Just thought I'd mention this as a precautionary tale.......... Riding southbound in lane 3 at about 70 mph on the M5 yesterday afternoon in perfect conditions, out of the corner of my eye I saw what looked like a large bumble bee hurtling at incredible speed towards me from the opposite side of the motorway. In the split second I saw it I thought it would have gone over me until what ever it was hit the front of my helmet. The force was enough to jolt my head back and the sound was like a gun going off! It was only then by the force of the impact and size of the object I realised that it must have been a wheel nut coming from the opposite carriageway. What are the chances? Checked my helmet at home to find a large chunk of gel missing only 1" above my eye line! An inch or so lower and I've had been a gonner for sure and no one would have ever known what had caused me to fall off! Just goes to show the importance of keeping your visor down.
Ouch!!! Sure glad you're Ok. Reminds me of the Massa incident in F1. Thing is would a visor withstand that impact? I don't know. I believe the F1 helmets run a very thick plexiglas or whatever it is. That's one thing I like about Schuberth & for a blast from the past Griffin helmets. They come/came with a thicker visor than the average. Not saying it would stop a wheelnut but any increase can surely only be a good thing Scary, scary scary John
I remember my old "Griffin Clubman" with affection! In that same era I recall viisiting a helmet stand (maybe Griffin even) at the Earls Court bike show and seeing a visor which had taken a shotgun blast. I'm not sure what distance it had been shot from, but it was a pretty standard polycarbonate visor and it was peppered with little dents where the pellets had hit it. It would be interesting to test a current visor, perhaps with an air rifle? I don't have an old one to test right now, and as they are rather pricey I don't think I'll bother until I do. Maybe it could be interesting to try with an old CD/DVD - I've a feeling they are also polycarbonate, and it is surprisingly impact resistant, although of course it will snap if you bend it far enough. Re wheelnuts on the motorway I have several times been dismayed to see, when stuck in a queue, that around the central crash barrier, along with much other detritus, there are plenty of big rusty nuts and washers - left behind by the craftsmen who install/replace the barriers I guess.
many years ago I attended an accident where a vehicle hit the central reservation ,the engine flew out and went through the window of a van in the opposite lane killing the driver.
Glad you are OK. About 3 months ago similar thing happened to me, but I was in the car. Result was a cracked windscreen in a two week old Lexus, not amused.
Early 80's I was working on Shell Refinery Corringham construction site. We had been issued safety hats but very rarely wore them among our crowd as not compulsory then and we were macho scaffolders. I was walking, chatting to a mate with a hat on for once when a bit of threaded pipe that had been cut off with an angle grinder hit and dented the safety hat rhs of my forehead nigh on where my brain is. I had a few words with the pipe fitters that cut the pipe but they shrugged it off, no harm done. I didn't make too much fuss as I should've been elsewhere anyway. Still count my blessings. You need a bit of luck in life.
Glad you are recounting the tale here Banus! this sort of thing has probably happened to most of us over our lifetimes on the road in one guise or another. The first I remember I must have been about 8'ish - a stone hit my dad's front window in his Morris Oxford. I was in the front seat and nearly wet myself!...that was a lovely car though!... It happened to me in my car about three years ago - five pence piece, dustbin lid...deep swallow - but in the immediate instant, reactions and a will to survive take over! I've had a stone hit my lid on the motorway - CHRIST - it's NOT funny when it happens! and I have lost count of the number of times I hear a smack when I'm in the car....
