Hi everyone a question about the one important safety mod you can do to yourself -a helmet !
But which one? i know they go from £30 to hundreds! is there anything i should look out for?ie safety certificates etc? i know it should fit nice and tight and be comfy.how do i tell from the crap and the good?
Cheers rob
Hey Rob
Do you want to run HANS? I\'m going to this year....It isn\'t hype it truly works, but adds another £500
There are Snell and BSI certs to look for.
All of the helmets will pass the tests...its a question of how far do they exceed them by.
The lighter the lid the less your head is going to be thrown forward in an accident....Newtons 2nd law
I won\'t drive with an open face lid....if you are involved in a crash, you can potentially get glass in your face, as well as hitting things with your chin.
As for comfort, you need to put it on and try and move your head from side to side if you can with ease....it is too big. If there are any pressure points then it is either too small or the fit isn\'t to your head.
Typically on bikes you were either a Shoe or an Arai head.
My best advice is think of a budget and then spend another 10%. You are an intelligent person, so what value do you put on your head?
depends if you want to use it for trackdays or move on to sprints and hillclimbs later. For a trackday you can have just about anything that fits, in fact i haven\'t had one checked at any trackday.
For competition (MSA) you\'ll need something with certain stamps on it. Look here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=129&i=7630 (http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=129&i=7630)
Relevant bit here:
QuotePistonheads said
Before the event you will need to purchase a helmet and a set of flame-resistant overalls. Once again the Blue Book contains a great deal of information regarding the safety specification of helmets but for reference, the following are acceptable for ALL MSA events at the time of writing (Nov 2003):
- SNELL SA95
- SNELL SA2000
- BS 6658 Type A/FR
- BS 6658 â€" 85 Type A (Type B is not acceptable)
Helmets can range from £100 to £1000 but it is more important to have a helmet which is comfortable than one which looks stylish. Take time to try many different helmets on and treat it with care once purchased.
Strangely, i have two Arai motobike lids, a Quantum E (older) and a Quantum F (newer version of same lid). The new one is useless, has no stickers, but the old one has the BS6658 sticker meaning i can use it.
If you do get into competition you also need a race suit and such, but thats another thread. The point is....never say never....if you buy a lid at least buy one that you can move on with if you want to in the future.
Andy
Andy
It is a valid point made.....and a big debate on pistonheads about whether to wear a race suit, gloves and boots on a trackday. I say you are a fool not to.
The choice with those is endless. Likewise you should have an electrical cut outs, and firesystem
Quote from: AtomicRexIt is a valid point made.....and a big debate on pistonheads about whether to wear a race suit, gloves and boots on a trackday. I say you are a fool not to.
The choice with those is endless. Likewise you should have an electrical cut outs, and firesystem
Its all money...in an ideal world we\'d all have track-prepared cars and all the kit. Back in the real world a lot of people just do a few trackdays a year.
I still use the same bike lids i have had for years (the new one at trackdays, the old one i am forced to when competing). At trackdays I always wore a pair of jeans and a nice light shirt so i didnt get too hot :)
Now i have a race suit and boots and gloves, and i look
****ing sharp :) , but i only bought them when i started on the MSA stuff (Brighton Speed Trials last year). The first track day i did after i bought them i still didn\'t wear them, i felt really self-conscious as i am not a
racer or anything. Then i realised i was being silly and felt a lot better when wearing them and driving hard, kind of how you do on a bike when you put leathers on.
Still a damn site hotter than my cotton shirt though ;)
I will be using it on trackdays hoping to get one a month at least hopefully,jon?(atomicrex)i understand about how much my head is worth but im just starting out and dont wanna be spending hundreds, just enough so im comfortable and safe i already deciced to get a full face lid-i dont fancy having glass in my face!-not that i intend crashing much:Nono!
So what about full suits i suppose you can spend a lot on them to?, i will have a look around for one to i think,again where can i find out about what the standards are supposed to be?
You DO have to try them on.
I went to Grand Prix Racewear and tried on a few. First time I ever bought a helmet. The price and fit are not related!!
Tips from my experience.
The full face I bought still leaves the bottom of my chin exposed. Second time around I would get one that fully covered my chin.
My biker mates tell me the strap is too short. Check this out before leaving the shop.
Martin H
Iv got an ARAI GP5K for karting.
had a shoei before that.
the Arai is such a nice fit and they do look the dogs too.
500 pound helmet though. worth every penny confidence wise over a motorbike lid
How does the full face ones fare with steaming up? I\'ve got an open face one more like a rally driver one. Nice and comfy and not too expensive if bought from the right places. I think it has all the correct safety standards too for what I want.
The hans setup is very cool, although don\'t you need to make sure its set to match the angle of the driving position or it doesn\'t help as much. Some seriously expensive stuff. Ok if your have full race harness and you could dislodge your skull from the spine but in a weekend track car using standard belts and seats not as much point.
Shaun
How much would u recomend me buying a race suit for? I know you can pay whatever you want for 1, but I wouldn\'t be running ultra speeds or anything like that, what kinda price range would you suggest a good suit or helmet set me back? There are loads on Deamon tweeks but I dunno what I need to look for lol
It is very correct the price and fit aren\'t related...as said some of the Shoe helmets are very expensive....they just never fitted on my head!
The rule with a suit is having enough stretch panels so that you feel comfortable whilst behind the wheel. The number of layers is the next consideration, this can be done through either all within the suit or as a separate under suit
Getting a decent set of boots are important as this will give you feel on the pedals.
Go and try stuff on at GPR at either silverstone or London....I can get some pretty good discounts for these items....so if you want me to get them...let me know.
No point in running a HANS device if you haven\'t got belts though, and certainly not if you are running a reclining seat. And there really isn\'t any point in wearing one on a Kart....lol....I saw this recently!!!
Wearing a top Arai on the karts....thats paranoia for you!
As for too short a chin strap...why do they think that? As long as you can double the strap through, and when you pull it it doesn\'t come back through, it sounds fine.
Yes having a lid that covers the chin is a necessity on a bike, not so crucial in a car. The main reason for having a full face is to prevent hitting the cage in an accident, as well as avoiding foreign object hitting you in the face.