06-30-2006, 12:36 AM
Actually, since Arai and Shoei aren't performing as well as one would expect in safety tests, in terms of the always known as "nicer" ones they're ruled out. There was an article on Motorcyclist about today's helmets and I've seen it get posted on dcsportbikes.net about once a month since it came out. It goes over how one of Snell's test pretty much requires that a helmet be made harder than it needs to be. And the harder the helmet, the less it cushions and dissipates energy in a collision. Given my tendency to crash (and this is the second crash that has destroyed a helmet in as many years), I'm starting to think a bit more about this article.
I loved my Arai, it was light and it was stable at speed. And some of its other features were pretty nice too. But, it's Snell approved. So I'm going to try to find me a nice Suomy helmet, who intentionally does not get Snell approved, and see how that goes. KBC, HJC, and others lose out because they're Snell approved too. HJC is a big loser though because some tracks and organizations are actually banning certain lines of their helmets because they don't seem to be working so well (CL and CS lines).
The article I'm talking about is here:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/motorcycle_helmet_review/">http://motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/m ... et_review/</a><!-- m -->
The Snell test that causes the issue is impacting a helmet in the same spot twice with X and Y amount of force. Problem is, pretty much no motorcycle accident ever has involved a significant impact in the same spot twice. But in order to pass this test, helmets have to be made harder to do it. Making it harder means more direct impact is transferred immediately to the rider instead of cushioning the blow.
The only thing that makes this hobby remotely safe is sporting the right gear, because on the street or track your fate is not always in your own hands.
I loved my Arai, it was light and it was stable at speed. And some of its other features were pretty nice too. But, it's Snell approved. So I'm going to try to find me a nice Suomy helmet, who intentionally does not get Snell approved, and see how that goes. KBC, HJC, and others lose out because they're Snell approved too. HJC is a big loser though because some tracks and organizations are actually banning certain lines of their helmets because they don't seem to be working so well (CL and CS lines).
The article I'm talking about is here:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/motorcycle_helmet_review/">http://motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/m ... et_review/</a><!-- m -->
The Snell test that causes the issue is impacting a helmet in the same spot twice with X and Y amount of force. Problem is, pretty much no motorcycle accident ever has involved a significant impact in the same spot twice. But in order to pass this test, helmets have to be made harder to do it. Making it harder means more direct impact is transferred immediately to the rider instead of cushioning the blow.
The only thing that makes this hobby remotely safe is sporting the right gear, because on the street or track your fate is not always in your own hands.
