All the MC related threads recently got me thinking about the day I realized you need good eye protection while riding.

I have always been a big proponet of helmets. I used to ride with the old open face style (think Dale Earnhardt). He had a windshiled and so did I. However I'm tall and I would still get some serious bug hit's from over the top. I was out for a ride and though I was wearing sunglasses it was pretty minimal protection. This highlight's why.

I took a hit from a large suicidal bug of some kind right on the edge of my shades. It showered large amounts of bug stuff right into my eye. I didn't even realize it until a few minutes later when the pain and irritation started.

By the time I got to my destination I could no longer see out of my right eye.There was a long stream of pinkish dried fluid that had run from the corner of my eye. When I looked into the mirroe I was truly terrified. My eye was blood red and felt like it was on fire. It hurt open or closed. When I would close it to a slit the white part (which was now a very inflamed and sick looking red and yellow color) would actually bulge out from between my eyelids. It was tearing and watering uncontrollably.

I rinsed it out with tap water. This (other than the time I had a serious corneal tear in a fistfight)was about the worst pain I have ever felt. It did not help. Luckily my friend had a whole bottle of Visine. Repeated aplications began to help and after about an hour I could see again. It looked as if I was looking through fog. It also looked as if someone had poked me in the eye about 50 times. My eye hurt for three days and this coupled with a lot of trauma training at my job convinced me to invest in a full face helmet. Part of my transformation into the armored rider I am today.

If you want to think funny during my Harley riding days I would show up at the few rides I would attend (went to bike week an few times and 3 or 4 poker runs etc) and be the one guy that was actually wearing real protective equipment.

This is kind of a way to say something to new motorcyclists. It's not meant to scare people off and it isn't even about the very real dangers of the sport.It's just fact.

You will get cold, you'll get wet, you will get tired and wish you were in a car with a heater.You'll get hot and wish for AC. You will wipe out eventually.If you aren't scared out of your wits a few times you are truly not very smart. All this will happen and if you truly love motorcycling you'll have the most fun you ever imagined at the same time. Hell I'm grinning just thinking about the ride home from work tommorrow.

I wear motorcycle glasses, they have foam around them to help with fogging and are wrap around design to give full protection all over you eyes.

I've taken high-speed rock hits (from the tire of the bike in front of me) in my face shield that sounded like a .22 going off inside my helmet.  I prefer to have redundant eye protection.  I usually ride with Wiley-X XL-1 foam-gasketed ballistic sun goggles under a full-face helmet with a clear shield.



www.wileyx.com/EcommSuite/ProductDetail.aspx?ActivityCode=TACTICAL&SeriesCode=173&ProductLine=285,XL1&ItemCode=291

As above, I like glasses + full face.  Get both???

Quoted:

I have a pair of the same ones with prescription lenses (and an elastic headband) for skydiving. I'll have to give them a try under the helmet next ride in place of my normal glasses.

Any trouble with them fogging up or anything?

I've actually got several pairs, because I use them at work, and as shooting glasses, and...and...and...

I have the foam trimmed differently on some of them, and I switch back and forth between them depending on the totality of the circumstances.  The pair I'm wearing right now has most of the foam intact, and the strap attached.  I've got an older pair with almost no foam, no strap, and all scratched up, that I wear to fights.  I keep a pair with clear lenses for clearing buildings at night, as well as for OC or Taser use.

I prefer the standard smoke-green lenses.  The polarized ones are too expensive, and the automatic adjusting ones just don't work, for a couple of reasons.

It's usually just a matter of slightly adjusting them to get them to un-fog, if they fog at all.  A little more work than the Oakley Pro-M frames that I used before, but a lot more protection, too.

considering 90% of the time i am under an MX HJC Helmet, I wear Oakley Crowbars....
FanFuckingTastic!

I have gone through many O goggles and they are far the best!

You might look a little funny riding a Sporter with them

OH, like these

My helmet is a HJC FS-10, which has an internal sunshade, and of course, the full face shield. Before I got this helmet, I wore my shooting glasses, which are very goggle-like, under a different full-face helmet.



How people ride around for long with an open face (or no helmet, like they do over in kansas) is beyond me!  I've seen too many rocks and big ass bugs smack my windshield to even think about getting on the road without face and eye protection!

I went to the range today on the new KLR 650 and now I have a layer of bug guts all over my nice (formerly) shiny Arai XD. I have been leaving a little gap open at the bottom of the face shield for air but I could see a dead bug splashing through there.

I have a couple pairs of WileyX Stryker's. During the day, that is....at night I have clear safety glasses.

Here is proof to the types of glasses WileyX makes....

http://dokhey.blogspot.com/2007/06/thank-god-eye-is-saved-by-kevlar-visor.html

I will forever wear WileyX glasses.

Just google them.