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How often do/did you change your helmet?

Pow-Lo

Make civil the mind, make savage the body.
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My Arai is about eight years old but it hasn't been worn since October 2012. Does it need changing or what?
 

Cougar377

Express elevator to hell
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Had my last Shoei for a similar period and it was in use most days. The only reason I replaced it was because the lining had got to the point that it felt too loose to be safe.
I tend to bag my lids when not in use so it was in damn good nick, bar the odd scratch on the visor.

They say that 5 or so years is a typical lifespan, but I think it's more to do with how it's been looked after.
 

Ajeman

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I had my last one for 8 years before replacing and it was still in pretty good nick. When I read up on the lifespan I believe it was about 5 years before the internal 'stuffing' started to degrade. Apparently it's not something you can see, it's the ability to absorb an impact that's affected. So even if it stayed in the cupboard unused it would still need replacing.

Obviously if it was used daily it would require replacing sooner as the UV affects the shell as well as general wear and tear of the liner and stuffing.
 

slim63

Never surrender
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I replace mine when it does not fit properly due to internal wear & tear or if it gets damaged, I think I have had 5 helmets in near on 40 years almost daily riding & 2 of those were used ones off mates, I don't see the point in binning something that is still perfectly serviceable & fits correctly
 

T.C

Been there, and had one
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My Arai is about eight years old but it hasn't been worn since October 2012. Does it need changing or what?

Depends on many factors. How much wear has it had prior to 2012, do you sweat a lot when wearing your helmet, has it been dropped and so on.

I do quite a bit of work with Moto-Direct the Arai and AGV importer and distributor for the UK and they have have recently done a repair job to a 16 year old helmet still being used by the owner.

If you go to part 4 of my blog on the Motorcycle Direct website, it may answer your question got you.

http://www.motorcycledirect.co.uk/m...why-we-wear-helmets-and-how-they-are-made.php
 

Ajeman

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From an article:

So, to sum it up, here’s the long story short about the “five-year rule” when it comes to replacing a motorcycle helmet:

  • The five-year rule comes down to a very rough approximation of the amount of wear the average helmet sees in that time. But just as some riders ride once a week only on sunny mornings, and some commute hard miles every single day, the amount of wear each rider puts on his or her helmet will vary widely.
  • Helmets do wear out over time, but there is no evidence that a well-maintained, undamaged helmet will “suddenly” lose its protective ability at the five-year mark. As with anything, deterioration is gradual, and at the five year mark the consensus is that the average helmet, under average use, will likely need replacement.
  • The five-year rule applies to five years of use, not five years in existence. While a helmet will deteriorate to some degree just sitting in a warehouse, that degree is negligible and need not be counted.
  • Initial quality is a factor in how well a helmet will wear. While top-tier helmet manufacturers recommend replacing helmets at the five-year mark, a lower quality helmet may be thrashed well before that time under hard use.
  • The bottom line? The five-year rule is a general approximation on how often a helmet should be replaced, and certainly not a bad idea – but ultimately, when to replace your helmet is a judgment call on your part, and it has as much to do with the amount of wear and the level of serviceability of your helmet as it does with its age.
 

Jaws

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At a trade show I asked the good people of Shoei the question.
No hard and fast rule as there are too many factors.
I showed them mine ( 14 years old ! ) and the judgement was as long as it fits well it is still perfect.

I did replace it last year ( with another Shoei ) and providing my head does not shrink :eek: chances are it will be the last bash hat I ever buy
 

Squag1

Can't remember....
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At a trade show I asked the good people of Shoei the question.
No hard and fast rule as there are too many factors.
I showed them mine ( 14 years old ! ) and the judgement was as long as it fits well it is still perfect.

I did replace it last year ( with another Shoei ) and providing my head does not shrink :eek: chances are it will be the last bash hat I ever buy
My mother bought 3 "last cars"
Died 85 was driving around up to a week before. Not sure what mayhem she was causing around the village.
 

Pow-Lo

Make civil the mind, make savage the body.
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Depends on many factors. How much wear has it had prior to 2012, do you sweat a lot when wearing your helmet, has it been dropped and so on.

I do quite a bit of work with Moto-Direct the Arai and AGV importer and distributor for the UK and they have have recently done a repair job to a 16 year old helmet still being used by the owner.

If you go to part 4 of my blog on the Motorcycle Direct website, it may answer your question got you.

http://www.motorcycledirect.co.uk/m...why-we-wear-helmets-and-how-they-are-made.php
Thanks, Tony. I’ll check it out tomorrow (getting late here now.

Mine was only worn on about two weekends in five when the clocks are at BST. Yep, fair weather weekend rider.

I can safeLy say the lining of my current lid is in good nick. It’s not full of hair product because I don’t have any hair. I also wear a skull cap, call it what you will, to keep the grease off my head penetrating the lining.

As for dropping, I can honestly say that I’ve never dropped any of the three helmets I’ve owned. I think I might just get mine serviced by Arai instead of ponying up for a new one. Unless, of course, I really like the BMW Carbon System 7.
 

andyBeaker

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Surely the question should be 'how often do you wash your helmet?'.
 
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