Dale's Motorcycle Blog

Archive for the ‘Gear’ Category

It’s now November, which means that the new Snell M2010-standard helmets should have reached the stores.  Among them are two offereings from the premium helmet makers Arai and Shoei.  The Arai RX-Q and Shoei RF-1100 should run you between four and five bills, retail.  Motorcycle Daily has the full write-up on the new helmets.

When you buy a motorcycle helmet, you usually look for the big DOT sticker on the back, since most states with helmet laws require the helmet to be certified by the US Department of Transportation.  But of you’re really serious about trying to keep your noggin in one piece, you look for the sticker from Snell, or as its formal name is, the Snell Memorial Safety Foundation.

But, for a while now, there’s been a conflict between Snell and the DOT–and the international ECE 22-05–safety standards.  Both DOT and ECE use a variety of different dummy head sizes and weights for different helmets in promulgating their approval.  Snell on the other hand, uses the same 11-pound dummy head weight, irrespective of the size, and they’ve repeatedly said that there’s no indication that different head sizes have significantly different weights.  So, they’ve said graduated head weight standards don’t provide adequate protection to an 11-pound head.

Now, this is kind of an important argument.  You see, if you have an 8-pound head, and your helmet is designed to cushion an 11-pound head, then the helmet may be too rigid to properly protect your head.  Sure, it’s great for the melon-heads, but the pinheads might get their skull scrambled, because the lower weight of your pinhead is too small to make the cushioning give enough.  The reverse is also true.  If you’re a melon-head, then a pinhead’s helmet will be too soft to protect you, and the helmet will come apart like an old shoe, and you’ll bump your skull on the pavement.

Either way, the end result is a Bad Thing if the helmet size and your head’s weight don’t match.

Well, now, after years of argument against the DOT and ECE standard, Snell is saying, “Never mind.”  In the brand new M2010 standard, Snell has looked at actual studies of the head weights of actual dead people, and decided that DOT was right after all.  Different sized heads do have significant weight differences.

So, as of the M2010 standard, Snell has adopted pretty much the same head profiles as ECE.  In addition, Snell has also lowered the number of gravities the helmet is allowed to transmit to your skull from 300 g’s to 275 g’s.  Both moves offer greater head protection, although, unfortunately, that also means that if you’re a pinhead with a Snell M2005 sticker, you’re helmet fails the M2010 standard.  You might as well just whack your skull with a hammer right now for all the good that helmet will do you.

So, important helmet buying tip:  The new M2010-standard helmets will be hitting store shelves on October 1st, 2009. But, manufacturers can make M2005-standard helmets for another couple of years, and sell them for…ever.  So, you have to be sure that you look for the Snell M2010 sticker on the helmet if that’s what you really want.

On the bright side, this now means that a Snell-certified helmet will also meet DOT and ECE standards right across the board, no matter what size of melon you’re sporting.

Unless, of course, you’re buying a modular helmet, which, as far as I know, don’t exist in Snell-certified form.

Kawasaki is reported to be working on some high-tech additions to the Concours14/GTR-1400 for the upcoming model year.

Kawasaki HUD System

They won’t be officially unveiled until later this year.  I don’t know when.  It was supposed to be at the Paris Motorcycle show in October, but that event has been canceled.

Anyway, the new additions include an infrared night vision system, and a heads-up display for riders.

The heart of the system is a pair of infrared cameras mounted on the front of the bike. They allow the rider to “see” about 300 meters ahead of the bike, which is well beyond the viewing distance provided by the headlights. Not only will the system be able to find a heat signature before the rider is able to see it, but it will also provide an audible alarm to the rider. This will keep focus on the road rather than the gauge cluster.

Aside from the night vision the Kawasaki Engineering team is also working to design a helmet mounted heads up display. If they are successful, it could be mean riders will rarely have to look away from the road to check their speed or whatever they are monitoring at the time. The current design is mounted on the exterior of the helmet, rather than being part of it, meaning it could quickly become a popular aftermarket accessory.

It’s also supposed to have a bluetooth hookup to the helmet HUD, so there won’t be any annoying wires or whatnot.

Maybe I should reconsider an earlier post.  If you’re gonna have the heads-up display, and the infrared night vision, you might as well spring for the Batman suit after all.

I’m one of those people that needs to wear a modular (flip-up) helmet.  I have two of them, a Harley-Davidson Stealth, which is OK, and an HJC Sy-Max II, which I like a bit better for the lower wind noise.  Unfortunately, I have to wear glasses or contact lenses, and, even with my contacts, I’m kind of light-sensitive, so I need to wear sunglasses.  A full-face helmet makes that a bit difficult.

But there’s always been some controversy as to how well modular helmets poerform in a crash.  This is kind of important, since about a fifth of crashes involve the biker taking one to the chin.  I’d kind of like that bit protected,  since chicks dig guys with chins.

So, I am interested to learn that, over in the UK, SHARP is testing modular helmets for crashworthiness, and rating them.  They’ve already started putting ratings up, so you may want to amble over and see if your helmet appears, and how it did in testing.

If you are wearing a KBC FFR, or a Duchinni D601…well…you may want to go to the dealership and see how much a BMW System 5 helmet or a Caberg Trip will set you back.

I’m just saying…