no helmets for michigan. what do you think?

It could be said that one of the less philosophical aspects and more the physical aspect of the slippery slope fallacy is that bullshit flows downhill.

 

Just to further this slippery slope, OSHA is the federal agency that concerns itself with workplace safety. They have caused all manner of problems and is one of the most cited concerns listed as the reasons companies are sending jobs overseas. As a person involved in industrial maintenance, I see OSHA as a federally funded group of morons trying to make industry safe enough that they could work there and not be significantly injured. Manufacturing plants are inherently dangerous places that do inherently dangerous things. Not everyone should work in dangerous places. Some are bound by Darwinistic principles to die early. By prolonging their lives we are causing irreparable damage to the gene pool of the USA. As seen by the dumbing down of our schools. I say let the gene pool cleanse itself. Outlaw helmet laws for a better stronger America. Obviously the doorag protected heads that think the harley is the best bike in the world are clearly inferior and need purging. Let that hamburger flipper in a plant to be crushed by a press so that the gene pool refreshes the characteristics that made America great. Like criminal behavior, paranoia and rebelluousness. Let them feel persecuted and flee to another country that will allow them to drag down that country. Make America great by getting rid of the stupid and genetically challenged losers polluting our land. (Sieg Heil)

 

Keep it simple: Wear whatever you want to crash in.

 

On a separate note, is buying a Harley not evidence of a preexisting condition related to past head trauma?

 

It's evidence of another preexisting condition. Isn't Viagra cheaper?

 

This is one of the reasons, among many, that I like Bear. He’s a thinker and doesn’t drink the Kool-Aid willingly.

You do know me and so that certainly gives you insight on my thoughts and beliefs, but I must add that I don’t really advocate for or against helmet laws. Yes, I certainly have a strong opinion but you will not see me signing petitions or lobbying my local reps. Delaware is a battleground State for not wearing a helmet. Delaware has a helmet law. If over 19 you have to have it on your bike, but not on your head. (How’s that for a constitutional relevance Jose? Guess it doesn’t always work).

It is more than arguments against helmet laws that irritate me than the actual not wearing of a helmet. Its true I wish all people took motorcycling a seriously as me, to have had the blessing and joy is has brought along with its challenges and learning. However, and I am old enough to realize the fallacy in my thoughts, that not all ride for the same reasons I do and there is nothing wrong with that as we all come to the motorcycling table for different reasons. That is true freedom…what drove you to ride and why you ride. Some, at least in Delaware, do not wear a helmet because that feeling on wind and sun on their face means to them what my knee on the deck at the track means to me. I can understand that; it’s a bridge between two different riders and their styles, but is a bond none the less.

I have talked to two none helmet wearing riders who provided the best response I have ever had to why they don’t wear one. The answer: “I just don’t want to”. Wow! What an honest answer. They further stated they know it will probably mean their death if they crash, but that feeling of the sun and wind means too much to them personally. They also realized that it’s an uphill battle to convince others to accept that level of risk. But until the possible passage of more stringent helmet law, they’ll ride without.

They didn’t provide some ABATE bull that helmets block your vision, weigh 6 pounds, cause neck injuries, cut off oxygen supply “the govmint telling me what to do freedum” crap that normally gets spewed. Honesty without excuse is refreshing. Like the famous mountain climbing quote to why climb mountains? “Because they are there”.

Alas, I do care…and that is often why certain laws, not all, do not bother me. I just shrug and carry on.

It’s like one of my favorite scenes in the movie “V for Vendetta”. When V has captured Evey and tortures her. Afterward the veil on everything has been pulled back and Evey sees everything for what it truly is under the theocratic totalitarian regime she lives and she now understands what it means to live free without excuse, without BS, even under that form of government.

p.s. birdseed for President!

BZ

 

Have a buddy at work who rides a cruiser (non-Harley). No helmet law in TX. He just wore a bandana and sunglasses. Looked like a real bad-azz on that bike, in his leathers and all.

He looks like a real bad-azz now. He was cruising home one day and a little rock hit him in the eye. Now he can wear an eyepatch.... arrrrrrr, matey!

Now I know nothing save a closed-face helmet could have helped prevent that. So it's not like a helmet law would have kept him from his eyepatch days. Just an example of it's not always a matter of life/death as many on the far left or right of the argument often make it out to be. There's more stuff in b/w the two that can make life exponentially difficult that doesn't kill you.

He used to tell me I look like a p*ssy with a helmet on. Now I tell him I only look like that on his left, b/c he can't see me when I'm standing on his right side :biggrin:

 

Maybe there is a way to get even the harleydoods to wear fullface helmets. Kind of a takeoff on the popular "replica" helmets as worn by the fast guys like Mike the Bike, Ago, Stoner and many significant others.

There are as we know, one way coatings for many substrates including the polycarbonates used in faceshields. Why not take this a step further and start with some harleydood lids with the faceshields painted with the one way coatings to look like Willy G, Sonny Barger, Elvis, Evel Kanoodle and shit, even John Wayne. A few of those at an ABATE meet, a HOG rally or a mini or micro Sturgis and this thing could go viral. Please note that the term viral us used in the computer sense and not in the sense of one or more of the virii associated with STD's. There is already too much of that going round in the harley camps as it is.

 

Well one thing about cigarettes. If after all the education that has been poured into how bad smoking is for your health. Its a bit weird to say the least someone who smokes complains about its health effects on their lives.

As another side note Tink, I do think Mayor Bloomburgs ban on soda's sold at the size of 55 gallon drums is a bit much and perplexes me as last time I was in mcDonald's. You had three obvious choices in size of drink. Hell you can even ask for a small cup if you supersize the rest of the meal. The clerk doenst care.

BZ

 

I think it could be explained by looking at their role models. I don't see any AMA heroes or Moto GP champions riding without a lid. But there is Paul Teutle ( I don't know if I spelled his name right) crusing around without a lid on the television every night of the week.

I see more young riders buying quality helmets with the graphics of the fav pro rider and paying extra to get it. I was lucky to have a helet in a color I liked, forget the graphics.

But should it be law? Yah probably but from what I've seen, you can't legislate common sense.

 

What a great post.

Wish I could tell which parts are sarcastic and which parts weren't, but that's okay, it reads funny as hell either way.

Respectfully, the OSHA dog don't hunt. People have to work, they don't have to ride a bike, with some exceptions but you get the drift.

OSHA is the favorite whipping dog of everybody, trouble is, it's hard to quantify how stringent workplace rules save the lives of people, but its easy to quote any number of anecdotal tales of bureaucratic nonsense that slowed down production and therefore, profit. Im surprised you have not called down the wrath of Bubba on this one, since he knows a bit about workplace laws, but maybe he's tired out from trying to gain traction on my Slick50 slopes.

Slamming OSHA is right up there with ...oh....laying off workers and replacing them with part timers because you "cant keep the business viable" then retiring to your estate in West Palm Beach to rest from your labors.

Or maybe providing seed money for a supposedly grassroots political party and using social hot buttons to convince Harley rider types that their freedoms are being taken away. Your last name isnt Koch, is it?

I wish it were as easy to say "I just don't want to " to working as it is to say that about wearing a helmet.

 

Hmmm... Looks like a slippery incline

 

a nation of idiots and thieves ends up being governed as such.




.

 

I don't know about comparisons to gun laws and such, or what a good comparison would be. But I'll present this reasoning: Why do I wear a helmet even if it's not the law? For the same reason I carry condoms when I go out drinking with the ladies. Because A) I know I'm participating in an inherently risky activity and B) I want to return the way I left. I take measured risks.

And if that doesn't work, I just wave my hand around my face and go, "You see this? This is too pretty to mess up."

or...

(thanks to Eddie in Xmas Vacation) Knock on the side of my head, "See, I got a metal plate here that'd get all bent up and the line where I part my hair just wouldn't look the same. I already piss myself every time I'm in the kitchen and Catherine revs up the microwave."

 

I'll preface this by quoting Forrest Gump. I'm not a very smart man. So I won't attempt to argue either side of the debate.

However, as a resident of Michigan, I will say that I'm glad that I have the choice to not wear a helmet. Do I wear a helmet when I ride? Yes. Do I think about what would happen if I crash without a helmet? Yes. Fact is, I think a full-face helmet makes the whole motorcycle experience better because I don't worry about taking a hornet in the cheek and my eyes aren't watering from the wind. Plus, I think my helmet looks cool.

BUT...I recently had a small dual-sport for riding around town. I live in a beautiful little resort town on the shore of Lake Michigan and there's lots of little things to do within about 20 miles. I had thought about getting a scooter but those things are spooky. Little plastic moped with 4" wheels going 30mph (virtually no centrifugal force) and most people around here treat them like motorized bicycles. Get them on a busier street where the speed limit is 45 and you take your life in your own hands from the cars trying to get around you. They scare the hell out of me. For the same money as a decent scooter, I bought the little dual-sport for the larger wheels, better quality, and 60mph top speed. Almost always wore a helmet. But for those beautiful summer evenings when we just wanted to ride over for pizza or out to the beach on some slower roads, it was incredible to be able to throw on some sunglasses and leave the helmet at home. I made the choice, I enjoyed the hell out of it, and I didn't have to worry about getting a ticket for doing it. I appreciated that I was able to decide.

Snoop

 

This story can't possibly be true. - Tink has made it abundantly clear that wearing a full-face helmet provides no protection whatsoever, and wearing no helmet at all contains zero risk. Apparently, rocks are never flung up by other vehicles...

 

Thanks for taking this one on Bear, I didn't have the energy.

After reading some of these posts I am thinking of running for President on a platform centered around eugenics and social darwinism. Seems we need to go back down that road and re-live those errors in intellectual thought.

You aren't Jewish by chance? Need someone inferior to blame.

BZ