Riding home from "Spring Lake Hwy" (up in Brooksville). I had just left the Speedway gas station, used to be Hess, this place is a mega for bikers on Sunday mornings. In the cooler weather there can be as many as four or five hundred bikes stopping there between 9 am and noon... Showing off the new scooter to some cronies that i know that are regulars up there. Teasing 76 year old Chuckie (a five foot three former carnival stunt rider) about his new helmet with two Go Pro mounted cameras (and his remote wristwatch control device). The chat about helmets and cameras on my mind I started to notice the "Unhelmeted" riders on the way home. It was a nice morning, not too hot a bit overcast, perfect to ride in. I spotted maybe five or six dozen riders on the 45 mile trip home. I started counting those without helmets, I was up to the mid-twenties by the time I turned into my subdivision and of those (as best I could tell) were about 90% Harley riders.
I remember bike nights at Quaker State (Wed. night in Clearwater, just South of the Bayside bridge) and other events, those that are helmets are absolutely ten times more likely to be on a HD than not.
Harley should not be proud of this trait... They certainly have had a hand in creating the situation. I think they should do something about it! HD ads that tout the benefits of helmets would save lives, period...
