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[RedMoon]

Transportation Regulators To Crack Down On Novelty Motorcycle Helmets
http://cyrilhuzeblog.com/2015/05/21/u-s-transportation-regulators-to-crack-down-on-novelty-motorcycle-helmets/

[Chains]

Not a fan of government intervention and at one time this would have really upset me.  Now with all the inferior products hitting our shores and the fact that there is no reason to have novelty helmets anymore I hope it works.  Was a time I  stopped riding  because of helmet mandates, not anymore, I like the thought of being safe or at least having the feeling of safety with a quality helmet.

JMHO

[kiro]

Novelty helmets have been around for a long as motorcycles - I'm surprised this hasn't been addressed in detail long before now...

[CVOStreetglide]

Novelty helmets have been around for a long as motorcycles - I'm surprised this hasn't been addressed in detail long before now...

It has over and over and over again!!

The problem in my assessment is that the studies are biased and produced as part of a larger agenda- reinstituting mandatory helmets laws in all states. Don't think for a minute that the helmet manufactures aren't complicit in this. They miss the revenue!!

What I would support is a unbiased study that drills much deeper into the reasons for injuries.

In numbers, crashes are down year over year as are the percentage of crashes/riders.

The last time I looked at a credible study the following stats were true;

1. Over 60% and growing of motorcycle accidents were attributed to excessive drinking.
2. A large percentage of the remaining 40% was due to new riders inexperienced in riding.
3.  Another large percentage of the remaing 40% was directly attributed to the motorcycle rider being struck by a car (T-Boning, turned into lane changes--etc.

The numbers won't add up to 100% but you get the drift.

ALSO, it is important to know that a helmet is not designed to protect you in a accident above 20-25 mph. They actually conduct what is called a drop test from a ladder.--14' . Also, if your  helment was used in a accident--cracked or not it is rendered unusable and you are supposed to buy a new one. I am not sure of the current thinking regarding time but a helmet needs to be replaced if worn over 3-4 years. The padding breaks down over time rendering it marginally useful for it's intended purpose.

Helmets have been the cause of death or significant injury in a accident. Our bodies are not designed to handle say whiplash at speed with a helmet on. Your neck can be broken because you were wearing a helmet.

THE GOOD NEWS---Over the last 20-30 years there have been significant improvements in helmet design as a result of meaningful dialog like this with credible information. As a result helments are considerably lighter, stronger and make the user safer. Think of the old Bell Helmets verses today as an example. 

Jet pilots, racers of all kinds and yes motorcycle riders are the beneficiaries.

I have always thought that if say Harley or Victory--etc in partnership with the helmet manufacturers would come up with a hard bag NOT TOUR PACK that legal helmets would fit in and allow them to be locked up when not in use, there would be more buyers/users.

LASTLY, develop some meaningful  helmet crash/impact standards that provide value.


It's somebody elses turn 😃😃

[Chains]

Every three to four years I dispose of my old helmets. To make sure no one uses them I cut the straps off, strip the padding and drill a few holes in them. I figure if I don't think there usable I certainly don't want someone at the landfill grabbing them up and selling them on eBay to some poor soul.   I agree helmets have come a long way and we are the beneficiaries.  Also wish they fit in my tour pack.

[03Lightningrocks]

Not really pertinent to novelty helmets but I have noticed a trend at "bike rallies". The first day or two, many are wearing their helmets. Within three to four days, you will play hell finding a rider with a helmet on. I am guilty as the rest in this weird quirk of human nature.

[Jswerve]

What's a helmet? No crackdown here in good ol Iowa.

[grc]

Some buy novelty helmets instead of good ones just to spit in the eyes of the authorities who tell them they have to wear one (as if the authorities somehow care).  Some are just cheap and buy the cheapest thing on the market.  To those people I like to say, if you have a $50 head, then buy a $50 helmet. 

Jerry

[HighOnHD]

I have a novelty helmet!!

A group of us rode the Baja peninsula in '96 and '97. Took a week going down each time. Stayed a week in Cabo, and then took a week getting back out. We had a friend and others driving a motorhome and trailer for support. Anyway, a friend/driver went out and bought all of us riders novelty helmets in which he had custom slogans that each of us had individually "earned" on the trips as well as a map of the Baja on each of the helmets.

My helmet sits on a bookshelf in the office serving its purpose... as a novelty. 

I have crashed and landed on my head several times. Twice it knocked me out. Once my vision was blurry for about twenty minutes. This was with real helmets on. Probably would not be typing this otherwise.  Now I guess I have spilled my secret, and everyone knows why I am messed up in the head.

[D-N-D]

Has anyone tried this Helmet @ bikerhelmets.com they say it's worlds smallest- lightest DOT beanie helmet ( Made in China has me thinking it's not very good ?? ) I was thinking about trying one it's cost $99.00 the Carbon one is $149.00

[grc]

Has anyone tried this Helmet @ bikerhelmets.com they say it's worlds smallest- lightest DOT beanie helmet ( Made in China has me thinking it's not very good ?? ) I was thinking about trying one it's cost $99.00 the Carbon one is $149.00

The Chinese have also claimed a lot of other products they dumped over here met standards that they did not meet.  I don't know I would trust them.  Once again however, if you think your head is only worth $99, go for it.

Jerry

[MrSurly]

The problem in my assessment is that the studies are biased and produced as part of a larger agenda Must be a conspiracy.

What I would support is a unbiased study that drills much deeper into the reasons for injuries. Yeah, probably nobody has looked into this.

<snip>The last time I looked at a credible study<snip> Does your assessment of 'credibility' begin with "if it agrees with me"?

ALSO, it is important to know that a helmet is not designed to protect you in a accident above 20-25 mph.<snip> Total BS. (and the usual speed cited by the lid-hater-talking-points is 14 MPH) Watch a MotoGp race. Watch someone (in full leathers) have a get-off at 150MPH, sliding/flipping/banging grinding... and then stand up, and walk away. Look at the many pics of helmets with massive abrasions on them that were worn by uninjured riders... Are you TRULY going to suggest that the helmet played no role and that it wasn't designed to help? That is just illogical and blatantly false. Yes, it is true that if you hit a concrete wall straight on at high speed, then yes, the helmet has a limit and when you exceed it, you'll get injured or get dead. Having the helmet on didn't make you dead. The truth is that the vast majority of helmet involvement in crashes is oblique; glancing blows and grinding/bouncing on the pavement. Helmets are incredibly, unarguably very very helpful in this use.



<snip>Helmets have been the cause of death or significant injury in a accident. <snip> Absolute balderdash. Here's an older discussion  http://www.msgroup.org/forums/mtt/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10094, cited here simply because it includes a bunch links for convenience.There are NO studies that indicate that helmets cause significant injury. NONE



<snip>I have always thought that if say Harley or Victory--etc in partnership with the helmet manufacturers would come up with a hard bag NOT TOUR PACK that legal helmets would fit in and allow them to be locked up when not in use, there would be more buyers/users. <snip> Legal half-lids will fit in most bags. Full face will require a King Tourpak but there are *other* motorcycles that will hold them in their saddlebags.

LASTLY, develop some meaningful  helmet crash/impact standards that provide value. <snip> DOT/SNELL/SHARP are meaningless?


It's somebody elses turn 😃😃 INDEED

I don't want to be "that guy", but I cannot sit idly by and see this same old bullcrap repeated and left unchallenged. These same old talking points get regurgitated year after year and they remain as false as when they were first uttered.
Real studies DO exist.
Lid haters dislike them
Helmets don't magically save EVERY life. Lid haters say "SEE, they don't work!"
Lid haters make up crap like "helmets kill people" instead of just saying the truth, which is "we don't like them"
The real issue is personal freedom, which I fully support and will defend. I fight for no-lid laws.
But, physics is physics and facts is facts.
Don't be makin' sh!t up.

[ultrafxr]

I guess those who ride without helmets also don't use safety belts in their autos/trucks.  Just sayin'

How anyone who is the least bit informed can choose to ride sans helmet is simply beyond me.  Of course folks smoke, drink to excess and use controlled substances so I know the human brain can rationalize most anything in to believing that 'it won't happen to me.'

I'd have checked out for sure in '09 when I had a little parking lot crash and hit my head hard enough to cause a concussion even with a helmet.  It was a half helmet and now I wear only a modular.  Not always but the majority of the time your head is going to contact the road/ground if you crash.

[HighOnHD]

Just for the record... I am 100% for freedom of choice.

As far as helmets possibly being the cause of deaths or otherwise... I personally believe they probably have on occasion. It is difficult to prove one way or the other in this regard. I know of several who have been paralyzed from the neck down, and it was believed that the full-face chin caught and snapped the neck. Did it?? Who knows. I believe it is possible and likely though to happen sometimes.

For me though it is a risk vs reward sort of thing. I wear a helmet because I believe the probability is in my favor that it will help more than hurt.

[CVOStreetglide]

I don't want to be "that guy", but I cannot sit idly by and see this same old bullcrap repeated and left unchallenged. These same old talking points get regurgitated year after year and they remain as false as when they were first uttered.
Real studies DO exist.
Lid haters dislike them
Helmets don't magically save EVERY life. Lid haters say "SEE, they don't work!"
Lid haters make up crap like "helmets kill people" instead of just saying the truth, which is "we don't like them"
The real issue is personal freedom, which I fully support and will defend. I fight for no-lid laws.
But, physics is physics and facts is facts.
Don't be makin' sh!t up.

Well you sure do have a accurate Forum name.

I really don't know or care who sh.t in YOUR Cheerios. But in the REAL WORLD as opposed to yours the information I posted is in fact accurate.

You are entitled to your opinion as I am mine. But if you think for one minute that the Government studies are accurate interpretations of the motorcycle data you are naive and I really do have a bridge for you to buy. 

Most of the government DOT, NHTSC like many college professors publish because they don't "do."  The references in their papers come from others who have virtually no idea what end is the front of a motorcycle. It's called dumb squared. 

So, let's just agree to disagree.