I wanted to remember what it was like to live in a free country – remember when people used to say that? – so I went out for a ride on my motorcycle yesterday without wearing the helmet the government says I must wear whenever I ride my motorcycle on its roads. Italicized to emphasize the fact that the “public” does not control the roads; the government does.
Therefore, the government owns the roads.
It is an imbecility to speak of anyone “owning” a thing they do not control. The roads are one of those things. Notwithstanding that the public pays for them; notwithstanding the fact that the roads are public right-of-ways that used to be understood to be just that. If you question that, ask yourself why George Washington did not need a license to operate his horse on the public right-if-way that he rode upon when he travelled from his Mount Vernon home to Philadelphia.
Oh, but that was then!
Which of course is precisely the point. There was a time when people were free to travel on the public right-of-way. George Washington did not have to “buckle up” – or put a helmet over his head when he rode his horse.
Yet – today – in most parts of what used to be a free country – you are required to wear a helmet if you ride a motorcycle on the government’s roads. Because the government controls the roads. You will find out who owns the roads if you dare to ride a motorcycle on its roads without wearing a helmet.
It has nothing to do with “safety.”
That is absurd.
It is not “safe” to wear a helmet. It may reduce the damage to your head in the event you wreck while riding. But that is not the same thing as “safe,” though people have been conditioned like trained seals to arp arp! whenever that word is spoken.
Wearing a helmet does not reduce the risk of wrecking while riding. Not riding the bike does. Riding it with skill – and paying attention to the unfolding road ahead of you (as well as coming at you from the roads to the side of you) will reduce the chances that you’ll crash the bike. Or that someone else will crash into you.
Wearing a helmet won’t do a thing to reduce the chances of any of that – and that’s a fact.
You can even make a case that the wearing of a helmet can increase the chances you’ll crash.
First, by limiting your peripheral vision. A full face helmet does just that. Try riding with – and without – a helmet and see for yourself.
With a full-face helmet on, you see a bit less; there’s a tunnel vision effect that winnows what you see to what’s ahead of you. Mirrors – and turning you head slightly to the left and right to keep track of what’s otherwise not in your field-of-view can compensate but there’s nothing like the view you get the way nature designed you to view it. If you doubt it, try walking down a busy street wearing a full-face helmet.
Also notice what you don’t hear with a helmet covering your ears. The sound of what’s around you is muffled. It isn’t when you don’t have a helmet covering your ears.
Finally, helmets add weight to your head – especially the ones that aren’t expensive. If you can’t afford to spend $500-plus on a lightweight helmet, you will discover that it can be fatiguing to wear an inexpensive one. Your neck may begin to ache after wearing such a helmet for more than a half-hour. And even if it doesn’t – even if you bought a high-quality, lightweight helmet that doesn’t fatigue you, it’s still hot and sweaty inside a helmet when it’s hot outside. Most helmets have vents but they work to keep you cool like an old VW’s heater kept you warm when it was cold outside.
It is also silly to insist that motorcyclists wear helmets – but nothing else. Shorts and flip-flops are legal. But you’d better be wearing a helmet. Of course, helmets are just the beginning – which brings us to the point.
They are like seatbelts in cars. The government began with them – and look where we are today. It’s the logical end result of accepting that the government has the rightful power to require people to “buckle up.” If that is granted, all else follows – and so it has. Six air bags, “advanced driver assistance technology” – including “speed limit assistance technology” – leading up to cars we’re not allowed to drive ourselves anymore. That is almost here. And it all began with seatbelts.
More finely, with mandatory “buckle-up” laws.
The eventual outlawing of motorcycles will inevitably follow, on the same basis. If it is not “safe” to ride without a helmet, then – logically – it is not “safe” to ride a motorcycle without full riding gear. Boots and gloves, armored pants and a jacket rated as “safe” by the government. No more shorts and t-shirt for the same reason no more riding with your face in the wind. 
Inevitably, motorcycle riding as such will be called “unsafe.” Because it is – relative to what is likely to happen if you crash, even with a helmet on, relative to what would happen if you crashed while inside a “safe” car equipped with six air bags, all “buckled up.”
Remember the mentality behind Safetyism. Understand that it uses “safety” to stifle everything that’s enjoyable. That there is never an end to it.
Because it’s never been about “safety.”
Look at the face of “safety” – and see for yourself.
. . .
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Meant to say broken in.
To wear or not to wear. {Shakespeare?}. It’s your choice. I dumped my Virago 750 in town when a car swerved in front of me. Big scrapes on my helmet, leather jacket, torn jeans, blitzed bursa on my knee (40 years ago) still feel it. Big insect hit my chest (leather jacket open, in summer). Monster welt. Stung like hell. Took years for the red blotch to disappear. Bee made it up my glove once. Ouch! Hand puffed up for weeks. Buddy lent me his Katana for a month. Wow! Curvy mountain roads. Katana telepathic! Sold the Virago when I graduated from law school. Wouldn’t have time to ride frequently anymore. Lack of practice, I surmised, would be dangerous. I now drive a 2007 (bought new) Honda Civic Si. 80,000 miles. Not yet broken it. Cheers!
You got a helmet?
George Hanson had a football helmet for a helmet in the movie Easy Rider. Didn’t do much good.
An Uneasy Rider experience might happen, unfortunately.
Your skull will be crushed immediately, no hope whatsoever. An over-ripe watermelon gone plaid.
You don’t want to see an accident victim dying on the shoulder of the highway, however, it does happen.
One accident will do it.
Hi Drump,
It’s a trade-off. Cost (potential) vs. benefit (actual). I like to feel the sun and wind in my face. I hate the feeling of my head being encased in a stuffy helmet that restricts my view and keeps the wind and sun off of my face. Yes, I might be more severely injured – even killed – if I wreck. I consider the risk worth taking. Just the same as I consider it worth the risk to eat a nice marbled ribeye rather than a grilled chicken breast.
Life is about such choices. And it is about living your life they way you deem best!
Other people ought to respect that. We suffer from epidemic of Puritanical busybodyism.
Abolish all helmet mandates! We NEED MORE ORGAN DONORS.
I rode a motorcycle for 10 years with no helmet (and no special license). Still have all my organs. Sorry to disappoint.
So don’t quit now. Get back on a bike, and Keep Riding! 🙂
So, no more mountain climbing, sky diving, SCUBA diving, foot ball, etc.?
Risk is part of the joy of life.
Well, obviously, SCUBA diving should only & ever be done from within a shark cage while wearing diving helmet. How else is MikePizzo & The Karen’s ever gonna collect all the organs?
Hard to collect the organs when you have to compete with sharks.
I would rather give my organs to the sharks than to the likes of people like you. Cage or no cage.
Hi Shadow,
If that’s your wish, here’s a useful tip for you…do your swimming or surfing around the Farallon Islands off the coast of Central Kali. The sharks will be chowing down on your organs within a couple of hours.
Mike,
You draw a false equivalence. To swim among man-eating sharks is damned near certain to result in a man being eaten. It is akin to sticking your hand in a running blender.
To ride a motorcycle without a helmet on is a risk on par with not wearing a seatbelt. I have been riding motorcycles for 40 years. Often without a helmet. I have never been injured as a result of not wearing one. Just as I have never been injured because I don’t “buckle up” – which I never do.
You equate not wearing a helmet with swimming in shark infested waters; i.e., that it is stupid and reckless. This is absurd. See point made above.
And – besides – you miss the point. Which is that this is a personal choice that is made on the basis of risk-reward. The reward – for those of us who ride – is to enjoy the ride. The risk of this is slight enough to be worth taking, in our judgment.
Safety Fags think our judgment is flawed. We think such people are Fags – South Park sense – and should fuck off.
Hi Eric,
You really fighting this much brain fog today?
OF COURSE going in the water at the Farallons is almost certainly faster way to
die than riding without a helmet. That was the whole point. Shadow said he’d rather be eaten be a shark than be an organ donor. I simply gave him an idea that would guarantee that result…real fast.
…and that fact that you are more than eager to help people die and give them tips on how to do so shows your character, Mike. Or lack thereof. You would have made a great, Soviet Politburo member back in the day. Some of us just want to be left the hell alone (and will leave others alone). We are willing to accept said consequence of our own choices. Just leave us the fuck alone and go away already. We all know you hate freedom of choice and such, so how about going somewhere where you have none. It sounds like you would feel more comfortable being told (and forced) what to to, and clearly love the subjugation of others. Even if you do not say it, your posts reek of such.
Ditto all you’ve written, Shadow –
There is clear malice-contempt in the way Mike wrote (ALL CAPS) about “organ donors” – and how “we need” more of them. It evinces the superciliousness of the know-it-all busybody who thinks anyone who does not share his views is stupid and deserves to suffer on account of it.
What personal stake do you have in my riding with or without a helmet? Besides your sick wish to see me and others who disagree with your take on helmets and coercion crash and become an organ donor? What the hell is wrong with you?
Why would you say such a thing, Mike?
How about if I wished death on everyone who’s overweight and doesn’t exercise?
What’s wrong with you?
Sad to say, there are some terrible humans out there, Eric. These are the same humans that think you should lose everything because you did not get the COVID jab. Those who wish ill will on others tend to forget that wishing bad on others often comes back to them, and not in a good way. IT is the old, “what goes around comes around” aspect of life. Case in point: All those who are jabbed who are now sick, or dropping dead suddenly.
Good morning, Shadow!
Yup. It’s a despicable thing to wish harm on someone else because you don’t agree with their choices in life. We saw this manifest over the “vaccines,” which no one on our side (as far as I am aware) expressed hope people who took them would die or be injured from. I’ve heard the “organ donor” thing coming from people like Mike for decades. Implicit in this is a hope – on their part – that those of us who choose to ride without a helmet (assuming we’re allowed to choose) will pay for our choice, which they disapprove of. It’s the old Puritan instinct to punish those whom Puritans consider to be unorthodox.
We can’t just agree to disagree and let it go at that. No. The Puritan will always insist we must agree with him and if we don’t, he’ll do his damndest to make us. If he can’t, he’ll jeer and rail against us.
I will never understand such people except insofar as such people are the enemy of cool people – who are fine with others living their lives as they see fit and keeping their busybodyism to themselves.
The Puritan: “Somebody, somewhere is having fun. We must put a stop to it.:
“We can’t just agree to disagree and let it go at that. No. The Puritan will always insist we must agree with him and if we don’t, he’ll do his damndest to make us. If he can’t, he’ll jeer and rail against us”
Hi Eric,
That quote above sounds Exactly Like Your attitude and behavior toward those who wear masks. 🙂
The same people who rallied FOR the masks also rallied FOR the jabs, and were willing to destroy the rest of us who wanted neither. If you want to breathe your own spit while wearing a face diaper, that is your deal, but do not force the rest of us to follow along with your lunacy. No one is forcing you to do either the way you do to the contrary.
Mike,
I never wished “maskers” ill. That’s the difference.
Hi Eric
” I never wished “maskers” ill. That’s the difference.”
Your response is extremely “Clintonesque.” But since you are delving into semantics…..
I never “wished” anyone anything. I posted a Reminder that riding sans helmet causes a a higher crash fatality rate compared to helmeted riders, and that might create a higher number of donors. This might be a social benefit.. And that’s been enough to cause major tantrums. It’s foolish to rage against the messenger. Man up, make your own decision, and live (or not) with the results! You said above that you had made your decision, and I respect it.
Do these posters really think that Tinker Bell waved her magic wand and made them immune to the laws of physics and the law of averages? Obviously, they don’t like to be reminded otherwise. But that doesn’t make it true.
Bullshit, Mike.
I very clearly never wished “maskers” ill. You very clearly did wish people who don’t wear helmets ill. Spare me the semantic oleaginousness.
You didn’t say that not wearing a helmet increases the risk of being injured (and injured worse) if you crash. Rather, you said:
“Abolish all helmet mandates! We NEED MORE ORGAN DONORS.”
No semantic parsing needed.
Bullshit Eric,
“We need more organ donors.” That’s not a “wish,” it’s a fact. And a reminder that riding without a helmet increases your odds of becoming an organ donor. That’s a fact. NO WISHES.
To re-state the already obvious, I don’t wish that any helmetless riders die. I really don’t care one way or the other.
Or perhaps you’re really objecting to my first sentence “Abolish all helmet mandates” Really????
You’re so wrapped up in emotion that you’re contradicting yourself.
Mike,
You say “we need more organ donors” isn’t a wish but a fact. Then how do you explain the fact that I have not donated any organs? That is a contrary fact. And why would you say “we need more organ donors? Italics added. “Need” them?
No “bullshit.”
I merely observe your obvious contempt for those who do not share your supercilious Safetyism.
4 years after, and I still find Mike Bitcho pooping on this comment section.
Once had a guy that a Civic ran a stop sign right in front of him he went over the handle bars and over the Civic. He ended up face down on the road not breathing. Luckily for him it happened right in front of our fire station, otherwise he would have been a goner. We immobilized his head and neck, body rolled him over onto his back, opened his airway and got him breathing again. Took him several months to recover, both hospital and outpatient. He later thanked us and I asked him if he was still riding and he said “no more motorcycles”. Note: He wasn’t wearing a helmet.
It can happen. As a grown man I know this, and I’m able to make those kinds of risk assessments all by myself. No government nannies necessary.
Oddly enough I wear a helmet on the highway only, because it cuts the noise. Around town where I’m most likely to tangle with Murphy, a helmet greatly increases the danger as well as cutting into the pleasure.
Also always wear a shirt- I learned the hard way by riding past some dumb f@#k farmer’s apiaries and riding my bare chest through a small swarm of bees. The welts were spectacular.
The weight of the helmet can also cause neck injuries…
Re: face of safety….why isn’t he talking about these huge, unsafe SUV’s?…..you can’t see out of them…..and at 4000 lb plus they are killing people, when driven by these crappy, distracted, texting drivers….and what about the very dangerous, lithium fire bomb battery EV’s?
But, but…if you have an accident, suffer significant injuries and don’t have insurance, then others will be forced to pay for your medical costs.
“That’s a problem caused by socialism, not liberty.” Walter Williams
others will be forced to pay for your medical costs…….
at some hospitals you have to pay in advance…no free stuff….except for illegal migrants….
Hi Anon,
This “others will be forced to pay” business apparently doesn’t apply to all the fatties who are allowed to eat whatever they like and as much of it as they like. Never mind that this makes it more likely they will develop serious, chronic – and expensive – health problems.
I say this only to point out the arbitrariness of it – as well as the danger. If “others will be forced to pay” is the justification, practically any restriction can be justified – since doing (or not doing) “x” might result in “others being forced to pay”… given socialism.
I prefer accountability and responsibility – for each of us and no one else. Whatever I choose to do – or not do – if it results in costs, then they are my responsibility and not anyone else’s because those other people had nothing to do with it. Just the same, the actions of others cannot be my responsibility because I played no part in their actions.
Of course, these are heretical thoughts in our times.
No medical care now…they just offer you MAID….
OT: article on Nissan nixing the Versa. Comments more interesting than the article.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/article-13639409/americas-cheapest-car-axed-worst-driven-vehicle.html
Automatic Speed Limiters are here NOW in the tyrannical EU that is crazy. I presume that means it won’t be long before we are getting them too. What a bunch of sissies and pansies these government leaders have become.
https://www.the-sun.com/motors/11921875/speed-limiting-ai-tech-today-eu-loophole/
And to counteract losing money on speeding tickets, the EU will simply jack up everyone’s taxes. For they will have to make up for the revenue loss somewhere.
Here out West an all day ride with a helmet in summer can turn into torture. Trips from WA to Sturgis was helmet off once over the ID state line. No mandate for adults in ID, MT, SD, WY
Much safer riding with a cooler noggin than cooked inside even a half helmet. Doo wrap to keep the hair pretty and for that scary “pirate” vibe!
Personal choice believer here.
I choose not to ride at all. My choice. I took a lesson about 30 years ago. Jabbed the throttle a little and the stupid bike vell in between my knees and almost broke both legs. At that point, I just walked away and never looked back.
fast forward to today, I may have to give it another shot.
I currently ride a bicycle without a helmet. All the helmet ever did was make my brain overheat in teh 90 degree weather.
Helmets are a waste of time.
People gonna do what they gonna do. Have fun
I’ve got a couple of pals from way back in the day who each had wrecks while wearing helmets. One’s a para and one’s a quad. I’d rather be road pizza.
Being “smarter” by wearing more protection is a matter of perspective. Following that line of reasoning the “smartest” would be the guy who only rides in a massive vehicle with air bags and multiple restraints and all the nanny gear one can cram in.
Personally, I believe it’s “smarter” to enjoy the experiences of life while alive, to whatever extent your acceptance of risk can tolerate. Mine appears to be quite high. Life without risk is a pale shadow.
Amen, Bill – very well-said!
The “safest” place of all is in the ground. Nothing bad can happen to you there – because you’re no longer living.
Come on Eric, don’t you know the “safety” tyrants are way smarter than you? That’s the exact thing they mean to force you to accept.
“Your too stupid to manage your life.”
Meanwhile the very same safety tyrants are too stupid to balance their budget, which us stupids seem to manage quite well. Of course we don’t have a Federal Reserve backing us up.
Indeed, John –
I’ve been smart enough, apparently, to avoid wrecking my bike for the past 30-plus years. Maybe I’m just lucky. But after awhile, luck is less explanatory than prudential action. I grant I might wreck – or get wrecked. Such things can and do happen. But I refuse to live my life quaking in fear of what might happen. And I despise neurotic tyrants who want to impose their fears on others.
I ride in shorts and t-shirt when it is really hot out. Never barefoot or flip flops. Mostly wear sneakers and I always wear gloves! The helmets I use are exclusively NON-DOT. Usually a super lite 1960s style open face 3/4 helmet with chrome mirror bubble shield, you know that funny looking space man vibe. 😎 keeps the wind off my face. Like Eric, sometimes on a hot day I will ride without one. The government is NOT MY MOMMY and I resent it acting so. When freedom is outlawed only outlaws are free.
Back when this was a free country, you could buy a Thompson Submachine gun from the Sears, Roebuck catalog and the mailman would deliver it to your front door, C.O.D.
No background check… no 4473… no permit.
I “kissed” the pavement for the first time in 40 years of riding last year, I landed on my face. I was very thankful I was wearing my full face helmet and leathers, I wouldn’t ride without them.
But it’s MY face, not the government’s, and it’s up to me what precautions I want to take.
Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety has also been used as justification for COVID jab mandates/ vaccine passports and even gun control. What next, will it also be used as justification for censorship of people who speak out against government/ corporate approved narratives on various issues? Digital ID? CBDCs? Mass killings of chickens and cows (because of bird flu)? Banning certain political parties or movements?
A triple decker hamburger is not safe. Thanks to government and Brandon, we’ll all be safe by losing weight very soon.
It’s all about risk. How much risk are you willing to take & do you think you can manage said risk?
My dad used to ride a Triumph & would counsel my brother and me that there were two types of riders a) those who have dumped the bike and b) those who will dump the bike.
I rode a Sportster for several decades until giving up entirely within the last few years. Loved the low n slow country cruise. But, I was the nerd that had a full face helmet, leathers, then kevlar with elbow/knee protection, and gloves with knuckle protection. Pretty obvious that I’m risk adverse.
The guys wearing a brain bucket and leathers are at least a little smarter than the punks on crotch rockets. The punks have their $1500 Shoi helmet, tank top, and surfing shoes. They are the opposite of risk adverse.
I’m not judging how others ride. If you wanna take the risk of serious brain injury or road rash, then by all means do so. None of the protection will prevent foot / leg / spine / neck / arm / wrist injuries during a crash anyhow.
All true, Mike!
But taking risks ought to be a matter of personal choice – and responsibility. I often cite (in relation to the helmet and seatbelt issues) the fact that it is “healthy” to work out and avoid being more than a few pounds overweight. Yet I would never require people to work out – or advocate fines for people who are overweight. Let them assume the risks of poor health.
That used to be the American way…
It seems with every increase in technology, there is a proportional decrease in freedom.
Hi Eric,
I agree everyone should have a right to wear a helmet or not. But one thing it does add to safety thats of real value is the insect protection. I once remember almost crashing due to a tiny fly hitting me in the eye while riding a simple bicycle. I think even with sunglasses a bigger fly hitting you at highway speed could chrash you if you are in middle of bypassing a car or something.
I once had a large Junebug hit me in the forehead while riding at about 50 mph. It felt like someone punched me. Didn’t wreck, but it was jarring.
It started with “warning” labels on cigs. It has progressed to the point, 60 years later, where we now live in a Sealed For Your Protection Society.
And, isn’t it ironic, that we now must endure global calls for population reduction because too many humans mean the planet is being destroyed.
As you quote Greaseman, and they ask me why I drink.
Excellent point Mark,
The saaaaafety cult has all but eliminated would-be Darwin Award winners who perform the valuable service of removing themselves from the gene pool. 😆
Curiosity forces me to ask if anyone here has ever ridden with flip flops on? Shorts and a t-shirt? Been there, done that on super hot and humid days but only very short distances and nervous cause people don’t seem to drive as well as they once did.
I’m using an open face cruiser style brain bucket to get the most viability I can, the only problem I have with it is that after a couple hours of riding my hearing is impaired a bit due to wind and exhaust noise but it usually recovers after a couple hours.
As for the face of safety all you need to know about him is he doesn’t say sh*t about all the people killed by self driving Tesla’s.
Hi Landru,
Yep! My GF wears them regularly when we ride together….
I have often, though I’m usually a boots, jeans, and tee shirt guy. I have ridden nearly daily since about 1974 and am happy to live in a state that doesn’t require helmets.
My first motorcycle road trip was when I was 18, south Seattle to San Diego via Yellowstone, Utah canyon lands, Grand Canyon, Vegas. 450 Honda. Tee shirt, shorts, sandals for the run into Vegas, 112 degrees. Crazy.
RE: road noise hearing damage – I’ve got mild tinnitus after 50 years on two wheels. The freeway cruising is the worst. I need to start using ear protection, there are over the counter plugs that cut the worst of it while allowing you to hear sirens etc.