A question for the two wheeled shiters

[garbaldy]

After 10 years of being on four wheels i decided to get back in the saddle

so far i have

Bike old Kwakersaki zzr600

old jacket still fits

trousers still fit

gloves

but helmet is for the bin as foam has not aged well.

 

What would be a reasonable helmet that will not split in half when hitting the road

ive looked at a few but they start at 40 odd quid and the sky is the limit.

 

any recomendations

[John F]

Hm. How long's a piece of string? General idea is to buy as good as you can afford & hope you'll never need to use it.

 

I haven't bought a new helmet for a while, but back in the day you either had an "Arai" (narrower) or a Shoei" (wider)-shaped head. Dunno if this still applies with newer brands? I tend to buy more for comfort than anything else, it's uncomfortable having your nose pressed against the visor at continental speeds just because your helmet doesn't fit properly

[hairnet]

bottom range arai or shoei - im xxl so restriced to these but have had fm in the past and also have an emergency 40 quid takaichi from j and s when i left an arai at high wycombe services

 

should get change from 200 quid

 

theyre all tested the same just the fit on a 40 quid lid wont as good as one youve heard of

 

shark and agv are good also but the shells are on the small side - their xl is like arai medium it wouldnt fit on me

[155V6]

How about one of these?

[Micrashed]

Having used one in anger I can say that these leave your sweed intact.

[purplebargeken]

Caberg are not bad at all. Mine did ok when I got hit by a bus.

 

Best and most obvious thing is to drag your butt down to the local bike emporium and see what fits, bearing in mind the lining will settle a bit with wear. Budget of £200 will get you a very decent lid. Arai and the like are obvious 'brand bling' but worthy.

[nigel bickle]

Just buy the best you can afford- ands lets hope you never need to test it!

[skattrd]

Just buy the best you can afford- ands lets hope you never need to test it!

 

WHS.

 

I'd look for one of last years models as fashion (and MSA regs) change frequently making some excellent helmets considerably cheaper than they were 6 months ago.

 

edit: Oh, and never buy a second hand helmet, you don't know if it's been damaged/dropped or whatever.

[hairnet]

go in to local bike tat emporium try them on

 

then buy this

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arai-Axces-2- ... 460e88352b

 

absolute bargain

 

with arai and shoei - have no panic about buying online if it fits in the shop it wont be a prob in the post

[purplebargeken]

Flip up's are bloody useful tbh.

[Micrashed]

Flip up's are bloody useful tbh.

Unless like me you dive face first into the tarmac and damage the release clip - then you look like a spastic mentalist trying to release the helmet by jabbing a Biro with your one working arm into where the release clip for the flip was (before it got shredded off).

Added to the fact that Im deaf and my hearing aids were switched to "T" to stop them feeding back whilst the lid was on led to the paramedic being quite concerned that I had a more serious injury than I actually did.

 

I can not stress enough the importance of wearing proper kit no matter what the weather or how long/short a trip out - I hit the deck on a nice day 400 yards from home, my leathers, helmet, gloves and boots were fit only for the dustbin, and that was before the nice lady in A&E cut my jacket off.

[garethj]

As said, get one that fits properly, either in plain colours or last year's fashion which is cheaper. Take advice from the bike shop on which lid is quieter.

 

Get a visor with a fog insert, because you don't always want to lift it up one notch.

[plasticvandan]

have to say i do prefer open face helmets for local short journeys (yes i know they are about as much use in a crash as a concrete condom) but as i now do more motorway/longer journeys,but also have no money (part of the reason why i ride an MZ ) i got an LS2 helmet from my local bike place,being long time friends of theirs i did get it a bit cheaper

cost around £40,but its cert to ACU gold standard,fits well,doesnt let in much wind noise,and has a load of bits and bobs usually found on more expensive stuff.I had never heard of them before,but seems they are becoming quite popular.They do a lot more expensive ones too but i couldnt see the need.

[jonny69]

I haven't bought one for about 5 years but just to reinforce a few points:

 

-Don't skimp - It's your bonce!

 

-Don't buy on the brand alone - it's more important that it fits round your head and the brand comes second. Arai and Shoei are the top two brands and one suits people with rounder heads and the other suits people with narrower heads, but I can't remember which way round! You used to see a lot of scooterers who bought those fashionable lids because they looked really cool - this is foolish if they don't fit properly!

 

-Flip-up helmets are really handy. Cheap ones can be noisy and the mechanisms can be a bit annoying. Anything you can open with one hand is what you're looking for, anything that takes two hands sort of defeats the object and they can be a pain. I had a higher-end Takachi flip front which was a sort of clone of a Shoei one with some of the other good bits shamelessly copied from the Caberg and I really liked it. I always wanted a Caberg but I found the Takachi was a bit quieter.