Safety Benefits of different types of Motorcycle Helmets
Helmet technology has come a very long way from its creation. From being soft leather padded head-covers to the current day high performance helmets, it’s hard to know what the right choice is. With hundreds of possible options available, it’s hard to really know what can be the best for your needs. The primary function of a helmet is to prevent traumatic brain injury and damage. The secondary purpose is to reduce skull and face injuries.
There are always several factors to take in when considering a helmet for personal use. Believe it or not, there are wrong types of helmets for different riders. Not all Helmets are created equally or provide the same protection and safety features. Depending on your different needs and personal choice, you can choose the right helmet for yourself. If you’re looking for particular styles to match your personal preference, you still need to take in safety consideration of what you intend on doing.
Technology is always advancing safety technology and we continue to improve and come out with new products. Helmets are no exception to this. Helmets made out of Carbon Fiber are significantly lighter and stronger, however, also much more expensive. There are now half helmets to hybrid and flip up helmets that try to provide the best of all words to riders.
For example, look at the new Bell helmet Rogue.
The helmet itself is a half face helmet, however with additional add on features, it quickly can provide protection for the chin with their muzzle and chin guard. This is just the type of new technology that continues to help protect riders. You can also reduce distractions on the road by adding Bluetooth features and capabilities to your helmet. This will allow you to focus more on riding and avoiding danger. You can also increase your road presence with a reflective material on your helmet, so that cagers won’t be able to miss you. Whether it’s custom helmets that you like stylized or painted for maximum visibility, there’s safety advantages of each one.
How do you determine helmet is safe for you and your riding purposes? Do you intend on off roading your bike? What kind of bike are you riding? New genres of helmets are coming out each year. They combine and fuse different riding styles and bikes. For example, normally open face helmets would be associated with casual Harley riders, but now there are hybrid helmets with modular fronts that will flip up for added convenience. These are one of the latest introductions to helmet choices. With the modular helmet, you can flip the front down for protection with the chin bar. These new modular helmets now can be used for not only Harley riders, but sport bike and touring riders.
An offroading helmet is very different because some of the time they don’t have visors nor do they need to be certified by DOT. These offroad helmets typically have visors over the eyes to help allow the rider to duck out of any flying debris coming their way. Each different type of helmets offers a different set of safety features. Full Face Helmets offer great protection for the entire head and a strong chin bar.
These offer the best protection on the road. Half Helmets that only protect the top half of the head is the minimum protection required by US laws. They mostly are not DOT approved and ECE doesn’t test these helmets. Other headgear that isn’t approved or have any safety features are bandanas and beanies that are very popular with the cruiser crowd. Those offer no specific safety benefits and should be avoided.
The safety of helmets will vary depending on many different factors. Most manufactures recommend you replace your helmet after 5 or less years. This is to ensure that the structural integrity of the helmet can still be trusted. Picking the correct sizing and fitment on your head is also very essential to the effectiveness to the helmet. Choosing the right fitting helmet for you is essential to taking advantage to helmet safety and convenience features. Not choosing and wearing a properly fitting helmet can be disastrous when it comes time for the helmet to do its job of decelerating and protecting your brain from any injury. Also wearing the incorrect helmet type or shape for your motorcycle can also spell out trouble. A ill fitting helmet may not sit right on your head and cause more damage than it can take. For riders who ride offroad, you don’t want to ride an on road helmet that can’t deflect oncoming debris. As time progresses, we continue to make new strides in helmet technology that’ll help us save more and more lives. Hopefully, we’ll make such significant advances lives won’t be lost anymore.
Is a more expensive helmet safer? Great question.
Ride safe, Ride hard.