When to replace helmets?

[t'other dave]

As on the tin, My Shoei XR1000 is now 5 years old and at least 50,000 mls but I've looked after it and it still looks new (no bumps, bangs, never dropped) but is it time to renew?
Thoughts please.

J & S have a 20% off sale on which has promted this question it means for another shoei I'll get £70 off.

 

[Twotter]

I think 5 years is enough. Go and spoil yourself

 

[Big Lee]

I agree, when you get a new one the old lid feels like an old bucket on your head. Can`t beat the plushness of a new motorcycle helmet

 

[cookie]

when the foam rots, usually, in my case

 

[gpsonaPan]

If you can turn your head to the left and right swiftly and helmet stays facing forward, you are past the buy a new one date.

HTH

Pat

 

[ExpatinIstanbul]

An instructor once told me that 5 years is about the maximum for a helmet. This, he said, was due to the shell materials degrading over time and although the finish might still be good, the helmet itself is no longer as strong as it was when new.

Whether this is all bollocks I don't know but it's your head, which quite an important part of the anatomy.

 

[zoltan]

I have a 10 year old Arai that was used twice than went up in the attic and never used . Called the technical department at Arai UK ( Phoenix distributions) and they recommendation is:
5 years from the time first used or
7 years from the date on the strap.

 

[NorthernBoy]

The degradation through age (rather than use) is reputedly through UV damage to the material. If a helmet has been kept in a dark cool environment, then it really ought not to suffer any serious degradation over the course of ten years.

Look at it this way; that helmet is apparently fine after five years on the bonce of a courier in cannes or LA, so really ought not to be a problem after seven years of occasional summer use in Barnsley.

I have a ten year old AGV that I am back using after a new helmet started hurting me, and I can't really see what is supposed to have gone wrong with it while it was bagged and on the shelf.

 

[zoltan]

I have a 10 year old Arai that was used twice than went up in the attic and never used . Called the technical department at Arai UK ( Phoenix distributions) and they recommendation is:
5 years from the time first used or
7 years from the date on the strap.

The recommendation is from SNELL , I assume that they done some form of testing on old helmets?

 

[NorthernBoy]

The recommendation is from SNELL , I assume that they done some form of testing on old helmets?

If there was serious degradation after five years, I think that they'd have very big clear warnings to cover their arses. There are probably plenty of people who do manage to have a knackered one after five years, but there are probably plenty still going strong at ten years, too. If I had a decent one, immaculate, that still fitted well, with unfrayed straps, then I personally would be happy to keep using it out to ten years.

It's always going to be a personal decision, though. If you are swapping your seven year old favourite for a cheaper one through straitened circumstances, for example, you'd likely make a different decision to if you five year old £30 job looked tatty, and you had a lottery win burning a hole in your pocket.

 

[Kneeslider916]

I would guess that the adhesive they use to stick the inner liner to the outer shell has a lifespan, as well as the outer shell being UV damaged.

Either way, i would definately change after 5 yrs, as a maximum.

 

[Stewart H]

I would feel more comfortable wearing an old GRP shelled lid than a plastic one, I just sold my GRP boat and the shell of that is 35 years old, that said its the lining thats gone floppy on the old retired Bell Star in the loft.

Stewart

 

[NorthernBoy]

I would feel more comfortable wearing an old GRP shelled lid than a plastic one, I just sold my GRP boat and the shell of that is 35 years old, that said its the lining thats gone floppy on the old retired Bell Star in the loft.

Stewart

I've had dealers in the past tell me that with a modern GRP helmet that they are happy to say that up to ten years old is fine. They recommended less for plastic ones.

As for the comment about the degradation of adhesives, this is mainly caused by exposure to UV. At the risk of repeating myself, a glue that can handle five years on a courier's head in Ouzarzate is not about to fall to pieces after the same amount of time in Dunfermline.

 

[kbada]

I'll start off by saying that I don't know what this means, but here goes -

I used to fly sailplanes and at least one that i flew was built in the 19 seventies, from some sort of glass fibre/plastic. It lived in an open hanger or in the sun (when it was out) the sun that is . This glider, among many others, still flies and therefore has an airworthiness certificate.

Have you ever seen the wings flex, it's impressive, even if they are nearly 40 years old...... and falling on your head from 2000ft or more is not really interesting - with or without a helmet....

 

[Big Nick]

I change mine every 5 years which works out at about a cost of £7 a month to buy a top of the range helmet

Small price to pay to protect you head I reckon

 

[NorthernBoy]

I change mine every 5 years which works out at about a cost of £7 a month to buy a top of the range helmet

Small price to pay to protect you head I reckon

Well, using that logic, it would only be £12 a month to change it every three years, which is also a small price to pay for protecting your head. Or £18 a month to change it every two.

Are you telling us that your head is not worth 60p a day?

 

[zoltan]

The degradation through age (rather than use) is reputedly through UV damage to the material. If a helmet has been kept in a dark cool environment, then it really ought not to suffer any serious degradation over the course of ten years.

Look at it this way; that helmet is apparently fine after five years on the bonce of a courier in cannes or LA, so really ought not to be a problem after seven years of occasional summer use in Barnsley.

I have a ten year old AGV that I am back using after a new helmet started hurting me, and I can't really see what is supposed to have gone wrong with it while it was bagged and on the shelf.

The issue is not the outer shell ,but the inner part ( foam material) which with the passage of time ,hardens,dries. Hence the propriety of absorbing and dissipating a impact is reduced.

The manufacture gives a max 7 years ,as a cut of point.After which they no longer guarantee that the helmet would do the job.

 

[Big Nick]

Well, using that logic, it would only be £12 a month to change it every three years, which is also a small price to pay for protecting your head. Or £18 a month to change it every two.

Are you telling us that your head is not worth 60p a day?

I think you missed the point mate................................

 

[NorthernBoy]

I think you missed the point mate................................

No, just pulling your leg. I'm happy to run a helmet out beyond five years, if it is still in very good condition, but understand people wanting to swap them earlier.

For me, I actually prefer one that feels right, even if it's a bit old, to a brand new one too often. I also tend to run about five helmets at once, so mine don't get that hard a life.

 

[Myke Rocks]

When to change your helmet

If your head expands or contracts it would be advisable to change your helmet, because if it expands the original won't fit!
Loose helmets are also not recommended!
This question should be in the "What Oil" section.