shopping for a helmet, suggestions Options

[MattR]

QUOTE (TROJANMAN @ Jan 12 2006, 06:59 PM)

i think it is the other way around howard. the M is for the big hit and skid on the pavement and the SA is for the multiple whiplash hits on the cage. or so i've been told................... (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/huh.gif) i'll look it up.

Yes, that is correct. M is for Motorcycle. If you get in one crash, its spent. SA is for cars. You can bang on the roll cage for a while before an SA goes bad.

[BMartin914]

I have to admit, I have missed posting on this site over the past few weeks...

Hi everybody!

I have to say that I have borrowed Brant's helmet and he has removed the face shield and I liked it much better than the helmet I wore that had a shield.

Helmets can get hot - really hot in summer ans the face shields make them even more so. Additionally, if a broken piece of 914 or road debris is coming at your face ar xx+ MPH, I don't think that a face shield is going to make much of a difference.

[shelby/914]

Greg, stop by or give me a call before you buy. Have a reasonable source for Bell products (assuming she is still in business) I'll check into it. I have one of each but use the open face all of the time now. More comfortable and easier to get your glasses on.

[Dave_Darling]

QUOTE (TROJANMAN @ Jan 12 2006, 06:42 PM)

spoken like someone married to a lawyer.......  :lol2:

Am not! (Not yet, at any rate.... (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif) )




...I was told a number of years ago (and I don't know if it is still the case or not) that there were precisely two differences between the "M" spec and the "SA" spec. First, the SA liner had to be fire-resistant material, like Nomex. Second, the SA helmet had to meet all of the "M" tests plus one more. That one was a single impact onto the side of a tube, notionally like the helmet impacting a roll-cage member.

No single-impact vs. multiple-impact, no eyeport differences, nada. (Those may be incorporated into a helmet design, particularly the larger eyeport for the MC helmets, but it is not required in the Snell specs.)

As the speaker said, "I can tell you, as an engineer, that I would find it very difficult indeed to make a structure that would pass all of the other impact tests and would fail the roll-bar impact test. And if it gets to the point where it matters if my helmet liner is fire-resistant or not, I don't think it would really make a difference in the end result."

That was cited as, in part, the justification for PCA Zone 7 not requiring SA helmets for time trial events.

--DD

[scottb]

here's what i did to get a nice shoei helmet.....

went back home to colorado to visit family and friends.

a good buddy had just sold his xj12 murder missle 2001 crotch rocket at the urging of his wife but the 12 month old helmet remained. here are the steps:

1) "so, you sold your bike? want a beer?"

2) "why the hell do you still have your helmet? want a beer?"

3) "i bet someone would give you $100 bucks for your helmet but my wife would kill me. want a beer?"

4) "really? $50 for your $300 shoei helmet? you insist? ok. thanks. want a beer?"



works every time!!!!! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/aktion035.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/aktion035.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/aktion035.gif)

[VegasRacer]

Wearing a full face helmet is better than an open face if you crash a motorcycle. (Ask me how I know.) The rules say I gotta have a SA rated full face helmet w/ shield for the kind of track events I like to do. Even without this requirement, it would still be my choice. I can't think of any good excuse to be a CSOB regarding helmet choice. Pick any of the major brands with a good reputation. Try it on first. They do not all fit the same.

[WRX914]

QUOTE (lapuwali @ Jan 12 2006, 04:32 PM)

The $10 head, $10 helmet line wasn't true then, and isn't true today. Beyond a certain price point, you're no longer paying for more protection by spending more money.  You're paying for more comfort, less weight, and bling.  That price point can be startlingly low.  In some tests, done to to show the actual G loads applied to the skull in a set impact, a plain HJC helmet retailing at under $200 was out-performing helmets costing well over $500 retail. The motorcycle press has covered this fairly extensively over the last couple of years.  There's quite a bit of controversy over the current standards, with Snell getting slammed by some of the researchers that have been working on the subject for decades.  The EU standards are now such that they're incompatible with the Snell standards and, by some measures, the EU standards are safer. Web Bike World is one such site that's covered this, citing a pair of articles in Motorcyclist, all of which read like they were written by grownups. Buy a $1000 helmet if it makes you feel good, but don't try to convince others that it provides any more protection that a $200 helmet, because chances are better than even it doesn't.  It's lighter, and no doubt more comfortable, but not spending the $1K isn't necessarily "skimping" on safety.

In my expierance, it kinda goes like this:

Me, " I hate my helmet, it is so uncomfortable, it hits my forehead and pinches my cheeks and feels like a bowling ball on top of my head". Hey Paul, would you mind if I try your helmet for a practice run"? After practice, I say "Damn Paul, that helmet is nice! Would you mind if I use it for my next run"? Paul, "Wilson, (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/pissoff.gif) get your own"!

Now, just as crazyhippie said you are off to the race shop to buy ANOTHER helmet.

1st helmet = $250
2nd helmet = $650

Why not just buy the best 1st, and enjoy your purchase instead of regreting it. As one of my friends put it, "I don't want to be the guy who is pointing at a helmet and saying that one was the one I wanted to buy". Just get the best helmet that you can possibly afford.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif)

[jhadler]

Track? Full face all the way for the reasons mentioned above. As for whether or not a full face with shield would protect you from flying debris? Well, it may not stop everything, but even so, it might very well be the difference between a bruise, and reconstructive surgery. I'll take the full face helmet and a shiner over an extended hospital stay any time...

Autox? Open face is not such a bad idea. Not just for the glasses and/or earings reasons. But for HEAT! When you're sitting in your car on the staging line for more than just a minute or two in a full face helmet with the sun beating down on you in 95 degree weather, you really notice the difference between an open and a closed faced helmet.

-Josh2

[WRX914]

QUOTE (lapuwali @ Jan 12 2006, 04:32 PM)

Buy a $1000 helmet if it makes you feel good, but don't try to convince others that it provides any more protection that a $200 helmet, because chances are better than even it doesn't.  It's lighter, and no doubt more comfortable, but not spending the $1K isn't necessarily "skimping" on safety.

I justified the grand cause I use it for shifter kart racing. At 125 mph in a kart that is less than 385lbs with me in it running no suspension holding aprox 3gs in a given corner, a fingers distance off of the ground, with the ability to go from zero to 60 in about 3-4 seconds AND it is open wheel racing with as many as 36 karts on the same grid.... Yes, the $1,000 makes me feel better.

Safety, safety, safety is the undisputable rule while racing in any venue.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif)

[redshift]

Find out what SLITS head is made of, and have one fashioned. (likely from an old pine stump)



M

[sk8kat1]

the only helmet I have ever trusted no matter what I was riding or driving!!

arai helmets

[sk8kat1]

QUOTE (BMartin914 @ Jan 12 2006, 07:19 PM)

Helmets can get hot - really hot in summer ans the face shields make them even more so. Additionally, if a broken piece of 914 or road debris is coming at your face ar xx+ MPH, I don't think that a face shield is going to make much of a difference.

actually the face shield does make a huge differance -- I was riding in excess of 100 mph on a motorcycle and a truck kicked up a rock a little bit smaller than a golf ball -- and it jit squarely in my face shield -- did my shield crack , yes ... did I shit my self , YES did it come through my shield NO ---

just my experiance and my .02 cents


(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)

[byndbad914]

okay - I will (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/dead horse.gif) Best IMO is full face with shield. For A/X though, open face would probably be okay. I am going to replace my full face with shield anyway since it was an SA95, but just a note - I broke the face shield in January putting my sunglasses on (it stuck a bit, so I unstuck it a bit too much) and I will be damned, I go out and first good run down the straight at Willow a little piece of dirt whips up into my eye. At 130mph going into Turn 1, not good to have one eye tearing like a mofo. Fortunately I had my smaller size backup with me so I was able to get a shielded helmet on (though tight) just so I wasn't blinding myself with dust.

Typically A/X doesn't get the speeds required to whip dust up into your eyes - probably more likely on the freeway with the windows down, so if $$ is really an issue go open face. SA v. M is as stated re: the liner and the additional impact test. That said, a decent M helmet is probably only $100 cheaper at the most v. a similar SA helmet. I was just looking at pricing a couple weeks ago. Just go SA2000 if you can find it - that will save some $$ in the short term. Most likely in 5 yrs of good use the helmet will be just nasty enough you will want to replace it anyway. That is what I am doing since I replace my helmet often if I use it often (in 5yrs). the only reason I had SA95s this long is the car was apart 7 of those 10 yrs (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/mad.gif)

And don't skimp on the helmet/safety stuff. So often guys dump mucho dinero into the car, then bitch about a $200 difference in helmets when it comes to their noggin (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/screwy.gif) My .02 FWIW