Helmets - best before / useful life?

[mrsroynie]

I'm sure it's been asked a zillion times but, inspired by The Bear's thread about helmet 'give', I've been wondering about the life expectancy of helmets generally. Ever since I learned to ride, I've always heard that the received wisdom is that the materials degrade and you should replace helmets every 5 years or so. Bearing in mind that I've been riding for over 20 years, is this still true or do modern materials last longer? Also, does the amount you wear them and how you store them make a difference?

The reason I ask is that I have a Roof open face helmet that is now 10 years old but (at least superficially) in 'nearly new' condition. I almost never wear it except for very warm trips in the US. It has been used for a matter of 6-8 weeks at a time on two or three occasions and otherwise stored in its original box and bag. Don't ask me for the logic behind wearing an open face helmet in the US and a full face/flip front helmet everywhere else but, given that any helmet is safer than no helmet, is a 10-year old undamaged helmet really likely to offer significantly less protection than a similar brand new one?

 

[Chopper]

Hi there, i just looked into this and in general it seems most manufacturers quote 5yrs from purchase date or 7 years from manufacture.... Mine is 5 years in June so looking at a C3 pro

 

[Fanum]

No,Yes.
Yes.
No.

 

[Fanum]

Apologies for seemingly taking a big dump on your thread there.........Just revisiting now with a more considered opinion.

OLD materials used in helmet shell manufacturing like some early plastics and fibreglass definitely DO need replacing after a number of years, as the UV damage to the structure of the material weakens it significantly......you won't find materials like that in any new helmet though, unless it's a Chinese novelty job

NEW materials have largely removed that....Styrofoam for example has a ridiculously long life, however it can be damaged by hair products, oil, UV, Petrol fumes and other outside influences.

The manufacturers all seem to say 5 years as a life of a modern helmet, but again, 5 years of WHAT USE?

Someone who only rides on every other Sunday and who stores their lid properly may well get 10 or more years out of one with no risk, but if you commute in one rain or shine, even disregarding the general wear and tear, bashing about and so on that it will receive, the linings will likely be so fekking manky that it won't be something you want to put on your head after 3 years

Visors also get skanky, scratched and their coating gets abraded...after 5 years, the chances of getting a new visor for an old design helmet lessen, so it may even be impractical to renew parts that wear out....same with the buckles and webbing......I reckon these days that those parts are more likely to warrant a change in lid than the integrity of the shell itself.

I haven't got ANY helmets under 5 years old, and because I ride a lot in all weathers, one of the first things I'm going to buy when I start getting wages through from my new job is a new helmet, but that's NOT because of any worries about the shell materials, it's because of the general condition of linings, visors and buckles

 

[Delboy777]

I had a Shoei Multitec that was 5 years old, it was slack and in need of some TLC. So i cut the straps off and binned it.

 

[GSTourer]

Apologies for seemingly taking a big dump on your thread there.........Just revisiting now with a more considered opinion.

OLD materials used in helmet shell manufacturing like some early plastics and fibreglass definitely DO need replacing after a number of years, as the UV damage to the structure of the material weakens it significantly......you won't find materials like that in any new helmet though, unless it's a Chinese novelty job

NEW materials have largely removed that....Styrofoam for example has a ridiculously long life, however it can be damaged by hair products, oil, UV, Petrol fumes and other outside influences.

The manufacturers all seem to say 5 years as a life of a modern helmet, but again, 5 years of WHAT USE?

Someone who only rides on every other Sunday and who stores their lid properly may well get 10 or more years out of one with no risk, but if you commute in one rain or shine, even disregarding the general wear and tear, bashing about and so on that it will receive, the linings will likely be so fekking manky that it won't be something you want to put on your head after 3 years

Visors also get skanky, scratched and their coating gets abraded...after 5 years, the chances of getting a new visor for an old design helmet lessen, so it may even be impractical to renew parts that wear out....same with the buckles and webbing......I reckon these days that those parts are more likely to warrant a change in lid than the integrity of the shell itself.

I haven't got ANY helmets under 5 years old, and because I ride a lot in all weathers, one of the first things I'm going to buy when I start getting wages through from my new job is a new helmet, but that's NOT because of any worries about the shell materials, it's because of the general condition of linings, visors and buckles

...........and they smell so nice too!

 

[cookie]

hang the helmet up by the strap.

when it falls on the floor, it's time for a new one.

 

[North]

I sent my Arai XD-3 in for a new strap. Arai North America would not fix because they said they had never seen a liner so compressed. I have a lot of low speed falls on rocky stuff. They said that the helmet was no longer safe to wear. I can live with that. I ride all year too. What did piss me off was the amount of time it took and the emails I had to make. Not to mention that I was finally told to call their warehouse to find this all out.

I have a question, what is the best rating.

My Aria had DOT and Snell. I have an AFX that has DOT, ECE 22.05 and FMVSS NO.218.

 

[Ogmios]

My understanding based on research working on rider training with EU groups is that ECE 22.05 is the higher standard.
However,
this is based on tests that I.M.O. and that of many others is far from conclusive and truly definitive.
Fanums post is, as a guide, far more practical use than e.g. age / brand / construction or 'standard'.