By Talya Adams

I get asked a lot of questions about motorcycle culture on a regular basis. I get it, I ride, and people assume I have answers for a lot. I don’t – case in point, I don’t understand half shell helmets. I just don’t.

A friend of mine asked me why I don’t own a half shell helmet because it’s getting so hot outside. I can’t lie, I thought the question kind of had an obvious answer. I mean, I ride a sport bike. Why on earth would I put myself at such risk? To be fair, the friend who posed the question does not own or ride bikes at all.

However, my response to the question led me to another question. Why would any rider choose a half shell helmet over a full faced one?

Statistically speaking, half shell helmets are nowhere near as safe as full-face helmets. They only offer protection to the top of your head, and your face is completely exposed. It’s not just random bugs you’ll catch to the face, there’s also debris, rain, and copious amounts of wind. None the less what is exposed if something bad were to happen.

To date, I’ve only seen one person on a sport bike wearing a half helmet. The sighting was in Koreatown. I remembered thinking maybe that’s what they wear when they ride in South Korea. I also thought he was crazy, because driving in Koreatown is dangerous enough as it is, and you need all the safety gear you can wear.

While we all work to ride as safely as possible, crashes can and do happen. Our heads and faces are nearly impossible to replace and they don’t fix up real well, and I simply can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want the best protection for their most valuable asset they can possibly get – and a full face helmet is a minimum in my book!

Stay safe in these streets!