I remember being on Interstate 10 and watching a girl hold her boyfriend in her arms who was obviously dead. She had been riding on the back of the motorcycle on the freeway and he had died and he had kept her alive with his body likely. When I saw her crying holding his head in her arms like he was the love of her life I decided when I rode a motorcycle I would wear a helmet because of this.
I rented a motorcycle when I was 17 or 18 and rode up into the mountains as far a Chilao likely with a girlfriend but I was pretty extreme then and would pass cars even on curves because I was a risk taker. I passed on this two lane road (one lane each direction) and I had only 2 to 3 inches from each tip of handlebars between the two cars as one passed when I couldn't see it coming. I decided to not only wear a helmet after that but I decided I wasn't going to bring my girlfriend on a motorcycle because I had almost killed her and me. We were not wearing helmets because it was a hot day then.
I wasn't wearing a helmet then likely in 1966 or 1967 then but when I bought a 1974 Honda 250 XL dualsport motorcycle that you could license for riding on the street but also had knobby tires for off road riding I bought a helmet when I bought it in 1975 because I was married and had a year old son then. I had given up rock climbing but motorcycles (especially off road riding) I really loved.
I didn't feel safe on a 250 XL on the freeway because the top speed safely was only about 70 to 75 miles per hour. You need a whole lot of power and the ability to go quickly to 100 to feel safe driving on a freeway with any motorcycle. Because drivers just don't see you because they are expecting to see only cars and trucks, especially older drivers.
So, I only felt safe on back country roads with my Honda 250XL that was a 1974. I kept this motorcycle until around 1989 by the way at my 2 1/2 acres where I built my A Frame where my wife and kids and I lived from 1980 to 1985. My father, my wife and kids and my friends all worked to built this place so it really had a place in all our hearts as our home from 1980 to 1985. We kept this land and home until 1989 when we moved to Hawaii.
When I first started riding motorized two wheel vehicles I was about 10 or 12 years old. I rode a friend's Vespa in the desert but I burned out the clutch on the thing and I felt bad from the deep sand there. Next, around age 12 I bought a 2 1/2 horsepower Wren by Bird which is or was a Mini-Bike with a tecumseh powered 2 1/2 horsepower engine like the kind then used on lawnmowers.
It could go about 30 to 35 miles per hour on a straightaway and had small wheels and a centrifugal clutch so no shifting. You sort of pushed with your legs to get going so the centrifugal clutch didn't have to work too hard getting started. By the time you were going 10 miles per hour the clutch had fully engaged on up to 30 to 35 miles per hour depending upon what you were doing. I didn't wear helmets at all until 1975 when I owned one riding bicycles or motorcycles by the way.
Helmets weren't required in California for motorcycles until 1992.
The reason for this is that if you are riding in 100 plus temperatures you might die from the heat. So, some riders put ice in plastic bags in their helmets when they ride over 100 degree temperatures Fahrenheit in California so they don't die.
But, I usually won't ride a motorcycle when it is that hot anyway because it dries you out so much you don't feel right for several days after. But, to each his own depending upon their metabolism.
In other words it's very individualistic what any one rider can survive and still be functional.d
Luckily, at 100 degrees plus in California usually the humidity is under 20% too so it is possible to survive this for some people. The longer you ride in above 100 degree temperatures the more dangerous it becomes on a motorcycle.
I think there are both heaters for helmets for cold weather and likely little air conditioning units for helmets and jackets at hot temperatures too if you are going to be riding through over 100 degree heat anywhere in the U.S. this summer on a motorcycle. Yes. I was right. below that are pictures of what my motorcycle looked like.
Free 2-day
In storeSearch Results
Web results
The ACH-1 by Feher Helmets is the world's first self-contained air-conditioned motorcycle helmet available to the public. The patented full-face helmet evenly ...
No comments:
Post a Comment