Motorcycle Helmet Performance: Blowing the Lid Off

[Juvecu]

Just a link to an article related to helmet safety standards and such. Worth a read if you want to know more about that thing on your head meant to protect it and the standards influencing it.

edit: it's quite lengthy...

[hookie]

Yet again average Joe consumer ends up being none the wiser. Who do we take as the "experts" to believe? We have British Standards, CE, ACU Gold, Snell etc.etc. and of course Sharp. The Sharp standards are quite interesting in that they have used injury data to try and analyse what makes a good lid as opposed to a bad one and test helmets to see which ones give better protection. The result is a grading system (1 to 5) that has produced very predictable responses from helmet makers. The "best" helmets, Shoei, Arai and so on have not generally scored well and some cheaper helmets have. These "best" makers respond by saying what a bad system Sharp is and the cheaper makers are crowing with delight. Yet again poor Joe is really no better off... So really you pays your money and makes your choice. Just make sure it fits properly and the colour matches your bike!

[Juvecu]

I personally think that one should read the info and make your own conclusions rather than taking the article writer's ones as your own. This article writer did spend 6 months researching and testing before he wrote it so he gets credit with me for the effort :-)

[Anonymous]

I personally don't believe that you are anymore protected in a £500 Arai or Shoei than you are in a £100 lid like Suomy or HJC. If you are in an accident and suffer fatal head trauma, it would have happened whatever full face lid you are wearing.
I read somewhere that the highest fatality rate of motorcycle head injuries is when the brain goes slamming into the inside of your skull.... there isn't a helmet around that will stop that.
More expensive lids are only worth the extra because they may be quieter and have better vents, with other stuff like pinlock visors etc.
Saying all that though, I wouldn't buy a cheap £20 no name lid, but neither will I buy a lid over £100. The most important thing about crash helmets without a doubt is that they fit correctly.

[dogpuf]

I disagree - I'm sorry but Arai & Shoei and the other top makes are worth spending the extra on

I've had two nasty crashes - first one at 70 mph on the Nurburgring - my head was protected by an Arai Quantum F. It was a right mess with the visor and plastics ripped my the tarmac but my head was perfect. Second crash I had a Shoei Z-One which involved my landing on my head and shoulder after being knocked into the air by a car. Again Helmet was grazed but it did the Job.

I would not buy a cheap helmet no matter what anyone says - I wear an Arai Chaser now - Your head is too precious for cost cutting

[Anonymous]

I disagree - I'm sorry but Arai & Shoei and the other top makes are worth spending the extra on

I've had two nasty crashes - first one at 70 mph on the Nurburgring - my head was protected by an Arai Quantum F. It was a right mess with the visor and plastics ripped my the tarmac but my head was perfect. Second crash I had a Shoei Z-One which involved my landing on my head and shoulder after being knocked into the air by a car. Again Helmet was grazed but it did the Job.

I would not buy a cheap helmet no matter what anyone says - I wear an Arai Chaser now - Your head is too precious for cost cutting

Yes.... but you could have been equally proctected and been just as unscathed wearing a cheaper lid. You're just assuming you wouldn't have been.

[putbinoot]

Cheap helmet cheap head, it's a good marketing ploy there is an actual term for it no doubt someone may know the correct term. There is a point where no matter how good the helmet and it may be a "cheap" one that the collision of the brain on the skull cannot be reduced by any type of helmet. Maybe instead of £400 on a helmet £150 on a helmet and spend the rest on an advanced rider course.

[hookie]

I think it was Bell who coined the phrase "If you have a $5 head wear a $5 helmet." This was a very clever bit of advertising that probably had some relevance back in the 1970s when helmet design was really in it's infancy, but today there is very little if any evidence that spending a lot actually protects you any better than a cheap one. The big manufacturers rely on advertising and sponsorship to sell their products to you- all of which you end up paying for!

[Anonymous]

It cetainly was a clever catchphrase, and still in constant use..... Hardly a week goes by where I don't see this old chestnut spouted on some bikeforum like its a profound statement.

[dogpuf]

I disagree - I'm sorry but Arai & Shoei and the other top makes are worth spending the extra on

I've had two nasty crashes - first one at 70 mph on the Nurburgring - my head was protected by an Arai Quantum F. It was a right mess with the visor and plastics ripped my the tarmac but my head was perfect. Second crash I had a Shoei Z-One which involved my landing on my head and shoulder after being knocked into the air by a car. Again Helmet was grazed but it did the Job.

I would not buy a cheap helmet no matter what anyone says - I wear an Arai Chaser now - Your head is too precious for cost cutting

Yes.... but you could have been equally proctected and been just as unscathed wearing a cheaper lid. You're just assuming you wouldn't have been.

That is my opinion and I'm not prepared to take the risk for sake of £100. Plus you don't know that I would have been

After deciding what helmet I wanted and fitted me best, I shopped around and bought my Arai for £280. When my son was ready for a new helmet I shopped around and bought a Shoei XR1000 for £210. I don't think this is too much to pay for the best protection

It is up to you if you want to wear a cheap helmet but I think if I am paying £1000's for my bike, £100's on the best tyres, Exhausts, seats, etc. then protecting my head and giving it a nice enviroment is worth a bit more.

[beep]

So far I've bought Bell, Sheoi and now an Arai. These were bought mainly to fit my odd shaped head. Not all Arai are that expensive, you can get them for around £200 if you don't care about the graphics. Definately worth paying a bit more for a safer helmet, the fit is probably as important for safety as the various safety tests carried out.