more open to the elements.

Riskier, yes: fun, definitely.
Risk v reward I reckon.

Fall off on your face with an open-face helmet and you can kiss your life goodbye. While it's "more liberating" and does feel "free and easy" with minimal gear, all you need is one twat to not look at an intersection and it's all over. Fly over the handlebars at any speed and you'd struggle to prevent your face from hitting the ground.
i've always thought that city riding = full face helmet. more chance of coming off due to some dick who got their license from a weet-bix packet. Open road = not as many dicks to avoid, but fall with an open-face helmet and your face will be toast. not fun.

More situational awareness with an open-face? Turn your head around more then.

wear a fckn fullface helmet and some decent kicks! The number of twats i've seen wearng jandals and the like is crazy. You dunno what's gonna be around the next corner.

if you're gonna dress half-naked, then at least do it in a gold thong or something so that people will see you and stay away (unless you're down in Ponsonby then you might get a real night out) or give some of us something to laugh at while we're driving our SUVs and absent-mindedly swerve into your lane...

My personal preference is a full face.  I can see the advantage of an open face and having more peripheral vision but full face gets my vote everytime.

Yes it screws your make up in the morning (guys, you just wouldnt understand) and hat hair is a morning trial.

Steel caps to protect those toesys too!

is with the visor down on a full face you can mostly avoid the clouds of black exhaust from the Remuera Taxi in front!!

Go the Warriors !!

it is a decade old discussion of percentage of risk - accident safety versus accident prevention

proven fact is that a full face helmet is much safer when having and accident (although with scooters the majority of impact is on elbow, shoulder colrbone...)

but also proven fact is that accident prevention is a big factor - low weight of a open face helps to move your head , wider visor opening gives more vision and the free chin helps the visor from not fogging up

So obviously there is no right from wrong ... otherwise either lid would be forbidden, at least in those countries with a high lawsuit risk.

The hybrid helmets offer a ok-ish solution for the people who just DO want a bit more freedom .. they are open face but with more head enclosure and with a visor... this gives at least some protection at impact (given it is not a supercheap unit)

for the riders with a bit more $ to spend: get a flip top lid .... in stop and go trsaffic and down Ponsnobby road you can flip it up like a openface.. and fold it down for motorway and south auckland

"if it doesn't fit, use a bigger hammer!"

few have sunvisors. I stuck a strip of tape at the bottom of my visor to work as a sun visor but the problem with this idea is that every once in awhile the wind from a passing truck blows it down half way and I have to scramble to lift or lower it so I can see. The other thing is that if you have it down it warms your face. The weight of it and the windage are other reason why I prefer an open face. I know the dangers of the open face but I use both and with a windscreen I prefer the open face for ride enjoyment. It is like a convertable car in my mind. Although more dangerous should you roll, some would say that it puts the fun back into driving. When touring I use the full face and around town or short rides and some tours the open face. We didn''t have seat belts when I was a kid. We never wore bicycle helmets and no one from my town suffered any head injuries. However I would never let my kids, if I had any, do any of these things and I feel naked if my seat belt is not done up. Life is risky we can try and eliminate some of them but sometimes I prefer not to and usually this is when I feel most alive. I think the ultimate helmet would be one with a half bar that would run from one side and stop at your chin so halffull or half open a little lighter but have chin protection.I saw something like this in a race car but I think the bar was to hold his microphone.

beside this helmet discussion

WEAR GLOVES  !!!!!

ALWAYS !!!!!

"if it doesn't fit, use a bigger hammer!"

might be an open face with a bar like grid iron football players have. This way you would have the protection but still have enough open space to see and not feel so closed in.

just like Jack Nicholson in "Easyrider"

nick, nick , nick ....aaaahhhhrrrggghhh

"if it doesn't fit, use a bigger hammer!"

....No Contest.  I always wear boots,gloves, leathers etc but riding a classic I wear an open face, and a fullface  when on my Vespa.

With an open face I feel more at risk and ride like a nanna, which is fine on an old scoot. But I notice when using the fullface I ride way more aggressively, isolation from the enviroment I think. I've been around long enough to make an informed decision but I cringe at newbies with open shoes no gloves and shorts. I wonder what the nice salesman told them about safty gear?

I've been a bit naughty lately and have been tackling the motorway from Hobson St to Gillies Ave (and to Ellerslie if Im feeling more adventureous) *yes Jennie, you would be so proud* ......and there is a young man on a large Kawasaki motorbike that rides around the same time as me that wears a pair of jandals, some boardshorts on and a full face helmet.  I get the feeling once he got the bike, he couldnt afford a shirt.

Thats it. I cringe everytime.

OMG

You would have to be a moron to wear jandels (sorry Rex) - I once saw a photo of a guy who put his foot down wearing jandels and the thong had pretty much halved his foot

________________________________________________________

Sometimes an intelligent man has to be drunk to spend time with his fools

was a guy on a motorbike with only helmet and shorts, no shoes shirt or even gloves, he was just about managing to get it on the stand before he went into the local pool club

Go the Warriors !!

Clearly you folk have not been the certain Asian countries and cities such as Bangkok.  The best one I saw was a family of 4, Dad, Mum, son and baby, all on the scooter, no helmets, baby was asleep in Mum's arms and going like hell!

The traffic, for the "less travelled" is awful, with lunatic taxi drivers, trucks all over the place and the occasional rickshaw to avoid.  Fun!!

I see from this (albiet old and american) study - http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~john/vfr/hurt.html - that most accidents happen close to home, full face helmets are good and limitation of peripheral vision not that signifigant.

Very worrying is the percentage of groin injury accidents. Are kevlar reinforced y-fronts on the market yet?

When I ride I wear
Rex McIntosh - Wednesday, 26 March, 2008 - 09:10

Silver Kiwi That's ok Craig, I know I'm an idiot, at times, but crossing the Canturbury plains, mid summer 38 degrees, full kit is just too hot, so one makes allowances. Generally I'm well-dressed, without the golden thong. That would be fun!! Both crashes I've had in Italy on my SS 185, my windscreen helped me from doing a long distance flight down the road. Just ended up on bonnets with it wrapped around my waist! Had no helmet in thoses days, not compulsory, makes one shudder (1966) to think I survived with just cuts and cracked bone. Dress to the situation and conditions, I say.

I drop my armoured trousers and just my draggins if it's warm and dry and I am only travelling to the super market.