brand of helmet??

Used Shoei and HJC but absolutely love my Bell. A Shoei kept me safe on the street when a texting chick side-swiped me on my commute. My RS-1 kept me safe in a pretty nasty high side on cold tires in T3 at Roebling earlier in the year. I expect most/all of the previously mentioned brands would have done the same for me in either situation. Had a Star prior to the RS-1 and am back to a Star again and really like the ventilation, stability, and fit of the Bells. Noise is a little higher, as to be expected with the better ventilation, but it's a non-issue as I use ear plugs. Another nice little bonus for the Bell to me is the transitions shield. Not having to carry different shields around. A little rough at $90, but especially for a street rider I think it's a must have.

As mentioned, fit is most important. You can't go wrong with any of the major brands, get the one that fits best.

 

Shoei for me. I fell down on my noggin hard at Jennings in April and that thing saved me!

 

So you are saying another brand wouldn't have?

This gets me with everyone on here. How is it that one crash in one brand of helmet makes it any better than another brand? I hear this comment over and over and over with all gear...

 

Bounced my head off the ground a couple of times at blackhawk a couple weekends ago in my Bell RS-1. No concussion. Glad it worked out so well.

 

I understand how you'd think that and I intentionally made the point of mentioning my being sponsored so others that don't know me understand where I'm coming from. It's still my opinion and I'm not bound by any contract to say anything nice or positive about the product. I even wrote the contract for our team's sponsorship.

I know being sponsored and praising the product may not convince everyone, but remember there are also Shoei or Arai sponsored riders that praise their product as well. No one has to take what I say as fact, but I'm only saying this because it's how I feel contract or not.

I have been racing almost 2 years now. But I've been wearing helmets and riding motorcycles obsessively for about 9 years. I've had 6 crashes in various helmets and worn a larger variety over the years. My opinion may not be held in as high regard as someone with more experience, but it surely doesn't invalidate it. I'm open about exactly what experience I have. No offense taken.

 

Hence why i say "for me". Not saying brand "A" is any better then "B". It's just that it fit my noggin better and I happen to have first hand knowledge of bouncing said noggin on the pavement at a fairly good pace with that brand on. I got banged up in other spots but my head came out ok.

 

Dunno, one of the crashes in a Scorpion for me was a bell ringer, put a big ass dent in the foam and gave me a thundering headache for about 30 minutes or so. I hit pretty hard so I was still happy.

 

Tyler has highsided at least 3x that I recall. His first, while racing mini's, cracked the helmet in the back, had a concusssion, doing about 40-50mph. This was a brand mentioned in here that many people like.

His next high side was in the attitudes at Miller when his motor locked up, his GPS system said he was at 91mph when crashing, and he face/headplanted, with no concussion, helmet did it's job, this was with a NEXX helmet. FULL DOSCLOSURE-we are now sponsored by NEXX.

Two weeks ago, Tyler highsided at Willow Springs, turn 6, no GPS, so I'm guessing at speed, but that section is over 100mph. He hit his head first, bike was beat up, Cortech Leathers and gloves protected him well, helmet did it's job, no concussion, felt fine.

Next day at Willow again, he crashed, avoiding a downed rider, going into turn 9. Just a low side, dinged the helmet again, no issues at all.

From the research I've done, I like the ECE standard Soumy and NEXX build their helmets to, VS. the Snell standard. Snell rates a helmet to take 2 hits in the exact same place, which means it has to be harder, which has to pass more energy to the riders head.

Obviously every crash is different, but when you crash with a Arai or Shoei no one ever questions the helmet. I have a good friend who's son crashed at between 35-55 at the start of a race and got a concussion, with blood coming out of his mouth and ears. Yet because it was a "good brand" no one questions it,

Same crash in a NEXX or other brands and everyone says you should use a different helmet

 

I would say Arai or Shoei. The quality and fit have been excellent, parts are easy to get. and they don't just fall apart.

I have never had a street Bell helmet, but I have had 2 of their top of the line Dirt helmets, and both of them fell apart.

Both of the Bell helmets ( without crashes) , had issues with the liner staying in and nuts for the visor coming loose. My dirt Arai that is 15 years old has never had anything fall out of it.

I never got over a year out of my Bell helmets.

All the other odd ball helmets I had over the years was ok but you could never get replacement visors, shields, parts, etc, so i quit buying cheap helmets.

 

From a crash protection standpoint that you-get-what-you-pay-for shit is rediculous. Most major brands are designed/tested to the same impact protection standards. So basically, in a crash the Arai, Suomy, Shoei, Bell, HJC, Shark, etc. are going to be just fine.

That being said, as others have mentioned, that isn't all that comes into play while riding. For me it has always been a balancing act between necessary bells and whistles compared to cost. For me I've gone with HJC most though I've crashed in an HJC and a Shoei. Both of those crashes my head would have been protected with any helmet so no real reason to compare. Noise protection is a huge factor for me. I hate wind noise. The Shoei was good for that and HJCs have come a long way in the weight and noise factors.

My favorite helmet has always been my Shoei. Though I have an Arai, the Shoei has been the best fitting helmet I've ever had. I've owned 3 HJCs, a Shark, Arai and Shoei.

 

Step 1: Choose a manufacturer

Shoei
Shark
Suomy
Arai
AGV
Bell
HJC
Scorpion

Step 2: Find the model that best suits your price range while offering the best safety features

Step 3: Does it fit your head properly?

If yes, purchase. If no, repeat steps 1-3 until you do.

I really don't understand why some people insist Shoei or Arai have to be the only options. I've crashed and tumbled across the track at 100+, bouncing my head off the pavement a few times. I was wearing a Shark RSR2 and walked away with just a broken arm. Would the Shoei X-12 or Arai whatever have protected me as well? Yeah, I'm sure they would have. Would an AGV GP-Tech or Suomy Spec-1R done as good of a job protecting my head? Again, I'm sure they would have. There are plenty of excellent helmet makers out there, not just Shoei or Arai.

 

Good points Zippy. I dunno if it's been mentioned but Sportbike Trackgear has some great vids of helmet reviews. Including how they are on track.

But phuck STG, they have enough of my money lol. JK

 

this is as good of time as any to ask. i found a suomy extreme on closeout in my size the website listed it as ece-2205 and bsi 6658 but it only lists dot on the back.
am i good to go on passing tech?

 

I understand their track record speaks for itslef. They both make exceptional helmets. Hell, I think I've owned more Shoeis in my riding "career" than any other manufacturer, so I obviously trust them. At the same time, I won't say they (Shoei) or Arai are the only two viable options when it comes to helmets. They may fit someone's head better or have some other feature(s) that people prefer, but I wouldn't say they're made to be any safer than say my GP-Techs or Spec-1Rs. That's why I said, "There are plenty of excellent helmet makers out there, not just Shoei or Arai."


When you say "new or unknown", I think that may be a large part of the buying equation. Shark makes some exceptional helmets, but outside of the racing community, Shark isn't a very well-known brand. Granted, I think everyone on this board knows about Shark, but the average street rider is probably pretty clueless to Shark's qualities.

 

Pity that Shark doesn't make a helmet that fits my head. I tried.

 

Mongo, I wasn't referring to you when I mentioned people give a hall pass to Arai or Shoei and question you with other helmets.

Another reason I like the European standards, from what I understand, they don't let the manufactureres ship them a helmet, like snell does. The Euro standards actually go get the helmet....which eliminates specials. Also, up until the last Snell revision, Snell used the same size and weight simultated head in all sizes of helmets. In theory, this makes the smaller sizes, which my kid uses, have to be stiffer, which would pass more g's to his head.

Tyler really believes in his NEXX. He has had friends with slower and what appear to be less violent accidents than his, come out with concussions/comas and they were riding other excellent name brand helmets. Ty's only concussion came with a well known brand.

 

Typically when you pay more for a product you get higher quality materials, manufacturing process, engineering, and quality control. I do believe this is the case with helmets. You can see it when you pick one up even. Sure they all meet a standard, but it is entirely possible a helmet could exceed the standard.

Fact is every crash and hit to the head/helmet is different. The reason people don't question the helmet with the high end brands is because they know the quality is there. A free helmet or sponsorship isn't really worth the risk to some.