Helmets

I just bought a Shoei RF1200. Out of your $300 range, but you don’t wanna skimp on a helmet.

I need to take my helmet to the Shoei HQ though, they do a custom fit for you (for a small fee) on new helmets. They’ll swap out the pads and all that stuff so that’s cool

 

Ugh this thread makes me cringe. Comments like I don't want to spend more than $300 on a helmet is crazy to me. Not directed at OP as I don't know what he's riding, but it amazes me that people are willing to spend $10k+ on a bike but not $1k to save their life and be able to keep riding that $10k bike? I mean a new set of tires is typically over $400 and most people go through tires a lot faster than they go through helmets.

I only wear Arai. They don't make cheap/inexpensive helmets because they're not safe...minimum is like $550 with no graphics.

 

The loose nut behind the bars is always the most troublesome one, but my helmets have protected me through accidents and rocks in the face. On those two facts alone, I'll always wear a full face helmet, even just around the block.

 

Don't forget that SNELL sticker

 

I’ve been using a shoei rf1200 for the last couple years. Best helmet I’ve used by far.

plus the transitions lense is sweet

 

Is it? I just got the 1200. I was wondering how well the transition lens actually works. It’s worth the $200 then?

 

It works really well. I think it’s well worth the cost.

plus it’s way more convenient than having 2 lenses.

 

Sweet. May have to buy one. I order my bike tomorrow

 

What bike are you getting?

 

A ‘20 Softail Street Bob

 

I like the Arai XD4, quiet enough up to 65mph to hear the BT speakers ok, quality helmet and my head happens to fit the Arai well. Having rode dirt bikes for the last 50 years I prefer having a visor which the XD4 has, out west the glare from the winter's low sun angles are brutal, with a tilt of my head I can block 95% of that.

 

SNELL is good. I'm also a fan of ECE. I figure if it's good enough for MotoGP, it's good enough for me.

 

dont need an expensive helmet if you not gonna crash...




riding a motorcycle is inherently dangerous, if you think a 4 figure helmet is safer than a 3 figure helmet one that has passed the same minimum safety standards because it costs more, well that is simply false...
your helmet cost you more because of the fit and finish and really the majority of it was for the weight saving (in grams)

 

I agree.
I got T boned by a car on the highway. I had a low price helmet on. Amongst other injuries I had moderate TBI (I cant imagine severe). I had 4 brain hemorrhages.
I often wonder how much better off I would have been if I were wearing a better helmet. Or would it have been the same? I’ll never know.

 

I've seen the difference between a good fiberglass helmet like Arai or Shoei and a crappy platic shell HJC and the difference is stark. I raced as an amateur and professionally for a long time. As well as my brother raced for years as well. With that said even with a great helmet there is only so much you can do when your head is going from 60+ MPH to a stop in short order.

 

That gets me thinking. If you watch any high side crash video on youtube riders are getting launched. I bet there is a correlation between the injuries sustained today vs 10-15 years ago in those kinds of crashes. And it's all do to modern safety equipment and all kinds of engineering.

We could probably learn some good lessons about safety gear from racing.

Like an airbag suit. That's pretty amazing stuff. I believe I landed on my back/right side. The back right side of my helmets aerodynamic fin things were gone and all the foam in the helmet broke into little pieces on that side. Also, my fractures indicate I landed on that side as I broke 6 ribs a few inches from my spine, broke my sternum from top to bottom and broke my collarbone in such a way it appears I folded along the axis if my sternum. I had a bunch of internal injuries that required another surgery more than a year after the accident. My hip and right knee are sore most of the time. All on the right side. I've spent a lot of time in hospitals and have taken a crazy amount of painkillers. I'll probably have some kind of pain for the rest of my life. Oh well. I'm alive and that's a good thing.

Could all of this been prevented with an airbag suit? Probably. Would it be worth a couple thousand dollars? For sure...without a doubt.

Shit...now I gotta start researching air bags and buy one. I just talked myself into getting one. My aerostich did okay but not good enough.

 

I’m getting one of the airbag vests for sure. A thousand bucks is worth not winding up like you, or dead.

 

One more thing. Use google location sharing. No one would have known where I was if not for google location sharing. According to google timeline I stopped moving at 4:22PM and arrived at the hospital at 4:54pm. My friend saw I was at the hospital on location sharing and texted me. When I didn't respond he came to the hospital. He arrived at the hospital at 5:30pm. Not bad.

This was on a saturday. I didn't show up for work on Monday. They had no idea what happened until Thursday. I'm not sharing location with work of course but it's a good idea to have someone who can contact everyone.

 

Yea I think people are going for the Helite vests right now as they can be re-charged easily, unlike Dainese and Alpinestars which cost a ton and you have to mail them out which takes a while.