I have been unfortunate enough to see a few pictures of crash victim's faces and it appeared that they all exhibited signs of injury to the face, even with a full-face helmet. Does anyone know if these are caused by shattered pieces of the lexan visor or is it caused by the front part of the helmet that covers the chin? I tried to press my face forward in my helmet to see if there was any possibility that my face would be able to touch the chin portion if enough pressure were applied and it was obvious that it would. However, compared to the injuries that one would sustain without any helmet at all the possibility of some facial lacerations is highly favorable.
Speaking with no certainty, I'm pretty sure an impact of sufficient force will push the chin bar into your jaw, mostly just breaking your jaw. I guess the lacerations would be from the faceshield shards.
Helmets are pretty hard. I threw an old used one up in the air as high as I could throw it (about 20ft), and when it came down in the street it made a sickening thunk, but did not ablate, and only had a few pock marks where it had impacted the street.
Personally, I'd rather not think about it. Like trying to hit that rock in the road with your front tire (target fixation, or lack of).
Allright, one more edit; the 'protection' is there for when I may need it, the 'comfort' of knowing it's there, and the comfort it does provide in wind protection.
In 2000, I fractured my sinuses from the helmet rotating and chin bar hitting my face right below my nose. I still have numbness in my front upper teeth and always will. I went head first into a mountain wall. Here is what was left of my 2000 GSXR750 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/dgyver/BikePics/2000GSXR750001.jpg). I would be dead if I was not wearing a helmet.
jesus man...
Ow...
wow...hard crash....
What about Flip up helmets? here in my country they are very popular, Nolan, HJC and Grex are the most popular brands. Flip up helmets are nice to use here because of the weather....so hot sometimes...
what do you think? are the safe? have seen any test?
I have a flip-up, it meets EC standard standard ECER22-05, whatever that meansso I recon it must be OK and like you say it is very convenient.
When I crashed the visor got ripped off, but I don't think it shattered. Didn't find pieces of it anywhere. We never found it and I wasn't too keen about digging around at the bottom of a 20 ft rocky ditch to retireve a $25 visor. Full face helmet and the rest of my gear did what it was supposed to. Walked away with bruises and maybe a broken toe. Still hurts but I still haven't got it checked out.
Matt
In my 2000 crash, the visor did not shatter or break. Its mounts broke. It was really scratched bad though.
I do not think that the flip-up helmets are Snell approved. I have heard of some that failed when the rider was just lifting the front. It happened to a rider buddy of mine. I would hate to see the aftermath of one in a crash.
My visor flies up on my both my helmets with a good draft (say 90 on the highway if i turn my head to look in my blind spot) i couldnt imagine what a nice wind would do to a flip up front one....
BTW, what became of the 750 after the accident??
In my 2004 crash, my helmet protected me well. My helmet is always snug. I slid 90% of the distance on my head by the looks of my helmet and the lack of damage to the rest of my body. I was unconcious.
My visor broke off at the mounts, and didn't shatter. I don't even think it cracked or broke.
I wouldn't want a flip-up helmet, just because of the safety concerns I'd have with it. Even though it would be convienent. I'll give them a few more generations before I try one out.
hey try this i did 22 years ago. get a cb450 drink about ten beer's and slam in to a parked car without a helmet. all it did was crush my right cheek and eye scoket a dr at baylor hospital used some wire's and some luck on me and did a good job. im still as dumb lookin as i was before but i never ride without my skid lid. have fun out there.
I did the end over end tumble through a ditch and into a pumpkin patch. about 60 plus feet. Helmet came out pretty good. lots of scuffs and scratches but no brakes. wear your gear.
I have a flip up, a Nolan N100. I got it because I have glasses and it's alot more comfortable than a normal full face helmet. I've had no problems with it flipping up in the wind or anything like that, since it has metal latches on both sides of the helmet that hold the chin bar shut, even the visor itself has never flipped up even when riding with it cracked open a bit.
I would stay away from the HJC Symax though, it only has one latch in the middle of the chinbar, with a fairly large plastic release. The Nolan has 2 latches, one on each side, and the releases for them seem alot sturdier and less likely to open by accident since you have to kind of slide/rotate them forward to open the chin bar. Not that a crash couldn't break the latch mechanism itself, but I think it would be harder to open by accident.
I have seen a pic of the Symax helmet after a crash, the chin bar flipped all the way around to the back of the helmet, but like I said, the latch on those looks pretty weak.
Quote from: dgyverI went head first into a mountain wall. Here is what was left of my 2000 GSXR750. I would be dead if I was not wearing a helmet.
"You can bring the mountain to Mohammed, but you can't make him brake!"
(sorry, mixed metaphor practice)
QuoteI went head first into a mountain wall. Here is what was left of my 2000 GSXR750.
Holy crap. Remind me not to do that! That doesn't look like fun at all. Glad you came out of that okay.
Quote from: Cal PriceI have a flip-up, it meets EC standard standard ECER22-05
When I was reading that guy's post a month or two back about the body armor testing regulations I got the feeling that EC standards were more stringent than DOT or SNELL. Was I right in this assumption?
Quote from: dgyverIn my 2000 crash, the visor did not shatter or break. Its mounts broke. It was really scratched bad though.
same thing with mine
Dom,
I'm not sure but I think your assertion may well be correct. Some while back one of the regulars said that there was no SNELL approved flip-up simply because they had not tested one yet.
After reading this thread I'm again thankful that I've never had an accident.
Although I have a full-face, I'm now of the opinion that it's at least one size too big for my head. My evidence comes from watching AMA races on TV. Interviews with their helmets on show their cheeks are pressed up towards their eyes.
I mention that as a lead-in. Apart from the odd MC video, the only accidents I've seen at any speed have been during racing. When a High-Side spits a rider off, they often land or slide with significant insult to the head area. Most of these guys get up and often can't see through their visors, but after they shake the gravel out of the helmets, they seem to be in good shape (face-wise).
So, I'm thinking that perhaps helmet fit has a lot to do with potential injury. My next helmet will be a lot tighter. I figure that rapid deceleration is the main cause of injury, so the tighter the helmet (and thicker the pading) the better the protection.
Roy...
Serious facial injuries are a rarity with full face helmets PROVIDED the helmet fits properly. One problem is that a lot of guys buy a helmet purely to keep from getting pulled over and fined, so any old thing that feels comfortable will do. Another problem is that people buy a hat over the net without ever trying it on. If you must order a hat online, at least have tried on that make and model for real.
For the helmet to protect it must fit properly. Unfortunately a lot of riders (and shop assistants) don't know how to fit a helmet. When you first buy it it will be tight. The padding will settle a bit and be more comfortable over time. The chin strap should be positioned so you don't feel like you're choking, but must still be firm. Once the helmet starts to feel loose (as they all will eventually) it should be turned into a garden planter.
Quote from: MichaelOnce the helmet starts to feel loose (as they all will eventually) it should be turned into a garden planter.
talk about an expensive garden planter
One way or another, a dodgy helmet will contain a vegetable of some sort. Once it's loose it does not protect as well. It may be overkill and, yes, they aren't cheap, but you only get one head.
Part of the reason for my helmet rotating was that is was too loose. Hitting the rock at around 50mph does help much either. My face was a little swollen in that pic since it was taken about 2 weeks after wrecking. Plus I broke my left collar bone from the helmet hitting.
As for the 750, it had full coverage. About the only thing that was not damaged was the seat, until they dragged it on to the roll back. If you notice how low the bike is sitting, it is on a swing arm stand. The main swingarm weld broke cleanly off.