It stands to reason that the next piece of equipment to be covered is the helmet. The piece of gear that’s a life saver, I can still remember my first fibreglass helmet. In fact I have still got it, it lives in the attack and is still in great condition with the original visor. Helmet technology has really moved on since then, lighter, stronger and quieter.
One thing I learnt at a very early age was to respect and look after my helmet, it’s still with me today. Why spend hundreds of pounds on a piece of equipment and throw it on the floor and never clean it when you’re finished with it. I’ve seen helmets on their side in car parks, left on garage floors, visors so bad I’m surprised they can see through them.
Like most of my equipment I have a favourite one, I’ve been using a Shark for the best part of my biking career. I can’t actually remember when I started using a Shark but I have my reasons for staying with them as we will discover very shortly.
The process of buying a helmet is again a lengthy one. I believe you should do your home work and you need to find out what the experts say about a certain make. Again you need to know what the purpose is. Are you touring, is it a race bike you ride and will you do any track days ? Are you going to be going cross country at any point on your bike ? All these questions will decide what type of helmet you need.
What is your budget ? Now this is a topic that can go on for some time. I’m very opinionated about this one and it’s very close to my heart. Why get excited about the price of a helmet ? Well how much is your head worth ? There are a number of things you need to consider when you are deciding what your budget is going to be. You must have a clear budget long before you start your research or walk into a shop.
The choice of helmet on the market is vast and all shops will push a certain make for whatever reason it is. A rough guide would be between £250 - £500 and you already know what I’m going to say next. If you have £500 for a helmet, spend it, I hope and pray you never put it to the test but with the best quality helmet available on your head you are cutting down the possibility of brain damage. There are helmets on the market for over £1000, it just depends on what you want from your helmet and who is your favourite rider.
It’s not just the simple fact that a helmet will prevent external damage to the face but a good quality helmet will reduce and in some cases stop brain shear. Shearing of the brain is the stretching and tearing of the tiny nerve cells that encompass the brain. Shearing can occur throughout the brain, including the brain stem and the cortex and can result in serious brain damage.
That fact alone should make you want to buy the best you can afford and when you have the best you need to look after it, look after your helmet and it will look after you. It is totally beyond my comprehension why someone would want to travel on the road at speed with a helmet that cost £30 from Aldi, with a substandard visor. It’s normally the same person who is wearing a t-shirt.
Once you have done your research and decided what make you want it’s time to go to the shops. Keep in mind that you may have to sacrifice some parts of your research once you start trying on helmets. Why do I say that ? You may have decided that the helmet for you is going to be the new Shoei, it has all the removable pads for cleaning, it has the buckle and fastening device you like with the best visor locking mec and so on. But the moment you put it on it’s the wrong shape, the chin guard is too close to your mouth. It’s important that you try as many helmets on as possible. Once you have found the correct size of helmet for your head, now you have to find the make that fits the shape of your head. It’s not a case of one size fits all. Any good bike shop with assistance that know what they are doing will take the time to go through the process of finding the right helmet for you. It’s a very important decision and once again should not be rushed or taken lightly. An ill fitting helmet is as bad as not wearing a helmet at all.
Like I said earlier I wear a Shark helmet and I’ve had a few over the years. Why have I stayed with them ? There after care sales is second to none. My helmet at the time was about 18 months old, I came in from a long ride and in my rush to get to the loo I placed my helmet down and ran upstairs. I returned to discover I had placed it on a hot ring on the cooker, it was like mozzarella cheese. The helmet was a mess and the smell was terrible. I went to the local bike shop and explained what I had done, very red faced but it wasn’t a problem. I was given a stand in helmet and mine was sent to Shark for repair. It was like a brand new helmet and at no cost to me. What a great service.
In 2001 my big off could have been my last, I hit the road at 140 mph and the first thing to hit the tarmac was my head. The helmet was destroyed but my helmet never moved a millimeter. No strap marks nothing not even a headache and in my last off my head hit the tarmac quite hard and although I need to get another helmet it most defiantly be another Shark.
It’s important to do your research and on line is probably the quickest method but never buy your helmet on line unless you know the helmet you are getting. The choice of helmet on the market is massive and that’s for a good reason. We are all individuals with different needs and different shaped heads. Make sure the helmet you buy is the best you can afford and make sure it is a perfect fit.
Keep your helmet in a clean and serviceable state at all times. There are plenty of products on the market for external cleaning and maintaining the padding inside the helmet. Never throw your helmet in the garage or leave it perched on the seat of your bike.
If you drop your helmet you should be looking at getting it replaced, you have no idea what damage has been caused to the main structure of the carcase. Make sure your gear is insured, dropping your £350 helmet can be very painful. I would never recommend buying a second hand helmet and avoid Aldi at all costs.
When you speak to most bikers you will quickly establish that they treat their helmets with the same respect they have for their bike if not more. The same can be said for the visor, it does the same job as a windscreen on a car, only better.
"All men die, not all men really live"
Ed.
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