Motorcycle HELMET Buying Guide

When it comes to buying riding gear, no piece of equipment is more important than a good motorcycle helmet. Protecting a rider's head is serious business, but with so many styles and brands on the market, choosing a motorcycle helmet can be as difficult as choosing the right motorcycle. Sorting out the helmet basics and what to look for when making the most critical of gear purchases can be tough, but dc biker is here to help.


Helmet Ratings With all these technical details, how can a consumer know which helmet is best? Well, there are industrial standards to which motorcycle helmets must conform. In the Malaysia, helmet must at least conform with SIRIM, if have DOT and Snell Standard, it is a plus point. SIRIM is the minimum requirement that a riders helmet have to be compliant to be wear in Malaysia start from 1st Jan 2009. SIRIM certified helmet have undergone three major test which is Impact Enerygy Attenuation, Resistance to Penetration and Stength of Rentention System. All approved helmets should bear a SIRIM sticker behind the helmet. For DOT is developed under the guidelines of the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) in the 70s, the DOT (Department of Transportation) helmet standards are mandatory for all motorcycle helmets sold in the United States. The SNELL standards are more stringent and require the helmet to undergo a more intensive battery of testing. The Snell story has a tragic beginning, as the non-profit organization emerged after the death of motorsport enthusiast Pete Snell in a 1956 car racing accident. Snell's friend, a doctor named George Snively, undertook a scientific helmet study with the backing of the memorial fund in Snell's name. The Snell Foundation is still at work today and many helmets, often full-face racing designs, bear the Snell stamp of approval.

 
Full-Face Helmet   Full-face motorcycle helmets deliver the greatest amount of protection to a rider. As its name implies, a full-face helmet provides total coverage to the front and rear of rider's head. An added benefit of the full-face design is built-in eye protection in the form of a visor/faceshield, which can be swapped out with tinted or non-tinted versions. Utilized in road-racing, many full-face designs are replicas of the helmets worn by professional riders in MotoGP and the World and AMA Superbike ranks. Due to their racing application, many full-face designs are Snell approved. Full-face helmets deliver the optimal protection. Many designs are direct replicas of the helmets worn by professional road-racers, like this AGV helmet worn by MotoGP star Valentino Rossi. Removable shield. Some shield removal systems are much easier than others. Ask a sales rep to show you how it works and practice it yourself. Fumbling with a shield replacement for 10 minutes is a frustrating experience.

Flip-up Helmet  Flip-up motorcycle helmets, also referred to as modular helmets, are a hybrid design that offer the best of the full-face and three-quarter helmet worlds. A rider can opt for full-face coverage or flip up the movable faceshield/jaw piece whenever they feel like going open-face. The flip-up helmet is convenient when stopping for a quick snack or drink, or to snap a photo, as the rider doesn't have to remove their helmet. Modular flip-up designs are growing in popularity, especially amongst touring riders. Some open-face designs are easier to open than others. You want easy access but still need the assurance that it will remain in place in case of an accident.

Special full-face helmet features include:
Washable, removable liners
  After a couple of months of use, the inside of a full-face helmet can get ugly. The ability to freshen things up by tossing liners into the wash is a definite advantage.

Variable sized cheek pads
 Even with the wide variety of brands and styles available, there are some heads that are difficult to fit. Many motorcycle helmets offer different sized cheek pads to fine-tune fit.

Venting systems
 One of the disadvantages of a full-face design is that they can be hot. Many of the latest helmet designs have such good ventilation systems, however, that you can often wear them on a hot summer's day without breaking a sweat. Vents near the visor are also important in keeping it defogged.

Chin strap fastener
 Check out the fasteners on the chin strap. Snaps do a good job of keeping the strap secured rather than flapping around against your neck and are easy to use while wearing gloves. Double D maybe harder to use, however, it is more durable and it is safer if the helmet have been use for long time as the snaps may become defect / not safe unaware by the riders.

Room for glasses
 If you wear prescription eyeglasses or sunglasses, make sure your full-face helmet has enough room to accommodate them.

 Extra features
 Some motorcycle helmets offer extras like chin skirts, which tuck in underneath and keep wind from blasting up into a helmet, helpful in cold weather. Also a rider might consider room for the installation of speakers for aftermarket communication or sound systems.

Open-Face Helmets 3/4 Helmet
 As the name implies, open-face motorcycle helmets lack the total coverage of a full-face design. Open-face also has another, more sinister, meaning if you imagine what might happen if a rider is ejected face-first onto the roadway. Within this classification of helmet there are three basic designs: Three-quarter, flip-up and half-helmets. The open-face three-quarter motorcycle helmet design delivers significant protection for riders who want to feel the wind in their face. The three-quarter helmet incorporates the same construction components as its full-face sibling, sans faceshield and jaw piece. Although some open-face designs do incorporate built-in visor/shields for eye protection. Half-helmet motorcycle helmets, also referred to as beanies, are the bare minimum as far as safety is concerned. Popular in the cruiser market, half-helmets protect the top of the head while leaving the face and critical base of the skull exposed. Rider's need to be extra vigilant that the half-helmet they purchase is SIRIM-approved and not just a novelty design. Half-helmet designs are popular amongst the cruiser/custom set, but they offer up far less protection than a full-face design. Special open-face helmet features include: - Secure chin straps. Having secure chin straps on any helmet is critical, but the fact is even more pronounced on an open-face design. - Eye protection. With the reduced protection of an open-face design, riders are susceptible to airborne objects and the weather. Riders should bulk up with added eye protection in the form of goggles or aftermarket shields. SIRIM stamp of approval. Always make sure a helmet is SIRIM-compliant.


 Helmet Fit  Motorcycle helmets come is various sizes, from small to extra large. They also come in different shapes as well, in order to fit all the different sized heads out there. Some helmet manufacturers even have different designs for North America and Asia due to the different head shapes of the corresponding populations. The shapes and sizes of different brands vary as well, so it is critical to try on a wide array of models. When trying on a helmet, the entire interior liner should come into contact with the head. Shaking the head back and forth, the helmet should follow without wiggling. If the helmet can be removed without concerted effort, it is too big. If a rider's nose or chin touches the front of the faceshield, it is too small. The key to an effective helmet fit is finding a design that is snug without being uncomfortable, remembering that the interior comfort liner in a new helmet will break in over time. One nice feature to look for on full-face designs is removable cheek pads, which can be swapped out for different sizes to improve a helmet's fit.Try on a variety of helmets and wear them for a couple minutes. If you feel pressure or discomfort, abandon the helmet for a more comfortable design.


Price Range  Price and Replacement Helmet prices run the gamut from under RM500 to well past the RM2000 mark, but a higher price tag is not necessarily better or safer. A savvy shopper should be able to find a comfortable SIRIM/DOT-approved full-face design for under RM300. Riders with more refined tastes and fat wallets can go nuts, with carbon-fiber and all manner of technological goodies available on some of the higher-end designs. It pays to shop around and do some research. If you already own a lid, remember crash helmets are designed to stem the damage from one major impact and are not reusable. If involved in an accident, a helmet should be replaced and a dropped helmet can have its effectiveness diminished as well. Also, helmets do not improve with age. The general recommendation is that they be replaced within four to five years. The helmet is there for worst case scenarios. It is a critical life-saving instrument, but its function is to protect the most important safety tool in a rider's arsenal - the human brain. Sound riding decisions and some good luck can reduce the chances of ever having to use the full protective power of the helmet, but riders should always hedge their bets. Ride safe and keep the rubber side down.





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