Open face or full face?

Just can't seem to bring my self to wear a full face helmet on a custom bike. No problem on the tourer but open face just seems right for cruisers to me. I know all the risks and have heard the warnings but it's looks and feeling 'cool' for me even in the winter. Yet when I get on my 1250, I go all sensible and protected!  I thought about a flip helmet which is marketed to give the best of both - but for me I don't get on with the profile. I have a drop down visor on my open face and wear a 'mask' when it's cold but most of the time you can see my face (with shades).
How about you, are you a 'piss-pot' addict or do you reach for a full face?

John, it has to be safety first and foremost, you may look cool with the open faced helmet but you sure won't look cool with your jaw wired together or worse. You know it makes sense, go for the full faced helmet m8 and stay

Full face or flip front every time. We banned open face helmets in road racing many years ago for the simple reason that folk were wearing there faces away when they fell off & the insurance companies started refusing to allow open face helmets. There are a few folk in vintage racing who wear open helmets but they are getting down to just a few now, probably 4 out of 100 & they are sidecar racers mostly.

I have both open and flip helmets, they both have their pro's and cons. Tend to wear the flip on my Beemer and for wet weather riding on my VZ. Love the exposure of the open face helmet. Think my next lid will be a Shark Evoline.

Full face helmet for me. As Stingray said, safety first.

This putting so called cool before safety is utter lunacy, also very immature. Although each to their own, we only have one life look after it.

Shark evoline or open face on cruiser, Full face/flip on tourer, Flip Flops are a must on either bike though 

Yes let's be sensible guys - definitely no smoking less our lungs look like  curtain net, no alcohol to stop our liver exploding, no fatty food to prevent heart attacks and exercise for 3 hours each day - oh and no motorcycling cos the statistics are not good  . Looking cool is for immature guys eh?...hmmm - let he who is without sin, and all that. Still each to our own eh? I usually wear Kevlar jeans and leather jacket on a custom bike but one look in the mirror with a full face and I'd see a prick - sort of like swimming in your best suit...the wrong gear? Some of the local 'ard lads have bare arms to show off their tattoos in the warmer weather - makes me cringe a bit but they sure look the part and if I were built like Rambo I'd be tempted to say stuff the rash risk - bring on the cool! If the helmet law changed to full face only, I'd probably never ride a cruiser again. 

But I don't mind those who do....

We all have own choices to make.

Bluesman wrote:

 I usually wear Kevlar jeans and leather jacket on a custom bike but one look in the mirror with a full face and I'd see a prick 

Have you thought about adjusting your mirrors John? they might be a tad low   

Bluesman wrote:

Yes let's be sensible guys - definitely no smoking less our lungs look like  curtain net, no alcohol to stop our liver exploding, no fatty food to prevent heart attacks and exercise for 3 hours each day - oh and no motorcycling cos the statistics are not good.

You won't live any longer....... but it will sure as hell make you feel as if you've been here for an eternity though! .......

simbo wrote:

Bluesman wrote:

 I usually wear Kevlar jeans and leather jacket on a custom bike but one look in the mirror with a full face and I'd see a prick 

Have you thought about adjusting your mirrors John? they might be a tad low   

I know open faced are proven to be less safe than full faced in accidents   but I feel more aware of my surroundings when wearing one, visibility seems better too   not sure how anyone else feels?

I agree sim. I actually bought a flip front a while back, wore it once it took it back. Hated it. Felt too cocooned from my environment rather than in connection with it.

And let's be honest, there's an element of rider control too. If you ride like an aggressive twat, no full face is going to help you. Whereas someone else in an open face might just 'elegantly bimble  round'.

We're all entitled to our own opinion Jeff but I don't think there's any need for virtual finger wagging and statements that wearing open face is "lunacy and immature". Bit strong that imho :(

For me it's open faced lid, 99% of the time. I had a Shark Evoline years ago and Melted it on my workbench under a 500w halogen bulb. I loved that helmet pre-warp so much that I bought another one. That helmet gives the best of both worlds but if I wear it, will 99% of the time have it flipped back. Apart from that lid, I wear a fully illegal open faced lid.
Health and safety with lids, is important, I agree. But,,,,, you get much better visibility from an open face lid, than you do with a full face one. Now when you consider that most bike accidents happen because they get hit by cars, I would rather either see it coming or the possability of it, so I can try to avoid it. I am sure I have avoided several near misses, simply because my visibility has been increased.
I know there will be a million tales of whoa but my experience is more important to me, than tales of what ifs & maybe's.

Jeff, to say that anyone who wears an open face helmet shows lunacy and is immature, is rediculous. It insults a very large degree of Cruiser riders.

Actually I think I ride more aggressively all togged up with protective gear on a sporty bike than to a minimum on a custom. So safety index probably evens itself out. Most intelligent riders make allowances for their gear in how they ride. On a hot day, all sweaty and uncomfortable, an open face is probably safer in that it makes you feel less stressed. As Sim and Dave say, angle of view is wider particularly if you wear specs. It might even save you pulling out on a vehicle hidden by restrictions of full face. Obviously if you come off we know which is better. So concentrate on not coming off! I have 7 helmets - 4 full, 2 three quarters and 1 five eighths. Choosing the right gear for each ride is part of biking pleasure.

I whole heartedly agree with you John. Finding the gear that makes you most comfortable and gives the best visibility when riding, makes for a more pleasant and safer ride.

Cruiser-Open face in Summer, Full Face in winter
Tourer-Full Face every time, regardless of season

Lowey wrote:

This putting so called cool before safety is utter lunacy, also very immature. Although each to their own, we only have one life look after it.

If you want to look at it that way then riding a motorcycle is sheer lunacy and also very immature. We are all getting older, but it doesn't  mean we have to act our age.  I know guys I went to school with who spend Sunday afternoons wandering round garden centres buying Christmas bobbles in the middle of July.

I know where I'd rather be, out on the road with my immature bro's our faces full of dust and flies and grinning like dogs do when they stick their heads out the car window.

I wear a flip up have it up when in traffic, at any speed always down as it catches the wind and pulls your head back .Have been looking to buy an open face for awhile as the one I have somewhere is 25yrs old and was used by  my boys when they were young as goal post, chessnut bringer downer pretend American football and a weapon .How  many of us have ridden about on a scooter abroad without any helmet I know I have, strange that as I would nt do it here.I think the beauty of it is this the choice is yours.

Mr Intruder wrote:

Jeff, to say that anyone who wears an open face helmet shows lunacy and is immature, is ridiculous. It insults a very large degree of Cruiser riders.

If you care to read my post again you will see what I wrote is This putting so called cool before safety is utter lunacy, also very immature.

If 'cool' gives better visibility, where is your argument?

bigmal wrote:

We're all entitled to our own opinion Jeff but I don't think there's any need for virtual finger wagging and statements that wearing open face is "lunacy and immature". Bit strong that imho :(

You are right we all have our opinions, and nobodies is less valued than another. You also have misread my post, if you read it again you will see that I never said wearing an open faced helmet is lunacy or immature, there is no finger  wagging included in the post. I too have also worn an open faced helmet while riding my cruisers and a full faced when riding my touring bikes.

I've got a full-face Schubert S1Pro, an HJC Flip-front and a Nolan Open-face.
I wear whatever is appropriate for the weather, bearing in mind we regularly have 30º summers.
The Schubert is the quietest helmet I've ever owned.
The Flip is OK but noisy and heavy.
I love my Open-face but it too is noisy.

At the end of the day it's horses for courses.

Hey Bluesman, you sure stirred up a hornets nest then threw in a can of worms for good measure starting this thread!!!! 

You're right it seems to be a very COOL thread

Bugsy wrote:

bearing in mind we regularly have 30º summers.

Show Off!

At least the bread we bought at 8:30 isnt like a stale piece of concrete by tea time!

True but then, we don't need to take Rennies after eating it.

Lowey wrote:

You're right it seems to be a very COOL thread

'Cool' but 'Safe' at the same time 

hmac wrote:

 We are all getting older, but it doesn't  mean we have to act our age.  I know guys I went to school with who spend Sunday afternoons wandering round garden centres buying Christmas bobbles in the middle of July.

I know where I'd rather be, out on the road with my immature bro's our faces full of dust and flies and grinning like dogs do when they stick their heads out the car window.

   I used to be quite sensible as a young man (well occasionally ) but as the balance of years decreases ever more rapidly, my carefree nature is blossoming. Why do I overtake when I don't need to? Cos it gives me a buzz, that's why. When I hop on a cruiser be it Intruder, Harley or whatever, my open face says freedom, self expression and   to conventionality. I've just got back from a two hour blast around the city and it's outskirts  (with a few stops in between) wearing my open face and shades, only 8 degrees C, full sun - bracing and worth a million arm chair TV moments. Mr Normal eat your heart out - if you want to know how to live , ask any biker. I'll say one thing in favour of full face helmets; you can shout fu** sh** ar** tw** and anything else you fancy to get it all off your chest, all inside your personal cocoon. 
Mind you if someone cuts me up I do anyway, even wearing an open face!

Just don't cough or sneeze, that's all!    (messy!)

Bluesman wrote:

Just don't cough or sneeze, that's all!    (messy!)

I've heard of a red mist descending..... that would be a GREEN mist 

Well bumbling around the Austrian countryside in a cut off and pisspot gets my vote.  I ride because I ride and couldn't give a shit who wears what.....  Reminds me of those wassocks wearing hi viz with POLITE across the back to simulate some kind of Cop uniform.  C'est la Vie, wear what you like its all about the ride.  I bought a Red Head WW2 styled German Helmet for rallies and the like.  Fucked if I get a knock but looks the bollox with Raybans  

Big Al wrote:

Fucked if I get a knock but looks the bollox with Raybans  

Good on you Al.   Not having a custom bike any more, I do miss open face when it's hot. I know someone who wears a piss pot on a Busa in the nice weather - looks a right pillock! Mind you, I can look comical if I occasionally slip into my Power Ranger suit, although it would probably help me bounce a bit more safely! 

So far I had only open face helmets because of more visibility and being more part of the journey or something like that... you know.
This year I bought a tourer, or we call it crossover and I just love it. Great visibility cannot be compared to a usual full face. Mine is X-Lite x-403GT but there are many similar on the market. I just wanted to point put the this thing is somewhere in between. I don't even see the chin guard during the ride. I think it also look kinda cool on a cruiser and to tell the truth I don't miss the wind swirling in my eyes on a really long ride. For a short ride in 40 degrees I still take the open face;)

Both, but always ride my scooter with open face.