Why is it I never see this combo? Conversely I never see a Harley rider wearing a fancy Arai helmet neither. Unspoken rule?
I know that if I were riding a ‘crotch-rocket’ I would want all the high-tech protective gear I could lay my hands on including a full-face helmet!!
I would have a WAG that Harley riders shy away from the full-face helmet simply due to image, the whole Easy-Rider feeling would be lost if you didn’t have the wind on your face.
It depends on where you are and who you ride with. I would say that the majority of riders I would ride with, no matter what they ride, all wear full face helmets, or at least 3/4 helmets.
It also depends on the state, there are some states that don’t require helmets and I’ve seen plenty of sport bikers not wear a helmet in those states. I do see some sport bikers around here wearing the half helmet, which always looks funny, then again doesn’t much matter if you’re going to be wearing flip flops as well.
I have a crouch rocket and I wear a helmet with face plate. I have put it down a couple of times and I was glad I was wearing it. But the reason I started to wear it was I found that for some reason my right eye tears up incredibly without it on. I don’t find it is the case to that extent when I ride one of my friends’ Harleys, however.
It could well just be me, but the construction of bike may have something to do with it.
Honestly, I do know how to spell “crotch” usually.
Given the rider’s stance, I thought Crouch Rocket seemed fairly descriptive.
I have a crotch rocket, and I wear an Arai.
For you crotch rocket drivers - don’t you find them uncomfortable to drive? I haven’t driven one, but I’ve sat on them, and I find them horribly uncomfortable. I can’t imagine driving around laid over your gas tank with your head tilted back as being enjoyable, but I’m thinking this is probably wrong, because those bikes seem very popular.
On the other hand, the choppers that the Orange County guys build mostly look horribly uncomfortable as well. I like a nice Harley ride, sitting back like you’re in an easy chair, with your arms comfortably in front of you. Am I missing something?
Some are more comfortable than others. A friend loaned me his Suzuki GSXR-750, and it felt as if I were perched upon a milk crate. My Yamaha YZF-R1 is much more comfortable. The Yamaha FJ1300R isn’t technically a sportbike; it’s a ‘sport tourer’. Still, I think it’s more ‘sport’ than ‘tourer’. It’s a lot more comfortable than my R1. So to directly answer your question, I don’t find them uncomfortable.
As for Harleys, I can’t imagine riding like that. I like ‘fast and tight’. Not words that you would use for a cruiser. No, the crouched posture is better and more natural for speed and maneuverability. I’ve ridden ‘upright’ bikes, and I really hate the ‘sail’ effect of the wind hitting my torso. It’s much better to be low, so the slipstream floats over you.
I had a bike accident when I was very young. Had a ¾ Bell on at the time. Still, I needed 130 stitches in my forehead, ear, top of my head.
A couple of years ago, I bought an old Yamaha 650 to restore. I bought a full face helmet. Full face helments can be a drag. Espesially when you need to were sunglasses. Or regular glasses I’m sure. Yeah, you can get good visors to block the sun, but it’s just not the same. No mater how well you take care of it, the full face visors get scatched and dirty. My sunglasses will prevent the wind from bothering my eyes, and they are much, much easier to take care of and keep clean. The lense is so close to your eye that you don’t focus on a little speck, where with a visor, you will see it just like a windshield.
Considering the accident I had when I was 11 years old, I always go for the full face, but, not counting bad weather (that I won’t ride in) the ¾ is much much more comfortable.
My brother has a Harley, and won’t were a helment. Seeing as how he was the guy that scrapped me up out of a ditch some 33 years ago. It surprises me.
I’m a sportbike rider who does the occasional trackday / race. Definitely full face helmet for me, all the way.
There is a certain urban biker subculture that likes to wear Kaiser-style open face helmets while riding sportbikes, thats the only time I’ve seen that particular mix.
Riding position is definied by the mission. If your mission is to carve up some twisty roads or a track as fast as you dare, the physics involved in the crotch rocket position are the most favorable for that type of thing. If your idea of a good time is a leisurely cruise down the interstate or on on a back country road, that position can get old fast, and your stypical Harley ride would be the optimum.
And then there are some positions that are just pure style, and of course hellaciously uncomfortable no mater what. Those would be the choppers with the ape hanger bars and your cafe racers with ulta low clubman style bars. I own a one of the latter, its a back killer but damn if I don’t look cool as hell on it 
The Hardley Dangerous guys have the image to protect. That’s the type of comments I get from the dozen or so folks I know that ride them. The sport bike crowd I know all respect material composition better. That pavement is generally harder than skin. There is also an application. Having ridden with both groups, the Harley guys tend to do 45 mph and watch the world go buy enjoying the view. The sport bikes tend to go at a more spirited pace that may or may not involve exceeding local speed limits.
Having owned all manner of bikes I can’t imagine not wearing my full face Shoei. With open helmets, even with sunglasses my eyes tear up. Plus it’s so much quieter in the full face. You don’t notice the noise and how much your ears are ringing until you get home after being out for three or four hundred miles that day.
Heh heh heh. 
Re: the noise. If I’m going on a long trip, I’ll wear earplugs. Not legal, but I’d rather have a fine than hearing loss. My Arai Quantum is less noisy than my Shoei RF-200. (The RF-200 has over 100,000 miles on it, so it’s loose; but the Arai is quieter than the Shoei was new.)
Not Legal? Really? I don’t ride at the moment… I weakened on one of those “is it really fair on the kids for their daddy to be so reckless” occasions, but I used to. I always used to wear earplugs, and yes crotch rocket and full face was my thing. All my buddies always wore plugs too… were we all breaking the law? I am in the UK, if that is the difference.
I’m in Washington now, but I used to live in L.A. California law prohibits ‘covering both ears’. This is intended to keep people from wearing headphones while driving. There’s a magazine you can pick up free at dealers, though I don’t remember the name of it. It has an ‘Ask The Cop’-type column. In one issue I read a couple of years ago, someone ‘asked the cop’ about wearing earplugs while riding. (Incidentally, California requires helmets.) The answer was that it is not legal, because it violates the ‘covering both ears’ law.
That’s interesting Johnny LA, thank you. It could save me getting into trouble if I ever ride in the US, which is a distinct possibility as I visit my wife’s family there often.
I can’t seem to find a definitive answer as to whether it is law in the UK though, perhaps someone can provide an answer? The indications are that it is not illegal, for instance the Department of Transport’s own web site mentions them in passing without any comment.
Interesting about the earplugs. Anytime I go more than five miles, I put plugs in and out here with snakey mountain roads most of my riding is more than five miles. I never thought about checking if it were legal. Now, I’m not sure I want to. If I do get caught now, I can always use the, “Gee officer, nobody ever told me that.”
I enjoy the isolation of being on the bike and not being reachable, but I know some touring bike owners who use head-mounted walkie-talkies. Since it is generally only one ear, is it legal?
Is the logic of the no-earplug law so a person on a bike can hear emergency vehicles?
Regarding the comfort, I find the leaning forward position more comfortable than the sitting straight upright - Not sure why.
Thank you all for the responses.
Don’t know for sure, but it might be just an odd California thing like lane splitting. I don’t ride, but I have run into cops talk about headphones in the car in Los Angeles.
Here in Mississippi either it’s legal or illegal but not enforced.
I currently ride a Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 or, as my brother-in-law calls it, a “hardley-a-davidson”. All of my other street bikes have been standard or cruiser types and I’ve always worn a full-face helmet. I’ve had two wrecks, one of which was major and took a chunk out of the front of the helment which would have otherwise been my forehead. I was wearing a tight leather jacket and jeans, but I had forgotten the leather gloves which I usually wear. My only injuries were 12 stitches in the knee and somewhat mangled palms.
I am definitely in the “full-face helmet and cruiser” camp, although my helmet is plain silver and not the ornate version used by most sport-bikers. It may not be the cruiser image, but I won’t ride without it.
PS to enipla - I’ve never had a problem wearing sunglasses with a full-face. Ask the people at your bike shop if the helmet you’re wearing is too tight.