Wind Resistance causes Neck Strain with DOT Helmet
Sunday, May 20, 2007, Raleigh NC, BIKERS USA
I rode my Sportster to Fayetteville from Raleigh on Saturday, so that I would be able to visit my brother, and wouldn’t have very far to go in the morning, in order to get to South of the Border in Dillon, SC in time for the 1st Annual East Coast Helmet Law Protest. Just in case I was detained, and not allowed to proceed unless I produced what Law Enforcement Officers (LEO) consider a fully legal DOT approved helmet, I wore a Fulmer Trooper helmet instead of the novelty helmet or the “Quig” helmet I usually wear.
I call my favorite helmet the Quig helmet, after Richard Quigley, who fought many years to defeat the helmet laws in California, and eventually was able to get the courts to recognize California helmet laws as “unconstitutional as enforced” by the California Highway Patrol. (They do not, and cannot, conduct roadside testing to see if a helmet would pass or fail the FMVSS 218 tests).
By the time I had gone just a few miles with the Fulmer Trooper Helmet, I could feel neck strain caused by increased wind resistance and added weight. In order to reduce the pain, I tried keeping my chin tucked down to my chest, despite an unsafe loss of visibilty of the road far ahead. The forehead portion of the helmet dipped down, interfering with my vision, so it restricted anything above a 90 degree eye level. I suppose this is what people who ride sportsbike crotch rockets normally contend with, because of their angled riding position. Experience reduced visibility for yourself
With your head in an upright position, point your finger, then put your finger on your forehead just above your eyebrows, like a salute. Look at something on the wall, at eye level. Now tilt your head forward toward your chest, and try to see the same spot on the wall. Now do the same thing with two fingers. The DOT approved helmets tend to be wider, thus they obstruct vision more. Note: As you raise the finger to your hairline, you have greater visibility, but you are increasing wind resistance and neck strain, and chances are that your helmet will not be worn as intended. When I reached the halfway mark, about 50 miles, I stopped for about 15 minutes to rest my neck. When I got to Fayetteville, the neck strain was very bad. The pain wasn’t quite bad enough to go the ER. I was glad the ride wasn’t more than about 100 miles.
If an average person without a windshield can’t go more than 50 miles without taking a break to rest their neck muscles, there is something seriously wrong with the design of the Fulmer Trooper helmet. I like to take day trips of about 200 miles, and occasional longer rides like the Smoky Mountains, Outer Banks, Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, or 450 miles to Gettysburg or Carlisle PA. I can’t imagine doing a long distance ride with a helmet that NHTSA would approve of, (not that they approve helmets, because they don’t!) Experience neck strain caused by helmets for yourself
Even if you do not have a helmet, you can try this simple little exercise to mimic the stress I experienced. As you are sitting in your chair, tilt your head back, making sure to use your lower neck rather than the normal ball and socket at the top of your spine. Find the most uncomfortable position, and imagine keeping it there for an extended period of time. Now think about adding a 3 or 4 pound weight. How long would you ride like this?
This is a simple exercise that even a legislator with no motorcycle riding experience can do. I spent the night at my brothers house in Fayetteville, got plenty of sleep, and rode out to the protest in time to get there by about 9:30am. Again, I wore the Fulmer helmet, because I didn’t have time to have LEO interrupt my travel. Within a few miles, the sore neck started again. By the time I got to Lumberton it was pretty unbearable, but I couldn’t stop to change over to my Quig helmet, because, as soon as I did, with my luck, LEO would detain me and make me late.
When I bought the helmet, the wind resistance didn’t seem that bad! I remember much of the neck strain was due to the weight of the helmet, and there was wind resistance, but not as bad. I had a full windshield to deflect the wind. In the fall, I put the windshield on, and take it off in the spring. Without a windshield, I attribute about 90% of the neck strain to be caused by increased wind resistance. This does not occur at all with my Quig helmet.
As soon as I got into South Carolina, I swapped my DOT approved helmet over to my Quig Helmet, and experienced no neck strain or reduced vision after that. | 
