(Motorcycle) helmets

[ChrisH]

Ever heard that old bullsh*t - if you got a £10 head buy a £10 helmet? Have a look at this article from Motorcyclist Online http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/ge...atz/index.html

[goldiefish]

I'll stick with my arai thanks...

[Dilbert]

Thanks Chris, good article, but needs to be kept in perspective, I'm in the over 45, XL size, most likely not to survive bracket and I wear a £60 Takachi !
Why ? simple, it has a BSI and ACU gold sticker and it fits my big fat head.
I take it easy round traffic with a healthy disregard for the intelligence of other road users (including other bikers, but especially Audi drivers) and look out for clothing with some body protection.
All this talk centres on what happens to your head, what about all those other injuries?
If like my younger brother you skid and go under a van, the fact that your legs now bend both ways and need nine inch stainless steel pins in them, your chest is crushed, spleen split open and your slowly bleeding to death isn't going to make you think, ooh glad I bought an expensive helmet!
Don't get me wrong, take the best precations you can, buy the best and best fitting helmet/ clothing/ boots/ gloves you can afford and make sure it's all certified to the relevant standards.
Bear in mind the authors conclusion, all helmets are getting much better, the fibreglass/ poly-ABS arguement held more sway back in the eighties, when I had Griffen fibreglass hats and making sure it fits properly is much more important than whether it's pretty or has a number 46 on it.

p.s. my brother survived quite happily (with meccano legs for a while) having the good sense to crash directly outside the local infirmary!

[ChrisH]

No the point I was interested in was that big money doesn't equal guaranteed extra safety, in fact it coukld be less safe... Well I'm nearly 50, and as long as the helmet I've got has the BSI and ACU stickers I reckon it's probably OK. I hit a Mini side on (their fault - turned across a main road without looking...)at about 40mph on a Bonny back in the '70s, flew over the bonnet and landed on me helmet - no lasting damage done (I think....) and in them days wearing a helmet wasn't compulsory if I remember correctly. So I am quite keen to have good protection, it's just I don't want to get fleeced - it costs enough to keep the bikes on the road anyway. Another thing it seems to me is that helmets are much noisier - I have three helmets all middle priced I guess and all of them are noisier than the Centurion I had in the '80s. Why do I think that? cos I had a Bike Mike then and me and the missus could chat to each other at 70mph ish no problem. Now I can barely hear meself think! and wear ear plugs on any long journeys. I dunno - maybe it's just old age!