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When I came back to motorcycling, I was serious about getting a properly fitted helmet. I had been away from riding for a long time and needed help, so I thought my best option was to go to one of the most reputable motorcycle dealers in my area.<\/p>\n
During the motorcycle show, the dealer had a \u201c25 per cent off everything\u201d sale. Although I had not purchased a motorcycle and wouldn\u2019t need the gear for months, the dealer\u2019s salesperson agreed to let me buy everything I needed at the \u201cshow\u201d price and me pick it up in a couple of months. We went through all of the gear, carefully fitting each piece as we went. The last item was the helmet. I told the salesperson my head size \u2013 I had been measured by a certified Arai representative at the motorcycle show \u2013 and the salesperson proceeded to find a brand and size that would fit the size and shape of my head. She tugged and twisted, pulled and pushed, then recommended the selected helmet. It was a large. <\/p>\n
Two months later, I went into the store to pick up my gear and met a new salesperson. I tried on the same model of helmet again. He also tugged and twisted, pulled and pushed, then recommended I try on the medium. After his fitting regimen, he told me that medium was my proper size. I don\u2019t remember what he said that made me lose my trust in him, but something did. I left without a buying a helmet, and later I called the store manager. I told him I was having a problem getting consistent advice from his staff and asked if they had a helmet-fitting specialist. They did, and an appointment was made for me to meet Tom (not his real name).<\/p>\n
When I met Tom, he told me that he had fit helmets for several Moto GP racers. \u201cCool,\u201d I thought. \u201cI got the right guy.\u201d <\/p>\n
I donned the previously recommended, size medium helmet. After tugging and twisting and pulling and pushing, Tom told me I needed a size small. I put on the small and wore it for about 20 minutes. There were a couple of sore spots on each side of my head, which I told Tom about. \u201cYou do realize what\u2019s causing those sore spots? It\u2019s just Styrofoam,\u201d he said as he gently kneaded the Styrofoam from the package lying on the counter. I missed what he was hinting at completely. <\/p>\n
I took a break and walked around the store for a while, then tried again. As before, it didn\u2019t take long for the helmet to hurt. I brought this to Tom\u2019s attention. We discussed it until, more gently than I likely deserved, he coached, \u201cYou can listen to an expert, or you can do what you want to do. It\u2019s your choice.\u201d Tough love, I guess. I listened to Tom and bought the small.<\/p>\n
Then the Light Turned On<\/strong><\/p>\n I do not recommend you do this. I\u2019m sure helmet manufacturers will not recommend you do this. Tom didn\u2019t overtly recommend I do this, although I think that\u2019s what he hinted at. My suggestion? Find your own Tom and take his or her advice. Disclaimer: I am not an expert.<\/p>\n If you have the right-shaped helmet and you get sore spots, moving up once size is often recommended. Really? My helmet fit 95 per cent of the contour of my head and needed fine-tuning for the remaining 5 per cent \u2013 the sore spots \u2013 to fit. If I had bought one size up, it would have fit the contour of my head at the sore spots (5 per cent of my head) and been slightly too big for the remaining 95 per cent. Buying a helmet with a good contour fit for 95 per cent of my head made more sense to me. <\/p>\n An Australian study found that \u201c\u2026the motorcyclist\u2019s impression of fit is not a strong indicator of helmet stability [in a crash].\u201d This study also found that \u201cthe size of the in-use motorcycle helmets did not correspond well to the predicted size based on head dimensions, although motorcyclists were generally satisfied with comfort and fit.\u201d <\/p>\n And this bit is concerning: the average amount of force needed to displace a helmet was quite low, at 25 newtons. One newton is the force needed to carry about 100 grams. Twenty-five times that is about the force needed carry the average weight of a modular helmet times 1.5 (i.e., 1.5 X the weight of the modular helmet). Translated, this means the amount of force needed to displace a helmet isn\u2019t much \u2013 especially when you consider the forces involved in a serious crash.<\/p>\n A report called Testing Positional Stability of Motorcycle Helmets specifically discusses these issues and states that motorcyclists will often accept a size too big for them in order to avoid getting sore spots. If I had not heeded Tom\u2019s advice, I would have done just that. But, maybe I shouldn\u2019t have kneaded the sore spots out of my helmet. Maybe I should have looked for another helmet instead. I tried many and I settled on the one that was the closest fit, based on my head shape and size. All the others I tried were much worse. The report concluded: \u201cIrregularities of shapes of the human head are numerous and a few motorcyclists will have difficulty in acquiring \u2018best fit\u2019 without some problem of contour match.\u201d And, the report continued, the most important factor in a properly fitting helmet (one that won\u2019t roll off) is the \u201cmatch between the exterior of the motorcyclist\u2019s head and the interior contour of the helmet.\u201d With a little bit of kneading, I believe I got the best contour fit possible. <\/p>\n Have You Tested Your Helmet Recently?<\/strong><\/p>\n I believe that fine-tuning my helmet \u2013 kneading the interior foam where the sore spots were \u2013 was necessary to fit it to my head\u2019s shape. But my path wasn\u2019t an easy one. If you consider what I went through, I almost didn\u2019t stand a chance. Giving in too early and listening to the first salesperson or the second salesperson \u2013 or not listening to the third one because he was suggesting a helmet that hurt \u2013 would have been far easier. And I would have ended up with a helmet that might come off in a crash. <\/p>\n I\u2019m glad I took the time and patience to find Tom and to listen to him. I\u2019m glad the coin finally dropped and I figured out what Tom couldn\u2019t tell me, but what all the experts probably know and do anyway. And I\u2019m glad that I learned that although salespeople may have good intentions, good intentions aren\u2019t good enough for the most important piece of protective equipment a motorcyclist has. I drove 110 km to get Tom\u2019s advice, and I\u2019m glad I did. <\/p>\n I don\u2019t know why my friend\u2019s helmet came off. We\u2019ll probably never know. I do know I could have been the one in the accident. When I set out to buy a helmet, the odds seemed to be stacked against me. Buying a poorly fitting helmet seemed to be far easier than buying one that fit. Looking back, I\u2019ve learned that the only way to tilt the odds in my favour is to take responsibility and stay the course until I am absolutely certain I have a proper-fitting helmet. <\/p>\n And what do you call that? Caveat emptor. It\u2019s my head, after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not all helmets are created equal and you may have to dig deep to find the proper sizing advice It was June, sunny and 22 C. The midafternoon breeze gently nudged the pillowy white clouds decorating the sky. The leaves wiggled. The birds warbled. The traffic was light. And the riding was perfect. While cruising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1873,373],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/HELMET-ILLUSTRN-J-LEWIS-1-389x500.jpg\")
When I tried on my new helmet at home, I still had sore spots. I was frustrated. Had I been pressured into buying the wrong size? Then I remembered what Tom had said: \u201cYou do realize what\u2019s causing those sore spots? It\u2019s just Styrofoam.\u201d I got an idea. Since the bulk of my helmet was matte black, I got out the flour. I wore my helmet until I felt the sore spots, then dipped my fingers into the flour and touched the outside of the helmet where the sore spots were so I could find the corresponding spots on the inside liner after I took off the helmet. There were two spots on both sides about the size of a dime where the problems were. I gently kneaded the helmet\u2019s interior foam \u2013several times \u2013 until my helmet fit the contour of my head. My helmet has fit comfortably ever since. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/HELMET-ILLUSTRN-J-LEWIS-3-500x332.jpg\")
I ride on 0 C days. I ride on 42 C days. And I ride in everything in between, including earth-scorching sun, rain, fog and sleet. My helmet takes a beating. Yet, whatever I put it through, when I need it, it has to perform at 100 per cent. To ensure my helmet\u2019s efficacy, every year when I don my helmet for a new riding season, I ask the same questions and put it through the same fitting tests I learned from Tom. Has it gotten old? (More than five years old?) Has it gotten loose? Do I need a new liner? Do I need new cheek pads? Is the helmet still a perfect fit? Then I take the actions I need to take to make sure the helmet is up to the job for another season. During an accident is not the time I want to find out that my helmet no longer fits well.<\/p>\n