Riding vs Flying -- How many here ride?

Morgans wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote


On the way home from Wisconsin yesterday, with Becca riding on the
back, I had my leather jacket sleeves unsnapped, due to the heat. This
allowed the wind to flow up my arms, albeit somewhat restricted by the
fairing and windshield -- which didn't seem to impede the bee that
managed to fly in there, and sting me on the forearm!

At first I thought I had been hit with a stone, but it kept hurting
long after the initial "impact". Luckily, I'm not allergic to bee
stings, and it went away in a few minutes...but that's the first time
*that* has ever happened before.

(Although I DID once get hit smack in the middle of my forehead, above
the windshield, below my helmet, and above my sunglasses, by what felt
like a bumble-bee. Darned near knocked me off the bike! Another
reason I now wear a full-face helmet.)


Been hit by a bumblebee in the forehead by a bumblebee, also. I saw it
coming, even!

I also was zooming around the outside of a corner (those sharp, almost
hairpin, banked ones, you love to zoom around in the mountains), and a car
coming at me on the inside of the corner got off the road, and kicked up a
piece of gravel. I suppose it hit my cheek at close to 60 MPG. I was lucky
to keep control, and get stopped. It left quite a strawberry bruise.

I still hate full face helmets, though. I think that is one part of the
equation I'll still have to risk.

I never used one when riding off-road as a teen, but after going over
the handlbars one day and landing on my chin, I wondered if a full-face
helmet would have saved me a nasty cut and scar. I never did wear a
full-face off-road due to the weight and heat, but I've worn one on the
street pretty much since the beginning. And the modern full-face
helmets weigh only about half what my old conventional helmet weighed,
so that is no longer an issue either. They are a little warmer on a hot
day to be sure, but the new ones are pretty well vented.


Matt