Cheap vs Expensive helmets and your preferred bike style?

ttaskmaster · 24 Jul 2015 at 14:54

NoNameNoNumber said:
What's the consensus on us lowly 125 riders?

Firstly, you're not lowly.
Secondly, my 125 would legally do 74mph, which I did all the way down to Cornwall and back. Tell me again about this "only"...?

Thirdly, a friend of mine lost his leg in a 125 bike crash - He was only going 15mph. What do you think would have happened if he was "only on a 125" doing 70?

^JP^ · 24 Jul 2015 at 15:03

^ This, I lost a friend at 17, was going under 20mph, police classed it as a "low speed collision", car pulled out on him at a junction.
He would have been fine but his helmet came off as he went over the car and his head hit the kerb, he died two days later in hospital

All the gear, all the time and make sure it fits!

wazza300 · 24 Jul 2015 at 15:28

I hit a bollard kerb due to wearing a dark visor,went skidding down the road on my back,clear visor from now on

Plus the coppers have an excuse to pull you

tom_e · 24 Jul 2015 at 15:35

I'm much happier now my liq has a flip down sun visor, it's nicer to be able to instantly react to a change in light and also I got caught out without a clear visor on me as I hadn't planned to be riding late and had to ride from Wellington to Wolves with my visor up as I could see sod all with it down.
That was highly unpleasant.

IC3 · 24 Jul 2015 at 15:36

wazza300 said:
I hit a bollard kerb due to wearing a dark visor,went skidding down the road on my back,clear visor from now on

Plus the coppers have an excuse to pull you

At what time of the day was this? I don't wear the mirrored visor when its dark outside, mostly when the sun is out. I don't ride at night as even with a clear visor its still dangerous, bike is not a car...

BTW Its been raining all day today, it pretty heavy rain... I hope it'll not rain tomorrow, as I use the bike to commute to work.

Edit

Oh and yeah I carry my clear visor with me, I always have rucksack with me for longer rides. Only my phone and wallet fits into my textile jacket...

wazza300 · 24 Jul 2015 at 15:44

At night it wasthe road opened up to two lanes then back to a single and I'd forgot there was a kerb there,my own fault but you get lazy when you have a dark visor I didn't carry a clear one either,copper pulled me once with it aswell and that was in the day

I only bought it cos it looked cool,but now I'll stick to clear who cares what it lookslike

IC3 · 24 Jul 2015 at 15:59

wazza300 said:
At night it wasthe road opened up to two lanes then back to a single and I'd forgot there was a kerb there,my own fault but you get lazy when you have a dark visor I didn't carry a clear one either,copper pulled me once with it aswell and that was in the day

I only bought it cos it looked cool,but now I'll stick to clear who cares what it lookslike

But during sunny days there's nothing better than mirrored visor, its so much better than the inbuilt sun glasses.

wazza300 · 24 Jul 2015 at 16:04

They are nice,but you soon get used to a clear visor,if I was a sunglasses wearer I'd buy a pair of those

ttaskmaster · 24 Jul 2015 at 16:50

I have to have a flip-down sunvisor, as I wear glasses to ride - Best thing ever, IMO!

ShakenNstirred · 24 Jul 2015 at 16:56

look at the safety ratings over price
just because it my cost a lot doesn't mean it will be safer
there are some surprising big names that some of there helmets cant beat a helmet costing £50.
back in the 70/80 and 90s cheap really did mean cheap and nasty.
its gotten a lot better now

NoNameNoNumber · 24 Jul 2015 at 17:06

My lid fits wonderfully at £70, I did try on some £400+ helmets just because (with no intention of spending that much) But It's clear to see where the corners are cut on mine... Yeah it meets the specs but wind noise is fairly horrific.

hughtrimble · 24 Jul 2015 at 17:12

Preface: I am not a biker.

Around London I've seen more and more bikers wearing helmets with Go-Pro type devices attached to their helmets. I can't help thinking that that will prove incredibly nasty in an accident, say if the mount or camera causes your helmet to snag or not enable you to slide along the road if you come off.

Are these specialist helmets that mean the mount will not affect the integrity of the helmet, or indeed use mount that breaks away without affecting how the helmet will behave on impact? Or are they just going to cause more issues than the camera footage will resolve?

wazza300 · 24 Jul 2015 at 17:16

Wasn't it a helmet cam that added to Schumacher's injuries? They said it weakened the helmet

ttaskmaster · 24 Jul 2015 at 17:48

hughtrimble said:
I can't help thinking that that will prove incredibly nasty in an accident, say if the mount or camera causes your helmet to snag or not enable you to slide along the road if you come off.

Depends how it's mounted.
Some are suckered on or have harnesses, both of which certainly look like they'd break off if you nutted the floor.

NoNameNoNumber said:
But It's clear to see where the corners are cut on mine... Yeah it meets the specs but wind noise is fairly horrific.

That's mainly why I now want a Shoei!!
Having worn the very 'adequate' Cabergs for so long, the difference is starker than Ned!

andi · 24 Jul 2015 at 22:08

IC3 said:
Not a lot of people think that my 125 is actually an 125, most of the time people think its the 390. I lost the front L plate as it had a DIY mounting , police don't seem to care. I had a chat with a policeman during the meetup as it came out that he also rides, he didn't even say anything about my mirrored visor.

Get a new one then. Just because one cop didn't say anything doesn't mean others won't. Driving otherwise in accordance with your licence carries 3 points, a £100 fine, and your bike can be seized under s165 RTA, meaning it'll cost you an additional £150 recovery fee, and £10 a day storage.

How much is an L plate again?

Craig321 · 24 Jul 2015 at 22:16

IC3 said:
Not a lot of people think that my 125 is actually an 125, most of the time people think its the 390. I lost the front L plate as it had a DIY mounting , police don't seem to care. I had a chat with a policeman during the meetup as it came out that he also rides, he didn't even say anything about my mirrored visor.

L plate is a bit of a silly one to risk getting pulled on. Loud exhausts and 'track' visors have always been absolutely fine (passable, talk your way out of it, etc.), but if you get pulled up on an L plate there's no getting round it really.

Edit: oh, scrap that. Don't think you need a front L plate. I never had one and iirc it's only law to have on the back on a bike.

Edit: scrap that as well. You need them on the front and back. I must have been lucky to have never been pulled lol

. I just assumed at the time that the one they put on the back from the shop was all i needed.

IC3 · 24 Jul 2015 at 22:33

The front L plate is already back on, it was only on Friday that I didn't have it. I'm not risking 6 points for my car license to be taken off from me...

My exhaust is loud, but compared to other after market exhausts it seems sensible. I carry clear visor with me, so I can talk my way out of it and can always insert the baffle back in. But when I do insert it back in, it sounds like stock...

Tefal · 25 Jul 2015 at 00:39

arfoll said:
It makes me sad that people are so riled up when others don't proper gear and then are proud of their use of mirrored/iridium visors (I hope you at least carry a clear spare?)... Sorry but whichever way you look at it that impairs your vision, which literally makes you more prone to crashing. Not wearing good gear at least only harms you (more) - if - you get into an accident.

I think both are pretty silly tbh, legal or not.

they're legal in all of Europe where they're considered a "safety feature" because they reduce glare.

internal flip down ones are ok but they usualy arnt optically correct.