31-03-12, 07:04 AM
My problem is that I wear (expensive) glasses. It's not so bad taking a helmet off, but I find that I need to put the glasses down briefly when I put my helmet back on. Garage forecourts are often quite windy, and the last thing I can afford to have is my glasses blowing away and getting scratched on the ground. Because of this I tend not to remove my helmet, but I can honestly say that I've never had any problems (or even comments or unfriendly looks from filling station staff), even when there has been a sign on the door requiring helmets to be removed. I live in Weston-super-Mare, where they must get a fair bit of out of town trade in the summer, but it really hasn't been a problem in practice. When I'm touring further afield I'm with my husband anyway, so he usually goes to pay. As he doesn't have the same problem as me, i.e. doesn't wear glasses, and is a big bloke who people could possibly find threatening, he does remove his lid.