I have an open Face Bell 500 for really hot days but am conscious of the additional risk.
I also have a roof boxer R05 for when I want to flip the front right round. Can't answer the glasses thing though I'm afraid.
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I wear an open face when travelling ... straight motorway runs I out on a full face though.
There are other options if you want a flip kind like a Schuberth. I guess it all depends on what you’re after and for what use
https://www.schuberth.com/en/product...me-alt/e1.html
*sniggers*Originally Posted by learningtofly
I recently got my licence through DAS and bought an R9T.
I suppose the retro modern bikes would be the ones that an open face helmet would suit. Had a think about it but concluded there are plenty of retro looking full face helmets out there that combine retro styling and additional protection. I concluded that as head and neck is anatomically very complex, why take the chance? Others may take a different POV.
I ended up with one of the AGV legends series of full face helmets. Would recommend.
Thanks guys. I was just reading that statistically some 24% on collision impacts affect the area protected by the chin guard on a full face helmet. That's quite a sobering thought.
I do like the the look of the Bell Bullit a lot, so will endeavour to try one on. Failing that, the Schoei RF-1200 also looks like ity's a nice shape and worth a try-on.
John, I'm about to go down the DAS route myself. I started off thinking I'll get a CB300R, but now I'm thinking it could be a toss up between a SV650X and an MT-07.
I have a Schuberth c3, great lid and can flip front around town so like an open face (you look a twerp but can breathe in this hot weather!) however at higher speed in the country you can collect all manner of insects including wasps which buzz in your ears before stinging you which isn't good for bike control. I do believe that there are now open face helmets with visors and drop down sunscreens too. good luck with looking. John B4
Different brands often fit/wear differently - try a few and make sure it’s the correct size, looks should be well down the list TBH.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Once you get on a DAS bike you'll know if the 300cc is going to satisfy you or not. I was quite intimidated when I stepped up from the 125s to a SV650 at the school I used. Got used to it pretty quickly, though in the end I preferred their other DAS bike and passed my MOD1 (eventually) and MOD2 first time on their ER6. The Kawasaki was just easier for me to manoeuvre due to my short legs and general lack of stature. I suppose you'll find something that suits you, and that's the best way to approach it rather than be set on something that might not be the best fit.
What fits your head shapes the best for you.
I wouldn’t wear open face [it’s become fashion now along with sneakers as foot wear] way less protection and it has to be tight to grip so I find less comfortable and less cool.
Shoei NXR is light,very good vision,quick change visor [i use a photocromatic in changing light conditions],and very good ventilation.
Here’s mine 3rd one I’ve owned
All down to personal choice. I bought a Shark Evo lid last year - for holidays and scooting around locally - you can ride with the chin-bar down or secured over the back of the helmet. I think it is luck of the draw as to how you end up - in a crash. Not worn it yet, as my traditional holiday helmet is a 900gm carbon fibre job, which is so comfortable for 2wks/3,300miles.
Full face is safer than open face, and cars are safer than bikes, and trucks are safer than cars....... decide what risk is acceptable to you against the relative rewards.
NiceWhat fits your head shapes the best for you.
I wouldn’t wear open face [it’s become fashion now along with sneakers as foot wear] way less protection and it has to be tight to grip so I find less comfortable and less cool.
Shoei NXR is light,very good vision,quick change visor [i use a photocromatic in changing light conditions],and very good ventilation.
Here’s mine 3rd one I’ve owned
Shoei make some fantasic helmets.
Can't argue with the ACU gold sticker either.
I've had dozens of helmets, different makes over the years, and always gravitated back to Shoei.
Open face?
NOT A CHANCE.
I'd have needed facial reconstruction wearing one a few years back.
Chinbar of my Arai had almost gound through.(med speed lowside)
Ony damage to my bonce was a black eye where my sunnies had dug in.
Blimey, So i've been fashionable for the last 42 years by riding with an open face and wearing shoes .. who'd have guessed.
I do have both full face and open face, in summer always wear an open face, long distance in winter i'll wear a full face. There's no reason to simply dismiss one or the other, they both have their uses.
Make sure you check out any prospective purchase here: https://sharp.dft.gov.uk/
I usually buy Arai but ended up with an HJC this time at half the price of the Arai I was considering, it has a 5 star rating for safety, is quieter and lighter than my old Arai and has a built in sun visor that is excellent. Very happy with it.
I do a fair bit of on-off road trials so always wear open face for them, coupled with OTG (over the glasses) goggles.
Back in the day Scott did a great Goggle/face-mask combination that kept most of the bugs & stones out of your teeth.
This sort of thing:
Longer distance, crappier weather I'd go full face. The adventure lids (full face with a peak) work well and the flip ups work well too.
It's your head...
As said fit is everything
I always wanted an Arai lid but I have a Shoei shaped head
Good advice the same as mine.
Not really,less choice 42 years ago.
I slid down the road on my face for 100feet last year absolutely no warning.
Head OK,feet OK wearing bike boots,broken ribs armoured jacket but the force I landed could have been worse.
Your choice.
I've owned a fair few helmets over time and IMO there is no such thing as the 'perfect' one to wear. Currently I've got 3, open-face, flip up and full face and the choice of which to wear is dependant on a number of things; which bike, weather, route, etc.
One thing I would like to see is the ability to test ride a helmet before buying, as what's comfortable in the shop isn't necessarily so on the road. FWIW Tony, I rate Bell helmets highly but it is such a personal choice and the fit is most important.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I use a Schuberth C4, perfect for those that wear glasses (as I do) has bluetooth and intercom ready to go....
Gadget
Depends on your attitude to risk Tony, I wear a flip up (Shoe Neotech) most of the time, best of both worlds. My mate who's been riding for 44 years (has never had a car licence - or car) has never owned a full face helmet.
I keep meaning to get myself a Bell Custom 500 Stripes Pearl with the retro visor but shops that stock them never seem to have any in stock when I call in to try one on.
I have a Shoei J O open face helmet with a very clever integral drop down visor. I tried on lots before buying but the Shoei fits my head and looks ok on a vintage bike.
I am the opposite - have worn Arai since the 80s when they were considered exotic and choice was AGV, Bell etc.
Back to the OP - I would be OK with open face for low speed around town but there are several good reasons full face took off as soon as they became affordable both for safety and comfort, just like visors quickly replaced goggles.
I'm trying hard to find the photos, When I had my Triumph we had a talk by the local police motorcycle instructor he showed two very sobering images.
1. Two lines on the road that clearly went from black, white, red then white again, it was the trail left by a young girl who got dragged off a pillion, you could see where the trainers wore through then her feet then the bone.
2. Was a guy in A&E after face planting the road in an open face helmet, its a full colour image taken face on showing him awake, eyes wide open but his lower jaw and tongue just hanging on by some skin.
On a beautiful hot day its great to go out riding in a shirt and open face helmet, but its not worth the risk.
There’s a few folk with open sports cars who would level the same comment at the motorcyclist ..........
Well worth checking your lid on this site as I found out that more money does not always equate to better protection
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Yeah, yeah there’s always a risk but the risk of injury on a bike is much more that a car and it’s for the rider to decide what level of risk they want to take. I use a Schuberth C3 Pro. Good fit, reasonably quiet, drop down sun visor and flip up chin bar. Rated quieter than their fixed full face at the time.
If you want to be able to swap from open face to full face with the same helmet, have a look at the Nolan N44 modular helmet. I had an earlier version of this (N43) and it was very versatile. I think the N43 is still a current model.
https://youtu.be/-knbDkTOjy4
Last edited by Motman; 6th August 2018 at 18:04.
I have a Davida Jet open face to wear when pootling on the Bonneville, and a Shoei Neotec flip front for any decent distances.
The quality of the Davida is superb, and the range of colours/patterns is unbeatable - it works well with Oakley wrap around shatterproof shades.
However, bugs in the teeth can get annoying after an hour or so.
Davida are notoriously small in sizing, I take an XL in Shoei/Schuberth and a 2XL Davida Jet is a really snug fit.
If you want one helmet, then a flip front is the way forward - the open-face is a nice to have.
Thanks for sharing your views, guys - much appreciated.
I'll give this a bit more thought, but am coming round to the idea that open face for poodling around town/commuting/popping to the supermarket is a manageable risk, whereas for long rides/touring/motorways something a bit more robust would be more sensible. The two ranges that I'm loving at the moment are the Davida for open face (which it seems will take prescription goggles from Davida too), and the Bell Bullit for full face. That said, I need to try them on and will have a look at some of the alternatives that have been mentioned too - particularly the flip front options.
These Shoei are a good compromise, but as others have said, horses for courses. I've been using an open face with a visor during this bot weather, but l use a full face flip for a for a road trip or anything when I need to get a wiggle on. If you're thinking of the Bell, try before you buy, they are an odd shape and don't fit many European heads.
People in Europe have different heads ???
Works for me.
And whilst I'm not condoning it, it is a great feeling to be riding bare-headed.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
The Americans are bigger. ;-)
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I have a few helmets, a BMW open face for the quick commute to work, a couple of Arai’s for riding around TT week and the odd track day, and a flip front Shoei for touring (useful for not having to take your helmet off at checkpoints etc.)
I would not recommend an open face helmet for an inexperienced rider, as your chances of a minir accident in the first 12-24 months have got to be much higher.
It's just a matter of time...
And their woodpigeons ???
Probably bigger too.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Another recommendation for the flip front helmets, I haven’t had a bike for about 3-4 years now but after having sports, sports tourers, cruisers I found that the flip was the best all round choice for me. When I do end up back on a bike I will need to purchase again as mine will be too old but I will be very surprised if I don’t end up with something very similar to to what I have in the garage which is a Shoei Syncrotec 2
I have an arai o/f that’s super comfy up to 60 or so and a Schuberth flip front that’s not as nice to wear as I’d hoped.....
Yes. Head shape is crucial, it’s why the big helmet makers (Arai, Shoei, etc) make different helmets based on their markets. Smaller manufacturers can’t afford to, and so may not be a good fit outside their original markets
I have 2 Arai - a Chaser for distance work and a Tour X for shorter distances when it is hot but the style suits my bike well - if I had a cafe racer I might consider an open face variant but having always had full face I doubt I could bring myself to do so despite not running a race rep anymore I still doubt I would feel safe.
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I have a Schuberth C3 Pro and think its good. I believe however that there are various safety ratings but the Schuberth has to have the chin bar down and locked to meet the safety standard. Other flip front style helmets can meet the standard with the chin bar open. Can’t remember the details, sorry.
I dislike flip ups to heavy and restricted vision on hairpins compared to a full shell.
This is why I bought the NXR,I’ve been up tight mountain hairpins,in baking heat,in strong direct sunlight,in cold and in torrential rain it always delivers
https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocia...-helmet-review
As mentioned different manufacturers fit different head shapes, odd but apparently true.
Full face Shoei GT Air for me in bright yellow, a decision made after reading lots of forums and in particular one guy telling how he knocked his teeth out wearing an open face by tripping over whilst pushing the bike into a parking bay!
Another trend I’ve seen with weekend Harley riders is German WW2 looking lids wearing death masks and shades.
If you are aware of Simon Pavey you'll know he's a bloody good rider. Well I was with him when he was wearing a brand new BMW flip top which he'd just flipped up to talk to someone and then promptly hit a rock. It was low speed and he stayed on the bike, but the result of his now unprotected face hitting the top of the screen on his 1150GSA was a spectacular explosion of claret from a broken nose and split lip. Laugh? I certainly did.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I often wonder if the statistics regarding facial injuries in accidents are in some way reflective of the number of faired/screened bikes and the popularity of head down bum up style Japanese crotch rockets.
My old man has been wearing bell custom 500s (the don't fit my head shape at all) with a bubble visor for as long as I can remember. He's had a few offs in that time, face planting once but the bubble visor stood up to it. He still feels the greater field of vision the open Face gives him has helped him avoid more accidents.
I'm part way through DAS (mod1 done, mod2 in a few weeks). I bought a retro full facer, premier trophy but then bought a modern hjc. The retro full facers are generally over priced crap that are noisey, poorly ventilated, let rain in, steam up etc. I find my modern full facer extremely claustrophobic despite it being one with a max vision visor. I went full face because I wanted to be as safe as possible but I do get where my dad is coming from with the better vision thing. Unless I'm on a nsl road I have to have the visor open or I feel like I'm suffocating. When I pass and find the bike I want* I'll find a helmet that suits hopefully.
* It certainly won't be an sv650 as that's what to school uses and I'm just not a fan.
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I think you will get used to the helmet but agree with trying a few. When I ride I leave the visor “cracked” most of the time, all the vents open and sort of “stop breathing” I am sure once you have to concentrate less on the bike you will find the helmet more comfortable. Does the visor accept an anti-fog insert as these work really well? Otherwise there are coatings that help the best I have found is “shoptic” which I use on my glasses in winter.
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