As just a novice rider on a 125cc bike of appx three weeks, can anyone give me any clues as to an open face lid. At the moment I have a full face. I am an experiance car and lorry driver of some 25yrs, and I am hoping I am not tempting fate as to say that to date zero accidents that was my fault with appx six against me,one against plain clothes bill (which is another story).Are they OK to use,do you get better visability than full face etc etc. Thanks a lot
Personally I wouldn’t have one…but that’s just a fear I have that the catch may get hit and the front flips up!
you get fra better visibility with an open faced helmet, and i do mean an open faced helmet not 1 with a flip chin piece etc.
but yes as said if you go down obviously you have far less protection for the face area
Started my motorcycle life without a helmet, graduated to open face thingies and became a confirmed “fly’s on the teeth” man.
Flirted with full face when they were new but the dogs and hated all of them. (The early ones were seriously bad.)
I now own a flip front and have tried a few types but they all (cheaper end of the market) suffer from being heavy and noisy.
Still love the freedom of an open face at lower speeds, but I just can’t do it any more having seen a few bike accidents.
Full face is the only way for me now. By why are they so f’ing noisy?
my dad had a low speed accident whilst wearing an open face helmet, ate the kerb and had his face slightly re-arranged - impact could have obviously been reduced with a full face/flip.
I do like the idea of panoramic vision/freedom, so was thinking about a flip, but heard they were too noisy
Open face is too dangerous - lack of chin bar exposes face too much - resulting injuries can be truly horrendous if you are tanking it and your face contacts road/kerb/car etc.
Did you find a new lid?
If I was doing a lot of commuting/riding within London I’d be very tempted to get one of these - SCHUBERTH J1 Review - webBikeWorld
Obviously not as protective as a full face, but better than a normal open face & I’d say it would make riding around town in the summer a lot more pleasant.
Just my 2c, I ride a 150 bhp 'Bird with an open face lid. Sue me. I’ve been down twice and I guess I was lucky that both times it was the side of my head that hit the road, not the front.
The advantages? Better visibility, and you get to ride around town with a fag hanging from your lips. Wouldn’t want to have it any other way.
The disadvantages? The above-mentioned risk of having your face rearranged. Also your chin will freeze off in cold weather, but that’s when I bring out the rubber face mask. Works like a dream, even in -15C weather.
If you want to play it safe, Schuberth does open face lids with a steel crash bar at the bottom. Pricey though.
Speed wise, I’ve gone flat out on the 'Bahn, no complaints… and if something goes wrong there, my style of lid’s gonna be the least of my worries…
I didn’t see any locals in Italy with a full-face lid. It was too hot. The only people that had full-face lids were tourers, like me. I wouldn’t wear anything but a full-face personally, i.e. I like my face the way it is.
Full face all the way.