Motorcycle Helmets: How to Pick the Right One

Motorcycle Helmets: How to Pick the Right One

Riding on two wheels is a wonderful experience, but first of all you need to invest in some important equipment. Motorcycle Helmets are absolutely essential!

Body protection is a must when riding your motorcycle, and motorcycle helmets are the most important equipment for a biker. Why? Plenty of reasons, but let’s just say that they save your life… Here you will find some advice to help you choose the right helmet for you.

Full Coverage Helmets

First of all, there are several major categories of helmet styles: full coverage, open face, shorty. The full-coverage helmet has a chin bar as part of the outer shell. This helmet is the most recommended because it offers the best protection from impact and penetration hazard and by adding a face shield, you are extremely well protected. If you plan to ride a lot, meaning long distance but also everyday (for example if you use your bike to go to work), full coverage helmets are the most comfortable choice, as they have better dynamics and they also reduce the wind’s noise.

Open-face Helmets

For those who want to opt for the open-face helmet: it has a chin strap and no face shield. It still offers more coverage than a shorty, but remember that without the face shield you are not protected from insects, wind and debris.

Shorty Helmets

These helmets are popular because of their “vintage” look. They do have a lot in common with  the old-fashioned helmets. Compared to the previous two helmets, the shorty offers less coverage, but the law allows it because it is still able to protect you from impact and penetration.

Helmet Safety Ratings: what’s the DOT?

DOT stands for the U.S. Department of Transportation, that has established a standard in order to certify that helmet models have passed rigorous and strict laboratory testing.

If you are looking for an helmet and you live in the US, be sure that the model you want has the DOT sticker: it proves that the helmet design meets the DOT safety standards and provides these primary functions: impact protection, penetration protection, retention.

Impact Protection

A good quality helmet must protects you from impact by distributing the force across the outer shell and the impact-absorbing liner (in expanded polystyrene/EPS). After the impact, the helmet needs to be replaced as the shell and EPS systems are compromised. But you will know that the helmet saved you!

Penetration protection

The outer shell in your helmet is designed to give you protection from flying objects. And it’s not all: when you drive, insects, wind and debris might be a big problem, that’s why some shells are scratch resistant, so that they are not marked.

Retention and Fit

Retention is extremely important: the retention system is what keeps the helmet on your head during an impact, but also the fit is an essential feature because it conditions how well your helmet fastens and stays on your head. Motorcycle helmets must fit snugly, tight enough so that it is stable when you shake your head side-to-side, front-to-back or up and down. Your skin should move with it if you try to move the helmet on your head.

Many motorcycle helmets come with adjustable padding in order to help adjust the helmet to the head. It the helmet fits properly, you will feel the padding against the top and front of your head. If you have a full-face or open-face helmet, the padding locks in cheeks, jaw, and the top and sides of your head. This is extremely important because if a helmet is too loose, it might come off in a crash, with all the consequences you can (and don’t want) imagine.

And what about the weight? Usually, helmets range in weight from 1400 to 1800 grams. It’s important that you choose a properly fitting helmet and that the weight is distributed evenly around head and shoulders.

Selecting a helmet might take a long time: choose your helmet carefully, so that your riding will be fun and safe. Contact a reliable online store with a wide assortment to buy the best product.