Helmet Replacement
Motorcycle helmets can save your life. They are specially designed to provide you with the best protection technology offers, but they are designed for one impact ONLY. Is it time you looked at helmet replacement?
When is it time to replace your old helmet?
We recommend helmet replacement, as a minimum requirement for safe motorcyling in the following circumstances:
- Helmet was involved in a motorcycle accident and sustained impact
- Helmet was dropped
- Helmet suffered an impact by some other means
- Tightening strap or comfort padding is loose
- Foam padding is loose
- Plastic shell is dented, has significant scratches, or even minor scratches from unknown causes
- There is movement between the helmet shell and impact lining
- When a helmet is 3 - 5 years old
Why helmet replacement is important
The purpose of a crash helmet is to prevent head injury during an accident. Currently the best means technology offers towards preventing head injury is by having two distinct parts which make up a crash helmet.
The helmet shell makes up the first part and is designed to be strong, to prevent penetration by sharp objects and to hold the helmet liner together upon impact.
The helmet liner makes up the second part and is designed to be thick and to disintegrate upon impact, providing distance which is used to controllably decelerate your head. This distance, allowed controlled deceleration of your head is crucial in preventing head trauma, concussion or other traumatic brain injury. While humans can survive with relatively bad injuries to the skull, injuries to the brain are often fatal.
Since the helmet liner is designed to disintegrate upon impact, absorbing energy and slowing down your head. A helmet needs to be replaced after only one impact, the impact liner can only disintegrate once, after this is will not be effective. A helmet can appear in overall good condition, but the impact liner can already have partially disintegrated and in the event of an accident be ineffective.
If the comfort strap, the padding or the foam is loose the helmet will not fit to your head how it was intended. This may result in the helmet moving around while riding and potentially obscuring your vision, or in an accident moving around so that your head is not where it is designed to be within the helmet for optimal protection.
Three to five years is just a general guideline, after this time we would expect a helmet to have had decent use, been subject to normal riding wear and tear, and in the interests of safety be a good time to make a helmet replacement.