• AlphaOmega@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Also remember Helmets expire after 5 to 8 years, and if yours is expired, it’s almost worthless in a crash

    • Fox@pawb.social
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      11 hours ago

      An older helmet is WAY better than no helmet. I would take a 20 year old full face helmet over a brand new half helmet in a crash. I like my face.

      • AlphaOmega@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        Yeah I am not saying don’t wear a helmet if yours is expired, a 10 year old helmet is definitely better than no helmet. But if your helmet is expired and you are in a crash, it could affect your legal proceedings/compensation and increases your chances of getting a head injury. Afaik the part that actually expires is the foam that actually protects your head from head/brain injury.
        I rode for about 15 years with expired helmets I would get from thrift stores and garage sales before I found it they wouldn’t help much in a crash. I was, however, in a minor crash where the expired helmet (Shoei) held up and probably saved me from a concussion. So better something than nothing.

        • Fox@pawb.social
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          9 hours ago

          The foam really doesn’t degrade with age, that’s a myth. It’s basically the same material as Styrofoam.

          Definitely replace if it’s been crashed in and took a hit. If you’re unsure, some of the fancier Japanese brands will inspect a helmet to tell you whether it’s still good to use.

          • AlphaOmega@lemmy.world
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            8 hours ago

            Wait, are you saying that helmets don’t expire, and that’s just something manufacturers tell you to sell more helmets? Other than the obvious parts that eventually break/wear. My instructor for my last motorcycle license test told us that they expire during training.

            EDIT: I did some quick research and I can’t find any definitive answer, but I found a few law firms stating that helmets expire and that could affect compensation in a crash, so I am making the assumption that infers legal precedence which means at one point there was scientific evidence brought forth to prove that helmets deteriorate to show that the rider was negligent. NAL.

            • Fox@pawb.social
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              8 minutes ago

              I don’t know if they tell us that just to sell more helmets, but I’m fully convinced there is no such thing as a shelf life for a helmet. That’s not to say there aren’t good reasons for replacing a helmet in general, like wear and weathering to the shell / visor / pivot points, advances in features and tech. Personally I wouldn’t buy a used helmet because it’s tough to tell if it took a drop that could have compressed that foam. And yes there are people and curricula that will tell you a helmet lasts only 2-4 years, even the MSF: https://smarter-usa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/26321_MSF.pdf I was a RiderCoach myself, and I think that is so dumb. Could you imagine paying $300+ every two years to replace a good helmet with no damage? That’s more than than the depreciation my bike has taken while I’ve owned it. I’m interested to see the legal reasoning presented for compensation based on helmet age. To me that doesn’t make a ton of sense, but a lot of questionable logic has factored into judgments in the past.

  • Sarcasmo220@lemmy.ml
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    16 hours ago

    That’s why even though I ride a cruiser I wear a full face helmet. I am glad there are more casual looking full face helmets instead of only sport bike looking ones. No more excuse of “it ruins the style” or whatever.

  • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.org
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    21 hours ago

    I’ve got I’ve that looks a bit like this. ATGATT means a full-face helmet. That’s why I have a face, on account of using it for an unconventional braking technique after a high-side caused by getting sideswiped by an SUV.

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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      21 hours ago

      “unconventional braking technique”, lol, I think we’ve all used that on occasion.

      And we all have brown pants because of it.

      • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.org
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        10 hours ago

        Oh, I was talking about using my face to reduce my speed as I was going down the highway, with my bike catching up to me. No brown pants but a good 18hr hospital stay.

  • saltesc@lemmy.world
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    15 hours ago

    In my experiences, the helmet is the least needed piece of gear. By that I mean, definitely also wear armoured jacket, pants, gloves, and boots. With all that and a helmet, you’ll only need to worry about breaking bones, which is nothing in comparison to the other outcomes. Neglect the other gear and you’ll wish you didn’t wear a helmet.

    Edit: Hm, apparently a lot of.Lemmingtons need to wear helmets off the bike too, or make it past the first line of a comment before reacting, or there’s a lot of squids here.

      • saltesc@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        Well that all depends on how fast the sedan that hit you was going as you minded your own business going through the green light. Either way, “Huh?” was probably the last word ever spoken.

        • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.org
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          7 hours ago

          Δv definitely increases the risk but plenty of life-ending and life-altering injuries occur at low speeds. The Leatt neck brace was invented after a doctor was unable to resuscitate an enduro rider who had a low-speed get-off and broke his neck.