Helmet Use & Safety Ratings
User’s Manual Information.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR HELMET
Even under ideal condition an accident can happen, a minor impact at speeds less than 13 miles per hour can cause serious head injuries. Common sense dictates that you need protection. No helmet can protect the user against all impacts, but a quality helmet, properly fitted and fastened is the most effective protection you can get.
INSURING PROPER FIT
A helmet should be snug but not too tight, once it is sealed on your head tighten the chin strap, position it well back against your throat, it should be tight enough so that you cannot place your fingers between the strap and your throat, but breathing and swallowing should not be impaired.
Once securely fastened, move the helmet side to side, then up and down to insure that your skin movement is the same as that of the helmet, if it slips at all try a smaller size. Attempt to roll the helmet forward off your head by firmly pulling upward on the rear of the helmet. You should not be able to remove a correctly fitting helmet in this manner.
BEFORE YOU SET OUT
Always check to face shield screws on both sides of the helmet before riding, it can be very dangerous if these parts come loose during riding. If necessary tighten them. Never ride with the shield open. Do not use a tinted face shield when riding at night or in other conditions of poor visibility. Always fasten the chin strap before heading out. REMEMBER: helmets reduce your ability to hear sounds, especially at highway speeds. Sudden temperature variations can cause unexpected misting of your shield and loss of visibility. Be aware of how your perception of trail conditions is affected.
CARING FOR YOUR HELMET
Your helmet may be damaged and rendered ineffective by petroleum and petrochemical products, cleaning agents, paints adhesives etc…without the damage being visible to the user. Use only the following materials to clean your helmet: mild soap and water or a solution of bicarbonate of soda for the liner and automotive wax or polish for the outer shell. After cleaning the interior, rinse with a damp cloth and let to air dry at room temperature. High heat will damage the liner as will strong solvents and gasoline products. It is a good idea to keep your helmet in a secure place when you are not using it. Visors should not be excessively cold when they are being refitted onto the helmet or they may crack.
DO NOT MISTREAT YOUR HELMET
Never ride with the helmet hanging from the helmet holder on your vehicle. Don’t sit on it or throw it around. Mistreating your helmet may cause damage to the shell or liner that is not observable to you and in a time of need it may fail to protect you in an accident.
DO NOT TAMPER WITH THE HELMET
Make no modifications and never drill holes in the shell or cut the inner liner. This can seriously weaken the helmet.
HELMETS ARE DESIGNED TO ABSORB ONE IMPACT ONLY!!!
A helmet only works once, after it has protected you from an impact, you must get a new one. An impact or fall could seriously impair the safety of your helmet even if there is no visible sign of damage. The shock absorber inside the helmet is made of polystyrene. During and impact or fall, this polystyrene shell is compressed leaving a gap between the inner and outer shell of the helmet. The helmet no longer has the ability to absorb further impacts.
NEVER NEVER NEVER wear a helmet that has withstood an impact of any sort.
Above all else stated here. Safety is Paramount. The helmet use ultimately is a decision of the operator/wearer. It is governed by the operator/wearer and the State or Country in which they reside. Bottom line is it absolutely, positively cannot and will not work unless it is properly secured/placed/worn on your head.
Though you may feel invincible. Do "Save Your Soul", by wearing a helmet. It just makes sense.
A bit about the Helmet Rating System....
DOT Standard
Following is the official U.S. regulation, or "law" for what we motorcyclists in the U.S. know as the DOT regulations covering motorcycle helmets. In other words, a motorcycle helmet manufacturer would have to submit a helmet model to the following regulations to obtain DOT approval and the right to place the DOT sticker on the back of the helmet.
The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) known as FMVSS 218 (49CFR571.218), describes in great detail the requirements for "DOT" certification of all helmets sold in the United States for use by motorcyclists. Helmets that do not meet the minimal DOT certification standards may not be sold as "motorcycle helmets."
SNELL (Voluntary standard)
The Snell Memorial Foundation is an additional certification source intended to provide testing and "Snell" certification to a different standard than FMVSS 218. The Snell certification doesn't replace the DOT certification and is in fact a voluntary standard. All motorcycle helmets sold in the U.S.A. must be DOT certified, but they are not required to be Snell certified.
A motorcycle helmet that carries both DOT and Snell certification may have gone through different testing schemes, but may not necessarily be superior to helmets that carry only the DOT certification. There's lots of controversy over standards and testing, and it gets even more complicated if you consider the European ECE 22.05 standard.
ECE (Probably the best)
A third helmet standard from the Economic Community of Europe (ECE) is actually the most commonly used internationally, the ECE 22.05, required by over 50 countries worldwide. While helmet standards all have the goal of regulating helmet performance for protection of riders’ heads, some performance requirements conflict between standards.
A major benefit for U.S. riders is that the ECE 22.05 standard does not directly conflict with the DOT standard. Limited testing shows that ECE qualified helmets will also meet the demands of FMVSS 218. Of course, not all DOT helmets will meet ECE 22.05 because the European standard does require testing at higher velocities than DOT.
Another advantage of the ECE 22.05 standard is the requirement for mandatory batch testing of helmets before they are released to the riding public. What this means to the consumer is the quality of the helmet in meeting the ECE 22.05 standard is assured by a mandatory sample testing of every production of helmets before they leave the factory, not with random testing performed after thousands of helmets with unknown quality are delivered to the dealers. No one helmet designed to a particular standard or standards can provide the maximum protection in all types of crashes and no helmet can protect the wearer against all foreseeable impacts. Helmets can be designed to provide additional protection, for example, full-face helmets compared to the open-face types, but added protection comes with a weight penalty.
Summary
If you’re not comfortable with a helmet that only meets the US Government DOT standard, what do you look for? Historically, American riders have looked for a Snell label but the world is getting smaller and we now have other viable alternatives. The ECE 22.05 standard is used in over 50 European countries, including Germany, a country known for taking a hard line on personal protection.
Helmets certified to the ECE 22.05 standard are approved for competition events by AMA, CCS, FIM, Formula One-USA and WERA and are chosen by nearly every professional race competition in the world. For many organizations the ECE 22.05 label is mandatory in order to compete. Helmets that are certified to both DOT and ECE 22.05 offer the highest level of realistic protection with the added benefit of light weight for day-long comfort and rider performance.
For further information and the actual tests the helmets must go through (including a whole lot of unnecessary text). Please see the respective site either the DOT, SNELL Foundation or the ECE.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR HELMET
Even under ideal condition an accident can happen, a minor impact at speeds less than 13 miles per hour can cause serious head injuries. Common sense dictates that you need protection. No helmet can protect the user against all impacts, but a quality helmet, properly fitted and fastened is the most effective protection you can get.
INSURING PROPER FIT
A helmet should be snug but not too tight, once it is sealed on your head tighten the chin strap, position it well back against your throat, it should be tight enough so that you cannot place your fingers between the strap and your throat, but breathing and swallowing should not be impaired.
Once securely fastened, move the helmet side to side, then up and down to insure that your skin movement is the same as that of the helmet, if it slips at all try a smaller size. Attempt to roll the helmet forward off your head by firmly pulling upward on the rear of the helmet. You should not be able to remove a correctly fitting helmet in this manner.
BEFORE YOU SET OUT
Always check to face shield screws on both sides of the helmet before riding, it can be very dangerous if these parts come loose during riding. If necessary tighten them. Never ride with the shield open. Do not use a tinted face shield when riding at night or in other conditions of poor visibility. Always fasten the chin strap before heading out. REMEMBER: helmets reduce your ability to hear sounds, especially at highway speeds. Sudden temperature variations can cause unexpected misting of your shield and loss of visibility. Be aware of how your perception of trail conditions is affected.
CARING FOR YOUR HELMET
Your helmet may be damaged and rendered ineffective by petroleum and petrochemical products, cleaning agents, paints adhesives etc…without the damage being visible to the user. Use only the following materials to clean your helmet: mild soap and water or a solution of bicarbonate of soda for the liner and automotive wax or polish for the outer shell. After cleaning the interior, rinse with a damp cloth and let to air dry at room temperature. High heat will damage the liner as will strong solvents and gasoline products. It is a good idea to keep your helmet in a secure place when you are not using it. Visors should not be excessively cold when they are being refitted onto the helmet or they may crack.
DO NOT MISTREAT YOUR HELMET
Never ride with the helmet hanging from the helmet holder on your vehicle. Don’t sit on it or throw it around. Mistreating your helmet may cause damage to the shell or liner that is not observable to you and in a time of need it may fail to protect you in an accident.
DO NOT TAMPER WITH THE HELMET
Make no modifications and never drill holes in the shell or cut the inner liner. This can seriously weaken the helmet.
HELMETS ARE DESIGNED TO ABSORB ONE IMPACT ONLY!!!
A helmet only works once, after it has protected you from an impact, you must get a new one. An impact or fall could seriously impair the safety of your helmet even if there is no visible sign of damage. The shock absorber inside the helmet is made of polystyrene. During and impact or fall, this polystyrene shell is compressed leaving a gap between the inner and outer shell of the helmet. The helmet no longer has the ability to absorb further impacts.
NEVER NEVER NEVER wear a helmet that has withstood an impact of any sort.
Above all else stated here. Safety is Paramount. The helmet use ultimately is a decision of the operator/wearer. It is governed by the operator/wearer and the State or Country in which they reside. Bottom line is it absolutely, positively cannot and will not work unless it is properly secured/placed/worn on your head.
Though you may feel invincible. Do "Save Your Soul", by wearing a helmet. It just makes sense.
A bit about the Helmet Rating System....
DOT Standard
Following is the official U.S. regulation, or "law" for what we motorcyclists in the U.S. know as the DOT regulations covering motorcycle helmets. In other words, a motorcycle helmet manufacturer would have to submit a helmet model to the following regulations to obtain DOT approval and the right to place the DOT sticker on the back of the helmet.
The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) known as FMVSS 218 (49CFR571.218), describes in great detail the requirements for "DOT" certification of all helmets sold in the United States for use by motorcyclists. Helmets that do not meet the minimal DOT certification standards may not be sold as "motorcycle helmets."
SNELL (Voluntary standard)
The Snell Memorial Foundation is an additional certification source intended to provide testing and "Snell" certification to a different standard than FMVSS 218. The Snell certification doesn't replace the DOT certification and is in fact a voluntary standard. All motorcycle helmets sold in the U.S.A. must be DOT certified, but they are not required to be Snell certified.
A motorcycle helmet that carries both DOT and Snell certification may have gone through different testing schemes, but may not necessarily be superior to helmets that carry only the DOT certification. There's lots of controversy over standards and testing, and it gets even more complicated if you consider the European ECE 22.05 standard.
ECE (Probably the best)
A third helmet standard from the Economic Community of Europe (ECE) is actually the most commonly used internationally, the ECE 22.05, required by over 50 countries worldwide. While helmet standards all have the goal of regulating helmet performance for protection of riders’ heads, some performance requirements conflict between standards.
A major benefit for U.S. riders is that the ECE 22.05 standard does not directly conflict with the DOT standard. Limited testing shows that ECE qualified helmets will also meet the demands of FMVSS 218. Of course, not all DOT helmets will meet ECE 22.05 because the European standard does require testing at higher velocities than DOT.
Another advantage of the ECE 22.05 standard is the requirement for mandatory batch testing of helmets before they are released to the riding public. What this means to the consumer is the quality of the helmet in meeting the ECE 22.05 standard is assured by a mandatory sample testing of every production of helmets before they leave the factory, not with random testing performed after thousands of helmets with unknown quality are delivered to the dealers. No one helmet designed to a particular standard or standards can provide the maximum protection in all types of crashes and no helmet can protect the wearer against all foreseeable impacts. Helmets can be designed to provide additional protection, for example, full-face helmets compared to the open-face types, but added protection comes with a weight penalty.
Summary
If you’re not comfortable with a helmet that only meets the US Government DOT standard, what do you look for? Historically, American riders have looked for a Snell label but the world is getting smaller and we now have other viable alternatives. The ECE 22.05 standard is used in over 50 European countries, including Germany, a country known for taking a hard line on personal protection.
Helmets certified to the ECE 22.05 standard are approved for competition events by AMA, CCS, FIM, Formula One-USA and WERA and are chosen by nearly every professional race competition in the world. For many organizations the ECE 22.05 label is mandatory in order to compete. Helmets that are certified to both DOT and ECE 22.05 offer the highest level of realistic protection with the added benefit of light weight for day-long comfort and rider performance.
For further information and the actual tests the helmets must go through (including a whole lot of unnecessary text). Please see the respective site either the DOT, SNELL Foundation or the ECE.
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