Motorcyclist Helmet Article

Northy · 05-07-2005, 4:09 PM

Who has read the helmet article "Blowing the Lid Off" in the latest Motorcyclist? I found the results very surprising. It got me thinking of buying a Non-Snell helmet next time. The eighty dollar Z1R seems to have done real well. Any thoughts or opinions?

sonofarex · 05-07-2005, 4:18 PM

i don't read motorcyclist any more, but now you have me intrigued

CBR929RE · 05-07-2005, 5:05 PM

is the june issue out already? its not in the latest issue I have (may)

abtech · 05-07-2005, 5:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northy

Who has read the helmet article "Blowing the Lid Off" in the latest Motorcyclist? I found the results very surprising. It got me thinking of buying a Non-Snell helmet next time. The eighty dollar Z1R seems to have done real well. Any thoughts or opinions?

Haven't read the article, but don't try to go through tech inspection for a race with a Non-Snell rated helmet . . .

Northern RR · 05-07-2005, 5:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northy

Who has read the helmet article "Blowing the Lid Off" in the latest Motorcyclist? I found the results very surprising. It got me thinking of buying a Non-Snell helmet next time. The eighty dollar Z1R seems to have done real well. Any thoughts or opinions?

You go and buy the $80 one and give me the the one in your avatar please...

Northy · 05-07-2005, 6:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CBR929RE

is the june issue out already? its not in the latest issue I have (may)

It's in the June issue. It came in the mail yesterday.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABTECH

Haven't read the article, but don't try to go through tech inspection for a race with a Non-Snell rated helmet . . .

It says AMA accepts DOT, ECE 22-05 (European standard), BSI 6658 Type A (Standard in Britain) or Snell M-2000 (Mainly used in the US) rated helmets. FIM accepts all except DOT. I've always bought snell rated helmets because I thought they were better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northern RR

You go and buy the $80 one and give me the the one in your avatar please...

I think I'll keep it for a little bit longer. It's the best fitting (for my head) helmet I've ever had.

l'timbré · 05-07-2005, 7:12 PM

have they put them in some sort of order?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northy

Who has read the helmet article "Blowing the Lid Off" in the latest Motorcyclist? I found the results very surprising. It got me thinking of buying a Non-Snell helmet next time. The eighty dollar Z1R seems to have done real well. Any thoughts or opinions?

Northy · 05-07-2005, 7:46 PM

The fewer the Gs the better for your head. Here's how they rated them.

(P) = Polycarbonate Shell / (F) = Fiberglass Shell

DOT-Only Helmets
Z1R ZRP-1 (P) - 152Gs
Fulmer AFD4 (P) - 157Gs
Raider (from Pep Boys) (P) - 174Gs

BSI/DOT Helmets
AGV TI-Tech (F) - 169Gs
Suomy Spec 1R (F) - 182Gs

ECE/DOT Helmets
Schuberths S-1 (F) - 161Gs
Suomy Spec 1R (F) - 171Gs Same helmet as above built differently to meet different standards
Shark RSX (F) - 173Gs
Vemar VSR (F) - 174Gs

SNELL/DOT
ICON Mainframe (P) - 181Gs
ICON Alliance (F) - 183Gs
Scorpion EXO-400 (P) - 187Gs
AGV X-R2 (F) - 188Gs
Aria Tracker GT (F) - 201Gs
HJC AC-11 (F) - 204Gs
Scorpion EXO-700 (F) - 211Gs

l'timbré · 05-07-2005, 7:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northy

The fewer the Gs the better for your head. Here's how they rated them.

(P) = Polycarbonate Shell / (F) = Fiberglass Shell

DOT-Only Helmets
Z1R ZRP-1 (P) - 152Gs
Fulmer AFD4 (P) - 157Gs
Raider (from Pep Boys) (P) - 174Gs

BSI/DOT Helmets
AGV TI-Tech (F) - 169Gs
Suomy Spec 1R (F) - 182Gs

ECE/DOT Helmets
Schuberths S-1 (F) - 161Gs
Suomy Spec 1R (F) - 171Gs Same helmet as above built differently to meet different standards
Shark RSX (F) - 173Gs
Vemar VSR (F) - 174Gs

SNELL/DOT
ICON Mainframe (P) - 181Gs
ICON Alliance (F) - 183Gs
Scorpion EXO-400 (P) - 187Gs
AGV X-R2 (F) - 188Gs
Aria Tracker GT (F) - 201Gs
HJC AC-11 (F) - 204Gs
Scorpion EXO-700 (F) - 211Gs

Northy · 05-07-2005, 8:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by l'timbré

I was a bit surprised by their results as well.

Hamburgler · 05-07-2005, 8:47 PM

eep! the exo-700 was going to be my next helmet...

l'timbré · 05-07-2005, 9:17 PM

thanks for the info

CBR929RE · 05-07-2005, 9:21 PM

had to go out to the mailbox and get it.

really makes you wonder what the hell the people at Snell are thinking. I like the idea of my head absorbing less Gs. They also don't seem to know that increasing the mass of the head increases its weight.

I think I'm still pretty confident in how my non Snell Suomy will do in a crash. I think regardless of the standard I would be ok with any of those helmets because of how much better helmets are now in general as compared to 10 years ago.

There's also other stuff to consider when buying a helmet anyway, such as the actual comfort while riding. so this isn't the only thing to consider. A lighter well ventillated helmet will be much more of a pleasure to have on your head duringa hot summer day.

CBRVFR · 05-07-2005, 9:46 PM

I don't see any Shoei's in those results..

cbr99xx · 05-07-2005, 9:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CBRVFR

I don't see any Shoei's in those results..

Yep... Me either.

I guess I'll take my POS Chatter box off my HJC and wear it in lieu of my Shoei.

davef · 05-07-2005, 10:21 PM

Yeah, where are the Shoeis? They are really popular, I think it would have been a good idea to test a few...

Chain · 05-07-2005, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northy

Who has read the helmet article "Blowing the Lid Off" in the latest Motorcyclist?

LINK

Chain · 05-07-2005, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CBRVFR

I don't see any Shoei's in those results..

That's because they and a couple other manufacturers declined MC's request to send them test lids.

Northy · 05-08-2005, 1:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chain

That's because they and a couple other manufacturers declined MC's request to send them test lids.

"Bell, KBC, OGK, Shoei and Simpson were contacted repeatedly, but chose not to send helmets."

Northy · 05-08-2005, 1:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chain

LINK

Sorry, Chain I missed your earlier thread.

Northy · 05-08-2005, 1:52 AM

CBR929RE you made some good points. They're all much better than ten years ago. And one of the main reason's I chose my current Arai over others is because it fit my head so much better. My last Shoei gave me a terrible hot spot right in the middle of my forehead after about 30 min of riding.

I was just very surprised by the results.

Purpdust · 05-08-2005, 5:47 AM

They also did nto test some of the better rated helmets - re. RX7rr

I am guessing it is a best bang for the buck test - Plus the G's is most likely the only factor is helmet construction, It could be that Shoei did not want miss represented by a one dimensional test.

abtech · 05-08-2005, 6:52 AM

There is quite a bit more to the issue than this article addresses. You may want to check here and here.

Chain · 05-08-2005, 8:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northy

Sorry, Chain I missed your earlier thread.

No problem bro, it was buried in another thead. Good discussion here.

abtech · 05-08-2005, 8:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northy

It says AMA accepts DOT, ECE 22-05 (European standard), BSI 6658 Type A (Standard in Britain) or Snell M-2000 (Mainly used in the US) rated helmets. FIM accepts all except DOT. I've always bought snell rated helmets because I thought they were better.

Interesting they don't mention the current standard for Snell which is M-2005. In fact many M-2000 helmets will no longer be acceptable for use in competition beginning this year.

What I find most interesting is that DOT rarely changes their compliance standards (I think the last change was in 1992, before that it was early 1970s), while Snell increases their minimum acceptance as soon as the current standard is published. Since 1960 Snell has decreased the maximums for impact shock transfer and has set the international standards for attachment methods, eyeport peripheral vision angles and internal construction design technology. While the G level transfer in the SR article shows somewhat higher levels of transfer for some of the Snell rated helmets, none of the levels listed for any of the tested helmets even approach the maximum acceptable level vs time of ANY of the commonly accepted standards. Essentially the article shows that these helmets exceeded the standard and some more than others. This is only one of several criteria used in determining crash worthiness for any particular helmet. At least 2 of the "non Snell" helmets that received a DOT rating broke the strap during Snell M-2005 testing and allowed the helmet to come off immediately following the initial impact.

Still think DOT rating alone is OK?