Took the family to Hawaii, after a day or two I saw only one rider in full gear.
Damn near everyone is wearing sandals, no helmet and riding sportbikes or HD’s.
Does it vary by island? What state has more squids?
Not sure, but if I lived in Hawaii I’d probably want to dress like a squid too.
Having lived, and ridden bikes, in Hawaii, Washington state, and now Texas, it’s a mentality thing. The same type of people who don’t wear gear in Texas are the same that don’t wear gear other places.
I remember being in my teens and not wanting to wear a helmet ( and paying the tickets that came with that), but now a-days i like my skull the way it is. I ride as a primary mode of transportation, which just increases the opportunity for trouble. Even at 30mph, that concrete will not be forgiving.
Helmets are optional in my state, and man i see a lot of “freedom” helmets, no jackets, sneakers (or worse), and thats at 80+ mph on the freeway! Most sport bikes have helmets on, but sooo many HD riders dont. There are a lot of HD riders in the SW.
Just don’t understand it anymore. I’m not ATGATT, as i wear regular denim jeans (and know they will be useless in a fall) but, UBU i guess.
Oklahoma seems to have a lot. Especially cruiser riders. Almost nobody wears more than a helmet.
Florida and Ohio, people cruising at 70 with no helmet. Can’t imagine the bugs and deafness.
I remember the first and only time I tried riding my sportbike without a helmet to see what all the fuss was about, I got a big fat bug right in the cheek and it slid up into my eye under my sunglasses.
I never did it again, and twenty two years later, I’m still ATGATT on my cruiser. There’s no point IMO taking a risk with your life, mental faculties, or skin. Especially if you have kids, which I now have.
To each their own, though.
I’ve never been to Hawaii but lived in South East Asia.
The big question I have is: how fast are they riding? Are they puttering around, barely breaking 40kmh which is a speed you can reach as a cyclist?
That’s very different to the squids you see on 1000cc bikes racing up and down at 70-160kmh weaving between cars.
