Thread: Motorcycle helmet recommendations.

Having just purchased an UBCO, I am now in the market for a helmet. I will primarily be commuting on it (~30mins each way) but I would also like to use it for shooting off of for hunting on private land. If need be I would buy two seperate helmets, one for each activity, if its the better way to go.

It would be great to get it by tomorrow so that narrows it down to Langlands or Sargeants in Wairarapa. Other that the good old Ag hat, I am a newbie to motorcycle helmets, so feel free to chime in in what I need to consider.

Me and this missus got a couple of motor scooter helmets from sergents for our quads years ago I think were 80 ea pudding bowl style with removable soft ear covers even had a drop down visor way better and higher spec and cheaper than the ag helmets . Can use a rifle as well get a light colour so not to hot off roading .

Two very separate applications.
Having attended a bunch of farm and road bike accidents, get yourself a full face helmet for the road use !

Originally Posted by Moutere

Two very separate applications.
Having attended a bunch of farm and road bike accidents, get yourself a full face helmet for the road use !

Yes that was my guess, and thinking for winter that I would thank myself for it.

Agree with this for road use ECE standards as a base guide for impact protection bough my first helmet from these guys
https://www.1tonne.co.nz/
meet the standards and good value,protection is important don’t want to sound like the fun police but it can make a difference with the right gear

I use one of these
https://www.acerbis.com/eu/motorspor...l-road/0025055
as a ATV helmet on the farm. Gets a bit warm in summer but very happy with it for my uses. Very comfortable, not too heavy, flip down visor and removable washable padding.

For the road: I have, generally, been a modular helmet user for about the last 20 years. Before than I had racing-type pudding bowl helmets, then full face helmets. Modlulare is the type that has a chin piece and screen that can fold up, and may be OK for shooting (if you are not sure, the m/c police use modular). I have had all of the other kinds of helmets and the modular are the most comfortable to wear. If you are planning on using it through the winter you will need a helmet screen that has a pinlock visor so that you can see through the screen when it is cold/wet weather (otherwise the visor fogs up). Most helmets also have a sun visor. I use mine on occasion and it a great safety feature when the sun is glaring on the edge of the horizon. The lighter the helmet the higher the price usually. A lighter helmet is safer and more comfortable. A peak on the helmet is good but make sure it can be taken off when you want to go faster becaue your neck will get a workout as the peak become a windsock. Best to get a white or light colour helmet. Black helmets are good for roasting the head as they heat up in the sun. D clips to hold the chin strap together are OK and simple but when your hands are cold they are sometimes impossible to unfasten - then you will wish that you had a clip-type fastener for the chin strap. The Japanese and Korean helmets are much better than the others in features and comfort and safety. There is a new safety schedule out in the last year or so: Snell and other ratings used to be the best but the new schedule should be your gold standard for helmet selection. Helmets loosen up as you wear them in so get it snug. Different head shapes are catered for by different brands. I bought a new helmet a while ago and after about 2 hours it gave me the mother of headaches because it was the wrong shape inside for my head shape. I sold it the next day. The helmet I am currently using cost about $800 (Shoei) and it was on special down from about $1200. It is a middle of the road item, OK but not great, a full-face but not a modular, and it is black, but it does have a pinlock visor and it is quite new. Plan on replacing your helmet after a few years, depending on how much you use it and how well it stands up to being washed inside.

Originally Posted by rupert

For the road: I have, generally, been a modular helmet user for about the last 20 years. Before than I had racing-type pudding bowl helmets, then full face helmets. Modlulare is the type that has a chin piece and screen that can fold up, and may be OK for shooting (if you are not sure, the m/c police use modular). I have had all of the other kinds of helmets and the modular are the most comfortable to wear. If you are planning on using it through the winter you will need a helmet screen that has a pinlock visor so that you can see through the screen when it is cold/wet weather (otherwise the visor fogs up). Most helmets also have a sun visor. I use mine on occasion and it a great safety feature when the sun is glaring on the edge of the horizon. The lighter the helmet the higher the price usually. A lighter helmet is safer and more comfortable. A peak on the helmet is good but make sure it can be taken off when you want to go faster becaue your neck will get a workout as the peak become a windsock. Best to get a white or light colour helmet. Black helmets are good for roasting the head as they heat up in the sun. D clips to hold the chin strap together are OK and simple but when your hands are cold they are sometimes impossible to unfasten - then you will wish that you had a clip-type fastener for the chin strap. The Japanese and Korean helmets are much better than the others in features and comfort and safety. There is a new safety schedule out in the last year or so: Snell and other ratings used to be the best but the new schedule should be your gold standard for helmet selection. Helmets loosen up as you wear them in so get it snug. Different head shapes are catered for by different brands. I bought a new helmet a while ago and after about 2 hours it gave me the mother of headaches because it was the wrong shape inside for my head shape. I sold it the next day. The helmet I am currently using cost about $800 (Shoei) and it was on special down from about $1200. It is a middle of the road item, OK but not great, a full-face but not a modular, and it is black, but it does have a pinlock visor and it is quite new. Plan on replacing your helmet after a few years, depending on how much you use it and how well it stands up to being washed inside.

Thanks, that looks like everything I need to think about. One thing is I won't be going over 50kmh unless I go down a long steep straight hill.

The head shape thing is a good tip, I am not a very large person but I have quite a large head, any hat smaller than XL gives me a headache within half an hour.

I know this is a bit of an open ended question what would you spend as a minimum.

Originally Posted by NZShoota

I use one of these
https://www.acerbis.com/eu/motorspor...l-road/0025055
as a ATV helmet on the farm. Gets a bit warm in summer but very happy with it for my uses. Very comfortable, not too heavy, flip down visor and removable washable padding.

Can you use a rifle while wearing it?

'what would you spend as a minimum' is indeed an open question. However, I wanted an off-road type of helmet a couple of years ago and I bought a Bell MX-9 for about $400, on special, over the internet. I thought that was the lowest value I could put on my head, and I knew that Bell helmets fit my head having had a few. But helmets are driven by fashion, so the best thing is to look at last seasons helmets which should be on sale, and try on different brands and styles until you start to get an idea of what actually may be comfortable over the long run. There are a few things that I think are essential: pinlock visor, white or light colour and full-face design (life gets difficult if you have a smashed face from using an open design and then crash). The rest is optional but modular is very comfortable to use. If you are brave you may find something suitable second hand, used once-type of deal, half new price.

See if you can find good quality helmets second hand on TM to work out what works best for you.

I recommend the Shoei Neotec if you want a modular, you can get them for less than $200 secondhand.

Originally Posted by longshot

Can you use a rifle while wearing it?

Yes.

From my experience its best to go to the local bike shop and get sized up correctly. A 61cm in HJC is different from a 61cm in Shoei. Personally, for road riding the most comfortable one for me and my enormous head (63cm) was HJC after trying on 4 different brands. You don't have to purchase the helmet there but just try the different brands on. Unethical life pro tip - if you vape look for one that has the front flip up instead of full face lol saves you having to take your helmet off at every stop.
The cheek pads will loosen over time, so you want something quite snug but not where it's hurting. Make sure it has the pinlock pins in the visor cause pinlocks are the best hing ever made for anti-fog and pick up a bottle of rain-x spray for the outside of the visor since your commuting.

For offroad I'd be looking at a cheap motorcross helmet and goggles, road helmets are heavy and the constant bouncing make them pretty annoying to wear for a longer ride.

For the big overview check out the very entertaining youtube vids which lead in with this relatively recent one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6axCCvpzMKs