...with removing your helmet when you are about to enter the shop, of a fuel station, to pay for your fuel?   I can't understand why some folk object, it doesn't cost them any extra and puts the staff at ease. Can these objectors honestly say they don't mind having a conversation with someone who has their face completely covered?   If they're not going to fill up and ride off without paying then why not remove their helmet?   Discuss?                                                                                                                                                                                       

I dont object to taking my lid off but i generally dont do it, purely cos it takes me forever to get on and get it sitting comfortably on my head. Once its comfy i try not to take it off until i get where i'm going. I've never been asked to take it off when getting fuel, but i would if i had to. I think it helps that i'm female, and yes, most petrol station staff can tell the difference. There arent many very short, fat fellas about on sports bikes                                                                                                                                                                              

Helmet hair....   I don't mind at all... it takes under 10 seconds to put your helmet back on and adjust it....   I can also see how it could be unnerving for staff or queueing members of the public so no big deal for me.                                                                                                                                                                             

Dont need to. I've got a very nice and very comfy Shoei Flip up                                                                                                                                                                             

Mine flips up too but it makes my face look as though I have got it caught between the doors of a lift....                                                                                                                                                                             

I used to take off helmet every time I went into a shop and especially petrol station, but now also have a flip up so so far have not bothered to do it all the time.   If you was going to drive off without paying you'd not even enter the petrol station kiosk.                                                                                                                                                                             

I take mine off if i'm wearing a full face or I flip open my flippable jobbie. I do like to give the staff the full benefit of my outrageous good looks :P   TeeCee, if your's looks like ya face has been squeezed by the lift doors then I think mine must look like a rabbit under the wheels of a 44 tonner!                                                                                                                                                                             

It's to do with intimidation in case of robbery or assault... mind you, judging by some of the profile pics on here they would be more intimidating without their helmets....                                                                                                                                                                               

I can see where you're all coming from, but frankly I can't see the difference between a motorcyclists with a helmet on and someone wearing a hoody and dark glasses.  I don't take my helmet off at fuel stations and have never been asked to, perhaps it's because I'm in the queue like everybody else with my money or card in hand ready to pay.  If I wasn't going to pay I wouldn't be queueing in the first place!

If someone walked in wearing glasses and a hoodie and I was queuing I would immediately be on edge.   Non-payment is not the issue - it is the possibility of an assault/robbery. Why should we put the cashiers through that anxiety?                                                                                                                                                                             

psst GH - I have sent the fuel suppliers yours and mine profile pics and so far BP, Tesco and Esso have asked if the both of us can keep our flippy lids down in future... Still waiting to hear from the others...                                                                                                                                                                              

If you go to the very few gas stations that are open late at night in Brum you'll find that 1. you can't put any fuel in untill you've paid and 2. You'll have to pay from outside as the doors to the shop are firmly locked.                                                                                                                                                                             

Neither me nor my late husband ever had to take our lids off...never been asked to....but again if we were, we would have done....I agree with the fact that if you was going to do a flit, you wouldnt be in the queue in the first place....Ian doesnt take his off either and all the times Ive been with him filling up, hes never been asked to either. I was once dropped off at my local Post Office to draw some money out and they did ask me to remove it...which was a pain in the neck as my lid is a brilliant fit but the worst Ive ever had to fasten up!  I did respect their wishes.  Once the staff saw the difficulty I had putting the damn thing back on, they were apologetic...theyve never asked me to take it off since...                                                                                                                                                                             

Do they not have notices on the forecourt asking you to remove your helmet before entering the shop?   Almost every garage I visit does... and as a Nightster owner with a peanut tank I visit a LOT of garages... *sigh*   Purely from a security point of view, you are hiding your face, wearing protective gear and entering an environment where cash is being handled with sometimes a lone attendant and possibly in a remote area... I just see it as the courteous thing to do.                                                                                                                                                                             

Seems to me there are two things here.
There's the security aspect that TC has come up with, and then there's the matter of showing that bikers are part of the human race like anyone else, which means making eye contact where possible.

I'll always flip the front of the helmet up in a garage where there's plenty of people around just for the eye contact, and I've never been asked to take it of completely. When I've got a fixed full-face, though, I'll often take it off.

Of course, there's always the jobsworths spoiling for a scrap, the type who even ask old gents to take their flat caps off. But they'll always be like that I'm afraid.

Taken from another forum....   Dont know about legality issue but whenever I get the same treatment in a petrol sation i say"with the helmet on my head it protects me from an accident. If I remove it and its in my hands I could use it as a weapon, Would you ask a muslim woman to remove her Burka ? and If i wanted to rob the place I would ignore your request anyway". Normally shuts them up.....                                                                                                                                                                             

..and it is ^^that^^ kind of attitude that makes me happy in my decision to distance myself from society....   (way too easy to rip his argument apart but I am guessing his mind would have already been made up)                                                                                                                                                                             

...had to chuckle at the thought of pensioners being asked to remove their caps though...                                                                                                                                                                             

yep.... that kind of attitude aint good..   ...had to chuckle at the thought of pensioners being asked to remove their caps though...   hehe... whatever next.. little old ladies asked to leave their shopping trollies outside the post office?!?.. actually..........                                                                                                                                                                             

Seconded!!       ...and a bucket for them to leave their teeth in...