FFM helmets

[Kungfaux]

I pick the real world over simulations in a lab any day. Challange stands show me real world proof.
Here is an interesting video about helmet fit, worth a look. http://www.araiamericas.com/default.aspx?pageid=160
Also some articles on this site explaining some of the points of difference between hand made and mass produced items

One begins to suspect that you're an idiot.

This is so amusing!

[NordieBoy]

I pick the real world over simulations in a lab any day. Challange stands show me real world proof.
Here is an interesting video about helmet fit, worth a look. http://www.araiamericas.com/default.aspx?pageid=160
Also some articles on this site explaining some of the points of difference between hand made and mass produced items

I suppose you're one of those who would get a new helmet after knocking your current one off the bike onto the concrete?

[kevfromcoro]

well iam on my second FFM and i find them fine.
going with nordies coments on the subject..
second thoughts..think i might stay out of a thread that is ..how fast you go is how much you spend.

i have a shimano fishing rod worth a fotune..and i catch more on my hand line

[_STAIN_]

I've had a few nocks on the noggin with FFMs on over years I've been riding and I'm still here to tell the tale. I'll be buying another FFM provided it fits properly.

The big difference is they used to be made in Waihi until around 5 years ago, now made in China but appear to be retaining reasonable standards....so far

[mctshirt]

i have a shimano fishing rod worth a fotune..and i catch more on my hand line

One of the most unfortunates truths out there - the fish have no idea how much a well heeled angler's gold plated fishing scene etched big game reel cost. Golf clubs have a similar thing going.

As for helmets I am of the view that at a certain dollar value you are buying no more protection merely increasing comfort levels.

[Bonez]

The big difference is they used to be made in Waihi until around 5 years ago, now made in China but appear to be retaining reasonable standards....so far

No reason they shouldn't continue to produce a reasonable product that meets international safety standards.. I personnally prefer the double D staps to fancy fastenings.

To quote the Aria press blurb-

"2. Why are all Arai helmets equipped with the 'Double D' ring fastner?

The 'Double D' ring is at the moment the safest way to fasten a helmet. A so-called quick fastener may be damaged or the build-up of dirt inside may influence the functioning of the device. Don't forget that grand prix racers are obliged to use a similar system as the 'Double D' ring for racing use!"

Funnily enough "budget" helmets have this "feature".

Heres a site that may benefit some looking for a new helmet-

http://www.best-motorcycle-gear.com/...le-helmet.html

[Tim 39]

You don't know what you're talking about.

I can assure you that he does in fact know what he's talking about.

I race (for those that don't know me I won the 125GP road race nationals) and I used to wear an FFM. I was under the same influence about the safety standars etc. My FFM didn't fit very well, and even the visor leaked when racing in the wet because it had been manufactured so poorly. Also other than a basic ratcheting system there was nothing actually holding the visor down, so in a crash it got ripped up and off (leaving face exposed) This was an M7 by the way.

I was quickly learning that the helmet standards were kind of like the driving standards... everyone has a licence so theyre a good driver, right??

I personally know of 5 road racers that have worn FFM helmets including myself. 2 complain about the fit, 1 had to replace the liner every 3 race meetings due to poor fitting and then there was me who didn't like the fit. So who do they actually fit? monkeys? basketballs?

I also know of a guy that crashed on the road while only doing about 140KM/h and his cheap HJC had split open like an egg... what if it had been at 160k and he rolled an extra time on his bare head?.... I know also of another cheap HJC at a race meeting at levels that left the guy with a grazed forehead (mighty lucky) because he highsided and the handlebar pulled his helmet clean off his head because the clip broke and then the helmet just came off.

As Kevin said with regards to manufacturing, Arai have someone highly paid checking the shells of each individual helmet and signing their own name to it so as theyre personally responsible in case of a defect. do FFM?

As for me, I saw the light eventually and got an Arai. What a difference! the fit was far superior and the visor shuts properly and locks down so it doesnt fly open in a crash etc etc. An arai has 12 different padding/liner options to fit all of the different kinds of heads, so if you don't like the fit you're able to do something about it!

I'm an aeroplane pilot during the week, so I obviously need to be careful with the gear that I choose to wear when I go racing. That's why I wear an Arai FACT!

[Tim 39]

Richard Hammond claims that it was his Arai that saved his life in his massive crash, and I bet that's all he'll wear from no on. Shaun Harris was wearing an Arai when he survived his Isle Of Man crash also... the list goes on

[Bonez]

the fit was far superior and the visor shuts properly and locks down so it doesnt fly open in a crash etc etc.

Look very closely at what happened to the visor in the video Kevin posted.

[Virago]

Richard Hammond claims that it was his Arai that saved his life in his massive crash, and I bet that's all he'll wear from no on. Shaun Harris was wearing an Arai when he survived his Isle Of Man crash also... the list goes on

So wearing Arai is likely to result in a violent crash? They sound dangerous to me...

[Tim 39]

Look very closely at what happened to the visor in the video Kevin posted.

I'm sure at that sort of speed, the visor wont stay. I was more referring to the lower speed crashes that I've experienced in both helemt types

[Bonez]

I'm sure at that sort of speed, the visor wont stay. I was more referring to the lower speed crashes that I've experienced in both helemt types

Geniunely interested. What sort of speeds? The more info folk get the better.

[xwhatsit]

So we're back to the same sort of `evidence' we were getting earlier -- anecdotal stories from people who've forked out for the ability to splash `ARAI' across their foreheads.

[Tim 39]

Geniunely interested. What sort of speeds? The more info folk get the better.

Most of my crashes have occured between 100 and 150. generally it was when I ended up on the grass run off, that the visor on the FFM would get opened (the HJC I had beofre it did it too)

[Bonez]

Most of my crashes have occured between 100 and 150. generally it was when I ended up on the grass run off, that the visor on the FFM would get opened (the HJC I had beofre it did it too)

Thanks for sharing.

I'll share a few of mine.

Ok I dropped one of my bikes on a corner at wearing an FFM Tour Pro 2 around 100kph.s. The visor remained intact. Stayed on when I was blown off my bike on the Napier-Taihape rd a month or so later, then after a mid air flip into a paddock having hit a concrete strainer post. It was a bad year.

Bit different from a racing situation admittedly.