It Had to Happen...

[countryartist]

Treated myself to a nice long ride today. Weather was great. Slight cloud cover. Almost home when....splat some big bug hit me smack dab square on the nose! I'm sure it hurt him more than me but...hey now I have stuff to clean up bug guts from.

N

[trkcpa]

Glad it was not in an eye. tom

[countryartist]

Nope, had my helmet with visor on. Always.

[Chet_Benson]

Yes glad it was not in the eye. I wear glasses and also a flip up face shield.

I have had a few bounce off of my helmet and make loud noise.

[RustyB]

With my new Clearview XL fully raised, I look through it (over the top when it is fully down) and have got into the habit of leaving my (full helmet) visor up as the screen gives me face protection from the wind. In this situation, do you reckon its still likely to get a bug in the face? It hasn't happened yet, but I'd be freaking out if it did.

[countryartist]

I'm a short rider. 5'5". On my 400 with the stock shield I am looking just over the top. If I try to look through it, it's distorted. I'm pretty sure that if a darn bug is bound and determined it's going to hit you, it IS going to hit you. More of a shock than anything and it was over very quickly.
N

[Noth]

I also took a long ride today.. I was wearing my Exo 100 half helmet that has an eye visor that flips up & down easily.. and yes bugs and even a finch have bounced off of it or splatted on it...
I rode today from my home near Plymouth, MA through Rhode Island (& Providence) into Connecticut.. to a biker lunch destination call The Vanilla Bean in Pomfret, CT.. Both RI and CT are States without a helmet law... There were lots of folks riding with bare heads and bare faces.. I can't imagine what runs into them and splats...and what it must feel like.. THat was my first thought..

A grand ride about 75 miles each way..

[JustPassinThru]

Haha. You guys are PIKERS!

Two fall seasons I spent in Michigan's Upper Peninsula area, near St. Ignace. On warm evenings, out riding for business or pleasure...the bugs would pile up on my face-shield so thick I literally had to stop somewhere to wipe them off. To SEE! Imagine a black mesh of gooey stuff, covering your helmet, riding jacket, mini-windshield (I had a BMW GS) and every front surface, including oil-cooler fins and lights.

I occasionally take big bugs on the helment, and if I have the face-shield removed, even the nose or eyeglasses. It's part of riding in a part of the country that's able to support life. Riding in the desert would avoid most of those problems; but...there's not much to look at; and it's a long, dry walk out if a tire lets go.

[willajabir]

Even with glasses on, I've had bugs to hit on the nose and guts slide down the side of my nose toward my eye. Drive with one eye to the side of the road immediately.
One guy in the Goldwing forum claims facial damage from a bug hitting his face. Showed pictures of the scars. Says he spent the night in the hospital.
Unless you are wearing full helmet with the shield closed, you are taking a chance.
Yes, I wear a 3/4 and 1/2 most of the time and don't take my own advice

@JustPassinThru
Reminds me of a trip to Tx once. Crossed a bridge and then splat!!!! thousands of bugs on the windshield (van), then I realized why everyone was stopped on the oncoming side on the side of the road cleaning their windshields !!!!!
I was thinking the whole time I was cleaning the windshield, "Glad this didn't happen on the bike"

[gurock]

Having riden bikes through most of America, I've been hit by all sorts of things. I had a brable bush blow into me and the bike in New Mexico on a highway at 65 MPH, tore my pants leg, cut me and scratch up a fairing. I've been hit by a burning cigarette butt thrown from a car in front of me on the interstate, half empty soda bottle, not mentioning evry variety of insect life and a sparrow. I ride with a full face helmet with the shield mostly down even in the desert. Just Saturday at dusk I rode through a Marshland preserve where my face shield was very splattered after a half hour.

[w4swk]

If I had a nickel for every bug we've picked up in the last 8,000 miles...LOL

[Rusty J]

I recall one sunset ride down Weber Canyon (I-84 westbound, a few miles before it merges into I-15 -- southeast of Ogden, Utah). Started out ducked down behind the windscreen, and when that got too bug-spattered to see through, started peeking over it and gradually raising my head as the top edge of the helmet's face-shield got plastered. By the time I got out of the canyon past UT-89, I was looking through a narrow slit at the bottom edge of the face-shield.

What a mess.