Open Face Helmets

[Robert H]

Hello all,
I have up to now, only ever owned and used Full face helmets and recently during longish rides have felt a little uncomfortable within the confines of a full face, particularly in warm weather. Therefore,I would like to ask the question, are there any members who have experience of using an open face helmet on there Trophies. My thinking is that with the good wind protection offered by the Trophy an Open face could be a good option as a second helmet. Obviously, additional wind and road noise might be a concern. Should I purchase one I would consider a decent quality one such as the Shoei J 2 (Jet style) . If anyone could advise,I would be grateful before committing to the expense.
Best regards

[Coconut]

It's down to personal choice but I would NEVER ride with an open faced helmet because of the lower protection they offer.

Shoe Neotec 2 for  me - Modular “Flip Up” design that is certified to ride with it “up”, or Nolan N104 fur the same reason,
which is useful for short periods when appropriate !

Cheers 

[trophied]

Not enough protection to suit me with an open face type helmet, and I honestly don't understand why anyone would wear one on a motorcycle at all.  I lift the visor on my Shoei Neotec ll if I need any extra ventilation, and leave the sun visor down for eye protection, depending on riding conditions.

[McVicar]

A few years ago my wife had a high speed crash on her speed triple. Luckily she got away with minor injuries to her hand and after a couple of nights in hospital she's now fully recovered.  Thank God she was wearing a full face helmet. It was very heavily scratched all along the visor area and a big gauge was taken out of the chin bar. I dread to think what damage would have been done to her face if she had been wearing an open face helmet.

[Warpbeamer]

A few years ago I had a relatively low speed accident on a 2005 Rocket 3 that I had at the time. I was wearing an open face helmet (for the first time ever). My mouth smashed into the top of the screen snapping-off all of my front teeth, fragments of which were found embedded into my top lip that was also split open. Luckily, my face did not hit the road and I was wearing fully protected trousers, jacket, boots and gloves. I shudder to think what damage would have been done had my face hit the road surface. I’ll never ride again wearing an open face helmet or any helmet without a permanently fixed chin bar.

[Novocastrian]

Originally Posted by Robert H

Hello all,
I have up to now, only ever owned and used Full face helmets and recently during longish rides have felt a little uncomfortable within the confines of a full face, particularly in warm weather. Therefore,I would like to ask the question, are there any members who have experience of using an open face helmet on there Trophies.

Shoei Neotec II - expensive but perfect for those who, perhaps like you, enjoy extra ventilation when needed.  It's one of the few 'chin up' helmets that is certified for use in either the closed or open position.  Excellent quality and positive latching mechanism.

I mostly ride with it closed but in towns I often ride with it open.  I also occasionally ride with it open on particularly hot days, such as we experienced in France and Belgium recently.

They cost around 500 of our finest British Pounds I believe, and if you can afford it, the Sena SRL Mesh with the Harmann/Kardon speakers is discreet (purposely designed to fit the Neotec II helmet) and gives fantastic audio quality for music (way better than the previous SRL).  However, again, this will cost you over 300 of our GBP, but worth it.

I only don an all-white helmet because I do all I can to increase visibility, but thats my choice.

I can't recommend this set-up highly enough.

[HACKLE]

  Robert H, I'm with those comments above. After seeing a riders nose nearly removed after he slid head first, face down whilst wearing an open face helmet I'm not going there. Of course there are those riders who happen to ride a particular American brand of bike that wouldn't be seen in anything else but an open face helmet.
  Your head, your choice.

[bogie]

I wear a convertible helmet most of the time, its great for touring. A Shark Evo-One. You can get GT or ES versions the latter a little cheaper comes without pinlock insert. Ive been wearing different versions of this helmet for over 10 years now. It was one of the first helmets to be homologated and pass safety rating both open and closed, and one of the few "flip up" helmets with a 5 star safety rating. (many flip up designs are not supposed to be worn at speed in the open position)

https://shark-helmets.com/en_GB/products/evo-gt-evo-gt

The chin bar goes all the way back and then the visor comes down so you can wear it like a jet style or full face and get some fresh air from time to time. I tend to use this feature on hot days around town. Out on the open road at speed I prefer to wear it fully closed.

Its a great compromise between wearing an open or full face helmet and is more protective than a true open face .