Do you wear a street or dirt helmet while riding your WRR?

... or no helmet?

I have a almost new blue Arai street helmet that I'll probably wear since 75% of my riding will be on the street, although I think a dirt helmet would fit the look of the bike better. I wonder if a dirt helmet would hold up as well in a street crash?

What do you wear and what percentage is street riding?

I wear a dual sport helmet. Has a visor for hiway. But visor flips up and you can use goggles off road.
http://www.amazon.com/AFX-FX-37-DS-Helmet-X-Large/dp/B002WM7HV4

I have one of each. Depends what type riding I am gonna do that day as to which helmet I wear.

99% street riding on my wr250x....

Dirt helmet and goggles all the way.

Only wear fullface street helmet if riding in below freezing temps for over an hour.

Love the dirt helmet set up. Just seems right on a SUMO.

I wear a duel sport Shoei Hornet. I've ridden no helmet or open face all my life, but now when crank it up on the hwy I drop the shield and love the protection and quiet from the wind.....I'm getting old and soft.....a real wuz!

One of the big differences, obviously, is the shade thingee on top.
On a streetbike, when your leaned forward, that thing (let's call it the bill, like on a hat) is in your line of sight. On an upright seating bike it provides much needed glare and sun protection.
Also, on a street machine, the speeds are (usually) much higher, and the airflow catches the bill and pulls the helmet up, wheras a street lid is far more aerodynamic and better at reducing noise as well.
I've found dirt helmets to be lighter and easier to wear off road, but once the speed picks up on the street you can't beat an expensive Shoei street lid.

Yah, I agree with that. My Hornet is in lots of ways a PITA. On day one I had to remove the short bill on the hwy because my helmet became a kite. If I ride with the shield up and no bill the darn thing whistles at anything over 30 MPH. I haven't ridden with no shield and goggles yet but I expect it would work fine, but the point of me getting this expensive helmet was that I could ride around town with the shield up and sunglasses and drop the shield on the hwy. If anyone has figured out how to stop the thing from whistling please let me know.

Dirt, with goggles or sun glasses.

I also have both, I find the dirt helmet to be noisy and catches more wind because of the visor on the highway. I've never tested any helmet at great speeds luckily but I highsided on the supermoto track last year wearing my dirt helmet and smacked the back of my head pretty good on the pavement and it worked great.

MX helmet if i dont plan on going over 55mph for any lenght of time

I don't think it should matter weather to wear a street or dirt. Just a helmet and a good one at that. OR else

I use an Arai dual sport XD-3 and love it!

I have an Arai Corsair Tommy Gun that I'm looking to unload. Anyone interested?

I wear both, or more correctly all three. I had a shoei RF1000 street helmet that I replaced with a Shoei Hornet DS, and an HJC CL-X5N dirt lid. I wear the dirt helmet on dual sport rides and when i know I'm going to be out trail hunting and when its just really really hot out and I was maximum airflow. I wear the Hornet, and previously the RF1000, everywhere else. I don't even notice the visor on the hornet btw, and it does occasionally help with the sun but more importantly with rain sitting at a stop light. No more rain in the eyes with the visor up!

Jeez.....I'm so helmet poor. I only own a dozen or so. For the WRR, I use a dirt or a dual sport. And I don't follow any set criteria for my choice of the day usually. Though dirt mostly. I seem to reserve the dual sport for cooler days. Or days weather may threaten.

I don't mean to hijack this thread but my question is germaine to the conversation.

I come from a pure street-riding background. I started with a full-face street helmet, wore a half helmet for years (I just recently trashed it) and then bought a 3/4 "touring" helmet. When I bought the WR we were already into the cold weather so I wore the full-face helmet. On my only off-road foray thus far I found the street helmet to be a PITA. I had little peripheral vision and had a hard time seeing the ground close the bike.

Are the MX helmets, or the new DS helmets better in this regard? Also, what are the advantages to goggles over a fixed shield? Are there real advantages to each type or are we just slaves to tradition here? And why does the chin bar on an off-road helmet have to look so alien-like?

mordicai wrote:

I wear a duel sport Shoei Hornet. I've ridden no helmet or open face all my life, but now when crank it up on the hwy I drop the shield and love the protection and quiet from the wind.....I'm getting old and soft.....a real wuz!

Yeah, that's cool, I may do the same!

A dirt bike of DS helmet gets more air ventilation and keeps you cooler. The vent in the chin bar makes it look like a storm trooper. But it lets in air nicely. You work hard off road and can get warm. Speeds are slower so not as much breeze. The goggles let the air keep flowing yet keeps the dust and critters out.

goggle also seal your eyes. even with a visor, dust and crap can still float up into your eyes thru the big hole where you stick your head

Use a Shoei Hornet for off road and short on road sessions. The Hornet is too loud for any real distance/speed riding I may do. A Shoei RF1000 is my street/commuting helmet.

TierHawg wrote:

Use a Shoei Hornet for off road and short on road sessions. The Hornet is too loud for any real distance/speed riding I may do. A Shoei RF1000 is my street/commuting helmet.

+1
I have a hornet and I'm becoming a little disolusioned with it. Like I've said it really doesn't work well at speed; you can't ride it with the peak off and the shield up because it whistles real loud. A road Shoei is so much better on the hwy. I wish I had gone that route....road helmet...offroad helmet.

Why is it, that of all the reviews on the web of the Shoei Hornet, and all the reviews on motorcycle chat rooms , I have never read of the fact the this helmet, with the peak removed and the shield up whistles so loud that it is unusable that way? Industry reviews of motorcycle products are total bullshit!

Dirt helmet with googles. The dual sport helmets are just way too heavy and expensive. I like the fox V2.

simonpig wrote:

Dirt helmet with googles. The dual sport helmets are just way too heavy and expensive. I like the fox V2.

Sorry to break the new to ya but the Fox V2 and the the Shoei Hornet are the same weight.

Now that you mention it. You're right actually. What I meant to say was you it cost more per pound : )

Either ways, I crash way too much to be wearing a helmet costing half a grand.

mordicai wrote:

simonpig wrote:

Dirt helmet with googles. The dual sport helmets are just way too heavy and expensive. I like the fox V2.

Sorry to break the new to ya but the Fox V2 and the the Shoei Hornet are the same weight.

Street Helmet. Shoei TZR.

I wear both, but not at the same time.

I wear a dirt helmet a lot on a street bike, too; in the summer it is significantly cooler.