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I'm returning to the world of two wheel transportation after a considerable period of time. My question is when in the hell did motorcycle helmets get so stratified?
Looking through buyer guides and I'm reading and hearing about "competition," general use, touring and other seemingly silly classifications. What's up with this?
Personally, I'm just looking for a relatively inexpensive ECE rated full face helmet (maybe a modular but probably not). I'm not going back on the track, my rickey road racer days are long past and my brother-in-law has too many "choppers" than he can ride and has asked for me to help him out, not that I like choppers especially hardtails but a free bike is a free bike.
*shrug* it's just marketing speak, the helmets themselves are helmets. There are some newer design changes, like the "Dual Sport/Enduro" segment (Shoei Hornet, Arai XD3), but they still break down into full face, open face and modular.
If you're not aware of the website WebBikeWorld, they have a lot of good helmet reviews, including the very important aspect of internal shape. Makes it stupid easy for me to rule out 99% of the helmets made/sold in the US because they simply won't fit my noggin (Round, FWIW, only the old Arai Quantum fits me right, haven't found anything made in the past couple of years that's a passable substitute).
I would rec'd hitting a local m'cycle shop and trying on several, to at least get in the ballpark for your head size and shape.
'Realtively inexpensive' is per one's definition, but while a $600 helmet may not be 'better' than a $200 lid, I would spend the necessary dough for a quality multi rated helmet that fit like your fave hat.
If the local m'cycle joints don't have the selection and probably not the pricing you prefer, a visit at least gets you smart about what you don't like or may like...
Then, it's your choice to buy from the local shop, or from the plethora of on-line m'cycle vendors.
ECE/Reg 22 is a nice Euro rating, but not the end all...and helmet ratings are bit like 'what oil to use ratings', imo.
Personally, I prefer Snell combined with DOT, but fit and feel is the main criteria,(after 'rating/certification'), and then pick one that looks good to you.
My 50Cts...
GL, mD
Personally, I prefer Snell combined with DOT, but fit and feel is the main criteria,(after 'rating/certification'), and then pick one that looks good to you.
My 50Cts...
GL, mD
I definitely do not prefer Snell rated helmets. The Snell methodology is getting better but it ain't there yet. I wore Nolan's when the first came out and I wore Nolan's when I raced. But I'll be damned if they aren't a bit to pricey for my wallet and needs.
It's not entirely but mostly marketing. The vent pattern/aero is slightly different depending on riding position (upright vs 3/4/tucked), but that's really where price comes into play anyway.
Price mostly gets you features, although again, huge spread. You're not going to find a bunch of features on the $100ish helmets and they'll tend to be heavier, maybe somewhat chintzy in operation, not have as good air flow. On the other hand, you hit diminishing returns pretty quick once you move up past $200. You can get a light weight modular with Pinlock/photochromatic face shield with good venting for $350. Don't care about Pinlock and the photochromatic shield? $200. Don't care about an extra couple hundred grams? Not far off $100 flat.
You're talking fairly small differences covering just over $100 all the way up to around $800. Some of those make a huge difference to me (photochromatic or at least an internal sun visor, I'm a four-eyes so sunglasses suck), and others not so much. For example, people obsess about weight and noise which aren't a huge deal. Lighter is nicer, of course, but it's not huge differences. Or noise. You'll have a bigger difference in noise depending on what you ride in. I usually wear textile with collars designed to fit the fattest necked individuals. Way more difference between that and race leathers than even going from a full-face to modular, let alone within full-face helmets.
Is there such a thing as a ECE-rated modular? I wouldn't think so, for the same reasons you wouldn't find a SNELL-rated modular.
Mike
They are rated as open face helmets, with the exception of the Nolan N43 Trilogy what that has been rated by the ECE standard as a full face helmet. And, at $209.00 I'm liking it a lot if I can find one to try on.
I wear a HJC Modular in 6x wide. It is the first to really fit right and be comfortable. IIRC it cost about $150 at dealer.
Second most important factor is to get a helmet that FITS your head. Most important is to USE IT.
FWIW - I wear big wide glasses and have found sunglasses that fit my head as well as the helmet at Polarized Optics on the web.
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