Face Shield Or Riding Glasses
When I got my first bike, I was just eighteen years of age. The bike had a beefed up engine, a custom dual chrome exhaust and was a 1977 Honda 550 Four. I was not the only rider in our family; my brother had just bought a brand new Yamaha. From the very beginning I could not make up my mind whether I should choose an open helmet with a pair of riding glasses or to opt for the full face shield. My older brother wore a helmet with a full shield while the helmet that came with my bike had a half shield.
I had the choice of going for a new helmet without any shield and a pair of riding glasses or a helmet with a full shield. This is something that I haggled back and forth with. I really didn’t want to stick with a half shield I had because I figured they were for old people.
Yet at the time I didn’t have the money to lay out for a new helmet which, in those days, was still a couple hundred dollars for quality model. However, thankfully my brother made the choice easy for me.
He had bought a full front fairing when he was riding from Fort Hood, Texas to New York where we live. But once he was home for couple of months he decided he no longer wanted it. So he opted to put it on my bike. Despite the fact that it could not be considered very manly, I really did love it!
Not only did I stay warmer when the temperature began to drop, but it solved my dilemma. The great thing about my fairing was that it did not interfere with the wind in my hair feeling but it was high enough to stop the issue with bugs.
What I did with my helmet was to remove the half shield and just bought a pair of cool riding glasses. I still have those riding glasses 28 years later! Can you imagine that from a pair of riding glasses?