Newbie helmet question

[Jantar]

N37? I think I saw one on trademe that looked exactly like it so I'll assume that's what it is.

That helmet has to be 15 years old. Toss it and replace asap.

[Swoop]

...along with the visor fogging up every breath unless i had it up...

Talk to the sales person about a "breath guard". This fits inside the helmet at the bottom of the visor and helps keep exhaled air away fron the visor.
Well worth getting one when you get your helmet.

[Stampy]

I'll check those out. Just took the nolan for a ride and couldn't hear my 250 at 15,000 in 5th over all the damn wind noise, along with the visor fogging up every breath unless i had it up...Which hurts your eyes at speed with all the damn bugs haha

Try an Arai Viper GT, Like having a 747 flying 2 inches above your head!!

[slimjim]

and be aware too..that some lower priced helmets have a higher impact than some of those bloody overpriced ones..graphics add a fucking huge price to a hat..but its not making it any better than a safety standard

[vifferman]

I don't know about you but my conclusion is that a dropped helmet protects your head less than no helmet.

That's not true, nor is your statement that the liner in a dropped helmet has been wrecked. If dropped far enough and heavily enough, the shell might be compromised, but this should in no way affect the liner, unless there was something heavy like a head in it.
This recent clip (posted elsewhere on KB?) from Jay Leno's Garage debunks the myth that a dropped helmet is necessarily no good.

Getting back to wbks's search for a helmet: the main thing is the helmet should fit you well. While the "$50 helmet for a $50 head" thing is basically fear-mongering, to some extent you get what you pay for, and more expensive helmets will generally be better finished, have better features, etc. But they won't necessarily protect you any better (especially if they don't fit well!) And don't worry about wind noise - you should be wearing
earplugs on the open road anyway. Wearing even a 'quiet' helmet for more than 15 minutes at open-road speeds will subject you to potential hearing loss due to the high-frequency noise of wind rushing around the helmet.

[Big Dog]

That's not true, nor is your statement that the liner in a dropped helmet has been wrecked. If dropped far enough and heavily enough, the shell might be compromised, but this should in no way affect the liner, unless there was something heavy like a head in it.
This recent clip (posted elsewhere on KB?) from Jay Leno's Garage debunks the myth that a dropped helmet is necessarily no good.

Getting back to wbks's search for a helmet: the main thing is the helmet should fit you well. While the "$50 helmet for a $50 head" thing is basically fear-mongering, to some extent you get what you pay for, and more expensive helmets will generally be better finished, have better features, etc. But they won't necessarily protect you any better (especially if they don't fit well!) And don't worry about wind noise - you should be wearing
earplugs on the open road anyway. Wearing even a 'quiet' helmet for more than 15 minutes at open-road speeds will subject you to potential hearing loss due to the high-frequency noise of wind rushing around the helmet.

Personal experience tells me one should never skimp on head protection.
Also I have cut open a helmet (to stop someone fishing my old helmet out of the rubbish). The EPS was approximately 50% crushed and was also cracked form a less than 2m drop while empty.
If in doubt throw it out.

I will concede that with a "headform" inside the helmet the crushing is more substantial, however reduced capacity is reduced capacity.
With fibreglass there was usually delamination as a dead give away. With modern polycarbonate shells there may not even be a discolouration or scratch.

[vifferman]

Personal experience tells me one should never skimp on head protection.

Indeed not.

Also I have cut open a helmet (to stop someone fishing my old helmet out of the rubbish). The EPS was approximately 50% crushed and was also cracked form a less than 2m drop while empty.
If in doubt throw it out.

Yes, that's a good axiom. However, my point was that just because a helmet has been dropped, that doesn't mean it is definitely trashed, and it's almost scurrilous to scare noobies or ignorant people into fearing for their life and throwing away what might be a perfectly serviceable helmet. If nothing has squished the foam (and if the helmet's empty, there's absolutely no reason for the foam to be compromised), then a careful examination of the shell will determine the integrity or otherwise of the shell.
Older helmets made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic may well degrade just through a drop from your seat, or the action of UV or chemicals. However, injection-moulded plastic helmets and modern helmets made of multiple reinforcing fibres (Aramid, carbon, glass, kevlar, etc) are much more resistant.
A simple test is to look for any chips in the external shell. If the chip isn't deep, and when you press with your thumb on it, it doesn't deflect the shell, then it's fine, and certainly MUCH better than no helmet at all.
If a drop from a bike seat destroys a helmet, then it doesn't say much for the helmet's ability to protect your head in a crash, does it?

[Big Dog]

Indeed not.

Yes, that's a good axiom. However, my point was that just because a helmet has been dropped, that doesn't mean it is definitely trashed, and it's almost scurrilous to scare noobies or ignorant people into fearing for their life and throwing away what might be a perfectly serviceable helmet. If nothing has squished the foam (and if the helmet's empty, there's absolutely no reason for the foam to be compromised), then a careful examination of the shell will determine the integrity or otherwise of the shell.
Older helmets made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic may well degrade just through a drop from your seat, or the action of UV or chemicals. However, injection-moulded plastic helmets and modern helmets made of multiple reinforcing fibres (Aramid, carbon, glass, kevlar, etc) are much more resistant.
A simple test is to look for any chips in the external shell. If the chip isn't deep, and when you press with your thumb on it, it doesn't deflect the shell, then it's fine, and certainly MUCH better than no helmet at all.
If a drop from a bike seat destroys a helmet, then it doesn't say much for the helmet's ability to protect your head in a crash, does it?

All relative really.
If a helmet fell off my seat I would be unlikely to throw it out given the tests you have outlined above.
My point was more about second hand helmets, you have no idea wether when your mate says it has only been dropped once he means it had a head in it, or maybe it was out the window of an appartment?

But if you have been in control of a helmet for it's entire service life you are in a position to decide that. If you have only had it since jimbo down the pub swapped you for a beer chances are your decisions will be at the very least not based in fact.

Fun fact: I have seen a helmet that faceplanted a racetrack at 200ish that could have passed for new with a new visor.

[Gizzit]

All excellent stuff above .. but what do you recommend for the guy? He is wanting opinion on helmets worth looking at in his price range.

Any opinions on .... say ... FFM, HJC, OXFORD, or others in the cheaper end of the market that may meet his budget ?
......

[Big Dog]

Change of range for HJC means there are some pretty awesome deals on HJC.
I don't recommend CAN but they are cheap. Stump up the other 50 for a new season HJC or shop around for an older model.
From about $100 full face in some shops.

[Gizzit]

Change of range for HJC means there are some pretty awesome deals on HJC.
I don't recommend CAN but they are cheap. Stump up the other 50 for a new season HJC or shop around for an older model.
From about $100 full face in some shops.

Yes thats what I was thinking. There are some "good" cheap helmets out there. And yes ..... although I have never heard any actual user reports of CAN helmets, from examining them ... they would be a very last resort! He should be able to get a pretty good first helmet for between $150 - $250 I was thinking ...

[NordieBoy]

The Zeus range have some pretty good prices as well for full face/flip front/adventure styles.

[motorbyclist]

dropped/crashed helmet is better than no helmet for abrasion resistance but not much more

seriously, just go buy a cheap helmet that fits. should be snug and remember they lossen up ver time as you "wear them in"

myself i currently use an HJC CL-14. they stopped making them a while ago but the replacement looks just as good. i tried an hjc cl-12 and thought it a bit louder than the cl14, but it was cheaper too.

'field testing' shows they work just as wel as a shoei or arai but you can buy four HJC for the cost of one shoei

and if they tend to fog up, try opening the visor just the slightest of cracks to get a bit of air flow and she'll be sweet

[madbikeboy]

Here is my $0.02.

I've had a few concussions, one serious enough that I wasn't allowed to drive for a while.

Talking to the health professionals who worked on me during the recuperation period gave me a different perspective on this.

What you are trying to achieve by buying a good helmet is to increase the time that your brain decelerates. In other words, the slower that your brain moves around, the more chance you have of not dying. More expensive helmets use double or even triple layers of foam inside to slow the impact, and the more expensive composite helmets also use this principle on the shell.

I use the top of the line HJC Carbon jobbie, or I have a top of the line Shoei. I also like Arai. I wouldn't use a cheap lid, there's too much at stake. The SHARP tests can arguably be described as flawed - they use measures that a lot of people don't agree on (for example using the side of the lid as the measurement point when most impact happens to the top, front, or back - this makes sense intuitively, try falling onto your side and see what happens (assuming you have shoulders)). What is notable is the impacts some of the racers have sustained over the years and survived wearing high end helmets.

Fit is key, even a good helmet won't save you if it's already fallen off.

[wbks]

so you're saying higher priced helmets are better as oposed to the view that all reasonably priced helmets like HJC cheap ones will do the job just as well but without the features?