Author Topic: Are Pricey Helmets Really Worth It? (Read 23766 times)

Red01 · « **Reply #15 on:** April 25, 2006, 03:40:31 PM »

Quote from: "Sven"

You know the saying: A $50 helmet is great for a $50 brain. (Prices slightly higher in Canada.)

Only the helmet price is higher in Canada.

Actually, I remember the saying back in the days when it was ad copy for Bell Helmets - which was the top-of-the-line back then - and Shoei & Arai were budget brands...

"If you've got a $10 head, buy a $10 helmet."
Back in those days, you could buy a Grant helmet at K-Mart for $10. $12 if you wanted it in the Easy Rider Captain America "Stars & Bars" metalflake and a Bell would run you $40 or more!

I remember my first Bell helmet, a $130 Bell Star 120. I was making ~$700/month, so it nearly broke the bank when I bought it. I nearly cried when I saw it fly off my bike's backrest at ~80mph and the van I'd just passed ran over it. I ended up replacing it with a cheap full face from some upstart Japanese company called Shoei for ~$40.

Sven · « **Reply #16 on:** April 25, 2006, 05:07:04 PM »

Quote from: "Red01"

I ended up replacing it with a cheap full face from some upstart Japanese company called Shoei for ~$40.

Gee willikers, grandad, tells us about how you used to buy gas for 17 cents a gallon, and they actually pumped it for you and everything!

Red01 · « **Reply #17 on:** April 25, 2006, 05:19:32 PM »

Sorry, the cheapest I remember paying for myself was $0.25/gallon... and that was for my lawnmower. By the time I was old enough to hit the streets (legally) with a gas-powered device, it had skyrocketed to a whopping $0.35!
(And minimum wage was $1.75/hr - and as a teen, if you could actually find a job that paid minimum wage, you were lucky because only interstate operations had to pay that much and the state had no minimum wage of its own like today... which is why I kept mowing lawns, it paid better. My first motorcycle was bought with money my lawnmower earned me.)

I do remember seeing gas for 19.9 when I was ~10 years old - that's the cheapest I remember.

Sven · « **Reply #18 on:** April 25, 2006, 05:59:28 PM »

I have very vague recollections of gas "wars" where stations across the street would compete on price below 20 cents. I guess they hadn't yet learned to sell image and brand name. Of course, at that age, I'm not even sure I understood that we were buying gas because the car wouldn't run without it!

I don't recall the era of give-aways, but I do recall when you could get a sport-logo item, or Hot Wheels very cheap when you bought 8 gallons or more. Even that kind of marketing has fallen by the wayside. Gas stations are just no fun any more. [/b]

B6mick · « **Reply #19 on:** April 26, 2006, 07:43:26 AM »

Ok I'm a cheap ass.
I keep an eye on clearance sales.
Last years stock with last years outdated graphics, are as I've found over the years half price.
So that $600 Aust helmet at half price is something I will look at.
I must have a weird shaped head or its bounced down the road too many times, cause the only helmets avaible here in Oz that fit me proper are the CMS and the Laser.
But I do like the lazer flip lid.
Having said all of the above I do replace my lids regularly whether they have been dropped or not. Maxium I keep them for is 2 years, then its bin time.
An license test instructor, once said, A $1000 helmet is not necessarily any better than a $100 helmet, they have both passed Aust Safety Standards and both should be replaced after 3 years anyway, or as soon as its been dropped from a height greater than 3 foot. The most important thing is its fit.

kevinfromrex · « **Reply #20 on:** May 08, 2006, 05:10:33 PM »

I wear a classic super graphics covered shoei RF700, but also own a white HJC CL-12 which is cooler. I feel safer with the high dollar shoei on my head.
I dont care what the nagazine tests say, I dont see racers wearing 50-80$ brain buckets.

Red01 · « **Reply #21 on:** May 09, 2006, 11:14:20 AM »

But you will see racers wearing KBC (Mat Mladin), HJC (Ben Spies) and other lower priced brands... they wear whatever is given to them - or in the case of top riders, maybe even paid to wear.

Even the privateers get free lids. A friend of mine who retired from AMA Superbike a few years ago is STILL getting free Shoei helmets whenever he shows up at a race and chats with the Shoei rep... the lucky bastage.

kevinfromrex · « **Reply #22 on:** May 09, 2006, 11:27:40 AM »

Red01, do you think those racers mentioned wear the same HJC I wear?
And I would love to have free Shoei as a perk, he is a lucky bast*rd.

Red01 · « **Reply #23 on:** May 09, 2006, 12:19:22 PM »

Probably... the liners might be a little more personalized for a perfect fit, but the shells have to meet the sanctioning body's standards, so they're probably not building a batch of helmets to destroy to meet standards just so one guy has a custom shell.

rider123 · « **Reply #24 on:** May 09, 2006, 05:08:01 PM »

You guys wear helmets I just use a Tinfoil Hat!!

I have one of those HJC flip up type helmets and they sure are handy but the venting is a little shitty should have got the Symax. It's also a little noisy but very very confortable.

Dave 02 1200 · « **Reply #25 on:** May 30, 2006, 08:52:13 PM »

I bought a Z1R and love it. It tested ahead of all others regardless of price in a recent test and it is super comfortable.

wantahertzdonut · « **Reply #26 on:** August 10, 2006, 12:14:48 PM »

Quote from: PaulVS

I just got this one delivered yesterday for my wife. It came up #1 in Cycle World, and also I believe in Motorcyclist.

Z1R Strike.

$79-$89 here:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item.aspx?style=5468&department=101&Division=1

Got an extra shield for it and the shipping was free.

I'm between their sizes and could not get a good fit. The medium was uncomfortably tight and the large had a lot of slop, but was still too tight around the bottom edge. I don't get it, you'd have to have one funky shaped head to get a good fit.

I have a borrowed Arai with the helmet lock and it blows up on the highway. Not cool! I have had no luck with much else.

Rocketjock · « **Reply #27 on:** October 28, 2006, 11:19:48 AM »

Quote from: chevsuz12

I am condisering an HJC CL-SP, or CL-15. Both are quite comfortable. My last three helmets have been Shoei rf-700, and 800. Any opinions and/or experience with the CL-SP?

I own HJCs. One flip front and one solid. Both are not $50 jobs but they are not $800 jobs either. Moderately priced but excellent lids.

ttewejnodnarb · « **Reply #28 on:** October 28, 2006, 03:07:17 PM »

I think most everyone is right on track...I'd like to add a couple of things. It may just be overly cautious but I would think twice about used and old helmets. You never know if a used helmet has been damaged in any way, not just from a drop but maybe cleaning chemicals that could compromise the structural intergrity. I've also heard that old helmets may suffer from some breakdown of the EPS and/or the EPS will compress and become more dense than originally intended, both of which can compromise protection. I think as far as fit, features and weight the more engineered the helmet the better chance that it is superior in these aspects and the more $$$$. I don't think that because you spend $750 on an Arai instead of $80 on a Z1R you will be better off in *most* kinds of crashes. Here are two important pages of the 17 page article "blowing the lid off" that appeared in Motorcyclist magazine.

The lower the G's the better off your brain. I think the test was pretty scientific and comprehensive and the most done since the Hurt report.

Enjoy!

sahtt · « **Reply #29 on:** November 17, 2006, 02:04:39 PM »

When I first starting riding about 5 years ago, I was 17 and didn't have any other friends/family that did it. I just learned from personal experience and what I could learn of sportbikes.net, cycleforums.com, and specialty sites like this one.

I was told to save a grand for gear, so I did it. I bought a nice alpinestar leather jacket on closeout for just under 300, a shoei tz1 on closeout for 300, a* gloves for about a hundred, and later some boots

I know have 2 shoei's now and am looking at trying out an Arai, but without paying 500+, hence while I still don't have one.

The first instant* I tried on a brand new cheaper brand KBJ [I think that's what they are called, you guys know which ones Im talking about], I knew my $$$ was well spent. It felt like garbage on my head, not nearly as supportive or comfortable and the size was correct for my head. I will not claim it's less safe, I have no idea.

Want to know why I respect Arai enough to consider buying one? They are the only company that puts a FACTORY helmet on their moto GP rider. The EXACT same helmet we can buy from their site for 600-700 or whatever.
Their philosophy is 'no one's head is more valuable than anothers'. I don't know if I believe the rhetoric as to why their helmets are so expensive, or if the price is even remotely justified, or why their company is such as jackass to their distributors, but if a MotoGP guy riding a 10 million dollar bike puts on the SAME helmet as me when he hits the track, that says something.

A year later, my shoei I purchased 5 years ago fits almost as tight as it was new. The fit in finish is excellent and I ride in all weather and do nothing to maintain it. My friend is picking up a new KBJ for about $120 because he says his is worn. Even if he bought a new one every year and a half, I'd still have him beat and would be wearing a 'better' helmet IMO.