Helmets??

Proof positive Arai's marketing and sponsorship of Pro racers works!

BTW - I tried a Suomy and it doesn't fit. I like them. Arai fits me fine but Suomy squeezes my face to much.

 

Other than in conversations and in "who's doing what" posts, I couldn't give a crap what Joe Factory wears.

I've worn many other brands and not tried a few others. Suomy and Arai worked best for Dave K.

 

Thanks everyone for your inputs..

#1 point seems to be is to have the best fit, I think nearly everyone agrres there, the helmet works better when it fits right.

I used to swear by Shoei's but over the years(last 20+ for me) they seems to not fit ME as well as when I was younger, they seem to be a bit short in the front and when sitting up at the end of a stright the wind seems to move it back on my face a bit.

I've tried Arai's but they seem to lack visor room and in a full tuck you seem to lose some vision room at the top of the opening and can't fully see the way I would like to.

Last year I was Useing a AGV x-vent when I bounced my head and for a few days had a sense of off-balance/small headache and felt sick to my stomach, the AGV fit well but just after that feeling made me second think what I was wearing...

So it looks like it comes down to fit and personnel taste of apperance after that as long as it's a quailty rated helmet...

 

And with that, you've summed up what I've been screaming and yelling for years.


AGV lids are pretty darn good. They just changed the fit so much over the years that they don't work for me. Try a KBC VR-2 for a similar fit. A good smack to the mellon while wearing any helmet will give you a minor concussion like you had.

 

If you build a box out of titanium and high tensil steel it will be lighter and stronger than a box built out of tin and post metal. It will also be more expensive.

Apply this to just about everything in racing. There is good, better, and best in all components....and you pay accordingly. You just need to decide which price point is going to give you the most return for your money......be it lap time or protection.

Personally, I would rather be slow and safe.

IMHO - Cheap helmets suck......

 

One thing not brought up here is that some people are just much more prone to cuncussion injury than others. Doesn't mean the helmet was "bad".

I have never had a concussion in spite of some really hard head boinks. One of my friends has had four, two from waht I consider very minor contact and the Doc says he better knock this shit off.

Something about brain injury being cumulative? Is this true?

 

Isn't the lamination process used for exterioir shells seems nearly universal on non-molded (not plastic) helmets?

I believe the interior "crush zone" technology is universal. Every helmet I have (nine brands) uses the same stuff inside

 

AGV - several impacts same crash..remember sounds not sights during the crash...no headache, but to this day my body still isn't the same.

Suomy - Serious head impact inducing whiplash...body not too sore serious headace for 2-3- days. remeber crash visually and audibly.

no head trauma in either wreck,( and I was checked out after both).

I'll ride with either helmet either day.. I'm not going to pontificate on other helemts cause I haven't tried them.. YMMV

 

Yes. Once you take a good shot to the head and sustain a concussion you are more likely to get another with a lesser shot.

I am just surious how people claim that the helmet saved their head in a certain crash and another helmet would not have. Unless you have had the exact same crash in all brands you can not make that claim. I hae seem plenty of people in $800 helmets get knocked stoopid and people in $200 ones walk away fine.

Getting a concussion does not mean that the helmet didn't do it's job, it means that your head impacted in a way that caused a sudden stop but your brain didn't.

My .02 is to by a helmet made with quality materials and make sure it fits properly............and don't wreck.

 

I have a friend who got hit by a car when he was riding a mountian bike, real bad head injury, had a bike helmet, not to say they arent good but got hit by a car is bad...

anyways... yes it seems he can get a concussion almost at will, or that way for about 2 years after the crash. one night he was going to the bathroom and walk into the open door edge in the dark and knock himself out and had a concussion from that...

there alot of reports on once you have a head injury you are more prone to them..

so everyone needs to slow down and ride safe..

maybe then I can get a podium...
:up:

 

Come to a Mid Atlantic or NE race and bring some beers and I may tell you why. I almost never talk about my crash but if you hold my hand and blow in my ear I might.

 

I am affraid that you might like that a little too much.......remeber, I am dead sexy.

 

Good article. I new bethlehem pa, aria has a test center that will check out your helmet and xray to check structure.

A few years ago i sent a bunch of my crashed helmets just to see what damage had occurred. anyway, When i spoke to the guy who does the inspection, we talked about time lines.

I guess the time you have the helmet and the conditions you put it through cause major changes in the capabilities of the helmet.

I.E sweat, rain, sunlight, elements cause break down in the materials. So it is save to say that after 1 year of use. 5 or 500 identical helmets, same size can have different issues when they are put to the test.

so if you have never hit the helmet, but have put it throught the elements, it may not perform to spec over time.

I have had alot of helmets and found that some stay true to fit for a longer time than others and some fit well for a very short time. That is a factor to me. I want my helmet to fit over time. I found the high end lids keep there fit and finish.

 

And if you build 100,000 boxes out of titanium and high tensil steel you can get a price break on buying bulk materials and pass that saving along to the customer. Thereby making the same helmet, only cheaper compared to building, say, 100 boxes. This is only addressing material costs and benifits. Quality control, time of construction, and storage don't enter into this simple comparision. Just saying, that sometimes, cheaper just means better business decisions. It's an option.

 

No motorcycle crash helmet is designed to affect concussion. They are all designed to prevent death and profound injuries. It doesn't matter which standard they are built to pass, the standards are designed with the preention of fatal impacts in mind. Concussions can have a cummulative affect, and contact sports helmets are now being made with that in mind.

I asked Ed Becker of Snell about it previously, here's what he said:

"These days, most of the helmet investigations seem to involve sports helmets, football headgear and so on. Currently, they're worried about multiple impacts and, for that reason, brain damage accumulated from a series of incidents which, taken individually, might be undetectable but manifest over time as cognitive disabilities and so on.

I do not believe that these should be crash helmet concerns. Riders do not expose themselves or others to the succession of head impacts that are seen in contact sports. Instead, the concern is the possibility of a very few but very severe head impacts over a lifetime of riding. That is, no real concern for accumulation but we want to prevent death or profound injury due to a single incident."

 

And if you don't sponsor Rossi and Company by paying them millions to use these boxes they stay resonalbly priced for the masses

 

Read the DOT testing reports for the 2005 random compliance results. I'm guessing many of you will be dipping your helmets in hot water before wearing them, if you believe the assumption that lower accaleration values are safer. The range of difference in on helmet is quite large between conditions, all love to be wet, and most don't like the cold.

Concerning the failure of the Scorpion, the shell appears to get brittle when frozen. The DOT allowed sales to continue after investigating and interpreting the results, as did Snell, who performs the same peneteration test, but doesn't account for dwell time attenuation. Neither does BSI. Snell has said that there is little evidence to base dwell time considerations on, and that the limits in the DOT standard were not intended to remain in the final draft. ECE uses the more complicated and just as controversial HIC formula to account for time considerations under braking. This is the area where data is severely lacking and is neccessary to confront the current debate.

 

I was trying on helmets this weekend. I tried all the KBCs. I couldn't get one to fit!! The medium smashed my head and the large was like wearing a bucket. Even though I could get 3 helmets for the price of one I'll continue to buy AGV and Arai, I can find one that fits

 

MOST/ALL the helmets out today that people wear ARE SNELL & DOT approved
But the FACT is that if your going @ high speed & have a hard impact things are going to happen resulting in injury

The thing is to have the best quality helmet u can buy & have it fitted properly. Thats really all u can do

I had to experience my brother in the ICU room a couple years ago, its NO place to be
INVEST in a quality, name brand helmet
take the time and money to get it right