Bell Helmets

All

I am in need of a new helmet,the old one has done good service for the past couple of seasons,i don't want to spend a shed load of money,i feel Arai and Shoei are too over priced now ,they maybe justified their higher price in the past ,but most helmet makers have now caught up in terms of safety and quality.I quite like the look of the Bell range ,is their a dealer anywhere in the Aberdeen area i can see the range,or even slightly further a Field (chance to ride the bike)

Sandy i Would disagree about other helmets being as safe as shoei etc . I have the Shoei and best helmet i have ever owned and if had a few.

Remember you only get one chance to protect your head. Wont get a second chance to say oh maybe the Shoei was the better helmet.

We pay a fortune for our bikes so why not pay for a good lid to save you from being turned into a veggie.

Personally i have looked at the new safety tests on lids and i would not trust it .

Only my opinion anyway .

Take care
Richard

Richard

I feel you have bought into the whole Arai and Shoei "myth ".(along with a great number of others)
Yes they were the very best helmets ,but as i said before others have caught up .
Look at the test results for sharp ratings.

Example:
People still think of Volkswagen golf as the best car in its class,this is due to it being made by Germans who are great engineers and as such it must be safe and the best quality.
The Ford focus plays second fiddle because it is built in Britain and there for is perceived as poorer quality because it was not built to exact German standards but built by Jo bloggs the fat guy from the pub.


In tests for safety they are both the same Uncap rating .
So it is all about product perception not what they actually achieve.

Man i love a good discussion

Sandy you would be wise to read Richards words again. You do get what you pay for. I have just purchased the new Shoei XR1100 and its far better than the XR1000. Remembe the helmet is one of the most important pieces of kit you will buy.

You get what you pay for in life and there is more to a helmet than the safety ratings.

Dave

sandy wrote:

Richard


Example:
People still think of Volkswagen golf as the best car in its class,

.

Man i love a good discussion

Funny enough i also Drive a VW Golf and it is far better than a Ford Focus.
(Company car of course)

Also have a read of this.
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/motorcycle_helmet_review/index.html

Only had a quick look through the test data on your link ,i will read it more thouraly when i get some time later,most of the test resualts are from at upto 10 years ago ,this is well out of date as imagine how much technology/materials have moved forward in this time ,carbon fiber use for one .Also they mentioned the cheaper brands preformed well in certain test and average in others,this is the same with all helmets ,hence the sharp ratings ,and Arai and shoei poor sharp rating .

I never said that Arai and Shoei were bad helmets ,"their quality is still the best ",but called into question the price and and their ability to preform any better than a reasonably priced helmet in a crash,i am also not talking about a sub £150 pound helmet.

Please remember both these manufacturers sponsor the best riders in the world and that is not cheap,someone has to pay for this and guess what it ain't the company .

Sandy

[quote="sandy"]

The Ford focus plays second fiddle because it is built in Britain and there for is perceived as poorer quality because it was not built to exact German standards but built by Jo bloggs the fat guy from the pub.



Umm, I could be wrong, but I beleive the Focus is manufactured in the following locations:

Saarlouis, Germany; Valencia, Spain; Santa Rosa, Philippines; Chungli, Taiwan; Chongqing, China, and Vsevolozhsk, Russia.

Its still not as good as a Golf

Col

It was only ment as an example as to how things are perceived by people ,a bit like the emperors new cloths .

Back to the helmets not cars (on a bike forum!). The best helmet will be the one that fits exactly right and has decent safety ratings etc. Another factor to consider, but how you find out is anyone's guess, is how noisy the helmet is. While no one would ever want to come off and have to rely on their helmet, no one seems to notice perhaps 3 years of gradual hearing damage. This is not a cue for wisecracks like eh? / pardon?
One of the bike magazines a good year ago did a comparison of the decibel level going on inside a helmet and I think Shoei and Bell came out quite well.
Oh, paying for a name or not, I don't care - I landed on my head (while learning) wearing an Arai and I'm still normal!
Obviously, safety or not, the first priority must be whether the colour scheme matches your bike and leathers which is why I just had to defect to Shoei

This is not a cue for wisecracks like eh? / pardon?


PARTY-POOPER!!!!!

Diane wrote:

Obviously, safety or not, the first priority must be whether the colour scheme matches your bike and leathers which is why I just had to defect to Shoei

Ah yes, any colour as long as its pink....

You are right about the helmets though. Fit, noise and safety ratings must all be considered, not just the brand.

Cheers

Diane

You are the voice of reason ,some people become helmet snobs and only by the best perceived brands,others because of price ,others because they like the colors or the association with a particular rider, but please remember no one is exempt from ridicule ,CAN YOU HEAR ME

Another piece of information to consider when being influenced to buy a particular brand is that (To my last knowledge)
Arai are the only helmet maker to make all their helmets the same standard/quality no matter where they are sold or by whom they are used (i.e. all the other makers , including Shoei , manufacture helmets for the market they are sold in and do not produce "Special" lids for their sponsered riders)

So when you see a rider using an Arai Corser or similar it will be the same as the one you can buy on the street wheras someone like Stoner wearing a Nolan is being given a bespoke lid to suit him.
Arai also supply different shell sizes which adds to the cost of supplying but offers better fit and comfort.

I am not saying Shoei or any other are bad as I have owned several over the years and consider them a good helmet. We switched to Arai in search of a quieter fit to the XR900's we had and although the lid was a nice item , light and aerodynamic , it was noisier which is my main criticism of buying lids , you cant test ride them.

Liz and I are now using Schuberth C2's in search of peace and quiet and in this respect they succeed but they are not very comfortable (personal opinion of course) , do not dispell very well and are a nightmare to fit our Autocom's into.
So , in another 2 years or so , we may try a Shoei Multitec , if the fit , quality and price suit.

You "Pay your money and make your choice" as the old saying goes.

Allan

I have had to much beer and can hardley focus on what you have said .
i will respond tomorrow when sober.(oh its a hard life being an ex pat )


Sandy
Post Whore

Damn! I can stilll hear you Sandy! Must be having the pink highlights on my helmet protecting my hearing.

Recently i had to have a hearing test for my visa,i always use earplugs when on the bike now , i never when i was younger ,the test showed i had impaired hearing at a certain frequency,but only in one ear ,find this a bit strange because you would think damage to your hearing would be the same for both ears if caused by motorcycling.

Sandy
Post Whore

sandy wrote:

Recently i had to have a hearing test for my visa,i always use earplugs when on the bike now , i never when i was younger ,the test showed i had impaired hearing at a certain frequency,but only in one ear ,find this a bit strange because you would think damage to your hearing would be the same for both ears if caused by motorcycling.

Sandy
Post Whore

Which side was your exhaust on??

At speed, the noise is more engine/induction roar and wind noise. I too rarely used earplugs. Try harder to remember now, but still forget most times. Thats partly why I bought the Shuberth helmet. Very quiet.

Actually I think Sandy's lopsided hearing loss has a lot more to do with him only being, at best, able to muster up a 50% brain capacity as clearly demonstrated by this emoticon!

50% Diane you are being over generous,tis just habit now.

I will have to find some new ones a the ones available are pretty poor.

The exhaust on my previous bike was an under tail affair, before that on the right hand side of the bike ,i think i may have traced the cause,My wife when NAGGING as most ,if not all of them do ,tends to address me from the left side, so i think this is how my hearing was damaged.


Sandy
Post Count Whore

sandy wrote:

...i think i may have traced the cause,My wife when NAGGING as most ,if not all of them do ,tends to address me from the left side, so i think this is how my hearing was damaged.


Sandy
Post Count Whore

I hear THAT...(well, almost )