Hi all,

Something important that I haven´t really considered before is what helmet to buy! I have a limited budget but happy to pay for something decent. Right now I am in Chile and will travel with a Tornado 250XR, mostly dirt. What sort of helmet would be best for this? So far looking at Cabergs, as they seem to be a reliable international brand. Also, assuming you buy a decent brand, is safety reflected in the price, or are they all made to a required legal standard, and so one is mainly paying for bells and whistles? I know this could be rather subjective, but any opinions would be great.

Cheers,
rtw

The best kind of helmet is the one you are always willing to wear.
Go to the local shop, try on a whole bunch, and get the one that seems most comfortable, and that you will never be tempted to not wear.

I've tried a lot of helmets, and I always gravitate towards HJC because they fit my noggin very well, have decent ventilation, and are quite affordably priced.

__________________
Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

What he said!!
With the exception of I gravitate toward Schuberth C3Pro, and a Shoei Neotec.

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Submariner
Life Member DAV
BMW MOA member
BMW Riders of Oklahoma

Flip front

Shuberth C3 pro with blue tooth connectable to radio, telephone and GPS

Full face

UVEX carbon enduro, as light as a feather and very comfortable

I can really recommend that you try out an X-lite X-551....

I've tried most of the popular adventure helmets and I rate this up with my Arai X-cross. Better if you consider the sun-shield which is FANTASTIC.

Great value, nice peak, pin-lock insert, flip down sun visor....

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

X-Lites are great helmets! Not sure they are for sale anywhere in S. America? :confused1:

For me, for travel, I prefer a flip-up style helmet. I'm a total convert to this style ... but not all are equal in terms of true safety.

Caberg make a pretty good one from what I've seen/read. Most will depend what is available in Chile ... and prices there are currently outrageous for most imports.

The Flip up is useful when on the road, let's people see you and hear you and allows clear communication when doing business at stops. Saves removing your helmet 50 times a day .... which gets old for me. I don't need a dirt bike helmet and inner visors just turn to Shite after a few months of use ... not scratch resistent .. I never use the one on my Newish HJC. Very poor optics, although the main shield is good.

I've had Nolans, HJC and Shoei, all Flip Up style ... my favorite is my old Shoei Multi-tec (superceded now by the Neo-Tec, even better) The Shoei is very expensive but not much comes close. $$$$

HJC are very good value and work well. I have their top of the line Flip UP. Good in heat, but not as comfy or as quiet as my Shoei. But a HUGE $300 USD price difference. For your fly and ride trip, I'd not spend too much on a helmet unless you plan to carry it home.

After 1000,s & 1000,s of K's it dawned on me, I really needed a lid with a peak and visor, started looking through a few shops while on tour, they were hard to find not to mention expensive! By chance in Tucson I stumbled across a BILT Explorer Adventure Helmet, its light, comfortable, has a tinted drop down sunshield, it's not the worst or the best helmet I've ever owned but for $99 on sale, I bought it, hit the road, after a day I gave the old lid away, zero complaints

http://www.cyclegear.com/CycleGear/T...3199_200897_21

Or go for the Discovery Adventure on sale for $69.99

http://www.cyclegear.com/CycleGear/T...43193_59409_21

A peak style helmet is nice riding into Sun, but on my flip ups I simply put a strip of elec. tape across the top of my visor. Works well most of the time, except when Sun is very very low in the sky, in which case a peak won't work either. Also, dirt bike/hybrids are quite noisy compared to flip ups. On long days ... quiet is important to me. So ear plugs a must ... but if your helmet is quiet to start, means less fatigue at end of day.

Since you were touring in my country, I'll assume you're not familiar with Cycle Gear, it's history or Cycle Gear's In-House Bilt and Sedici brands?

In general the news about Cycle Gear is not good. Cycle Gear source the cheapest of the cheap Chinese gear. It truly is a question of "...you get what you pay for". Old cliche, yes, but in this case somewhat relevant .... as it's your HEAD that is at stake.

Many many Chinese made helmets these days ... quality varies widely. Some OK, some crap. Unlike Australia, USA doesn't extract import duties for imports. (or very little) In Oz you lot wisely collect duties. If the USA did ... we might have things like teachers paid a living wage and roads that weren't in serious disrepair. Result is I'm guessing even Chinese crap helmets are expensive in Oz? Dunno?

I've tested BILT gear and (generally) its some of the worst gear I've seen in 20 years. Only held and tried on their helmets, never rode in them. On the surface, they're just barely OK. (compared to more expensive brands)

With the other gear (jackets, pants, gloves, boots) mostly fall apart in 2 to 3 months of daily use. Will the helmets be any better? I wonder how much the Chinese pay to get the CE license?

In USA it's mostly NOVICE riders who shop at Cycle Gear. Experienced riders know better ... and will only buy certain things there. (not In House brands created by Cycle Gear, cutting every corner along the way).

I'm really a cheap bastard ... but with helmets I'm willing to spend a few bucks more. I've also spent the day at the SNELL foundation helmet testing center (Sacramento, CA) where I watched and documented helmet testing procedures for an entire day. Learned a lot about helmet construction, materials and durability.

Two major Japanese companies take helmets very seriously and do their own very rigorous testing .... and have done for 30 years: Shoei and Arai. I'm guessing they've learned a thing or two over the decades ... and I doubt they're sharing any of these secrets with the Chinese or Koreans. They have their own proprietary testing procedures ... and don't share these either, not even with the guys from SNELL foundation.

HJC (Korea) are the largest helmet maker in the world. About 80% of their product are really cheap helmets. SNELL guys said that early on HJC products were terrible ... but since about 2000, HJC have made significant improvement, rising to nearly the quality and technology of Shoei and Arai.
(among their more high end models)

The SNELL guys have visited ALL major factories ... including in China. They go every year on factory tours. They know more about helmets than anyone except perhaps Shoei and Arai, who, IMO, are the helmet masters.

But money is money ... so buy what you can afford and ... good luck! As you probably witnessed riding in the USA, about 25 of our states have NO hemet laws ... and many many riders ride SANS helmet.


One of about 6 tests helmets go through at SNELL.

I like you have long pockets and short arms. Most on here are brand savvy and have more that a fair idea of what constitutes as good gear or have the foresight to do the research on a given item/s. The BILT is DOT approved, IMHO I think it's a great budget lid and at Cycle Gear I got good service and great value for money. It's also light years ahead of the innumerable lidless, totally blinded by their rights to buy or wear a lid. No great loss if and when it all gets outa shape and lets face it, why spend a motza on gear when life expectancy is limited by an astounding lack of common sense.

Hi, as a newbie here and with limited touring experience I would not want to agree/disagree with the practicalities of a lid when touring. This is something I will be finding out for myself over the next few years.
I did once speak with a retired helmet supplier to Hein Gericke (Motorcycle accessory shop no longer in business) and he told me something that I’ve always remembered.
1) When buying a helmet always try it on first. Never buy without trying it on. Different lids for different head shapes. I personally find Arai, Shoei and HJC lids fit me but AGV and Schuberth are uncomfortable.
2) Aside from race replica’s and fancy paint schemes you pay for what you get. A lot of expense in a lid is in research and development.
3) Never ever buy cheap (Aldi/Lidl/Chinese etc.) They are cheap for a reason. When did you ever see professional motorbike riders using cheap helmets…they want the best available for their head for those high speed/high impact crashes
4) Always try and buy a helmet with a D ring fastening system and not a buckle system. D rings are less likely to fail than a buckle system (His own words were physics over function)

Ride safe!!!!!

I've tried various helmets over the years and prefer Adventure style )off road with a visor) to all else- just personnel preference.

But...

Also tried varies 'price-categories' and after having settled on an Arai, I now understand why it's more expensive. Normally I replaced my hoods 12-18 months because the padding starts collapsing, various bits are breaking, the seals around the visor aren't working so well anymore etc.

My Arai is now going on 3 years and everything still works on it and it still fits as snug as the 1st time I got it. Personally I'm sold.

Other budget lids you can look at:

• Acerbis
• Airoh

IMO: avoid BMW- overpriced and they're not worth the extra money.

As for price vs. quality- in Australia we're only allowed to use 'Aus/NZ approved' helmets (which is a ridiculous sticker on the back that add $400 to a good hood). Even $150 hoods display this sticker, which means they conform to the minimum safety standards. However, some very expensive helmets don't have these stickers and therefor by law does not conform. You can still cop a nice fine from an unfriendly copper even though you spent a a k or more to protect your nuggin.

So- I agree you get what you pay for, but also check your country's minimum legal requirements before spending the money.

__________________
Squily

Me too ... I hit an Armco barrier then took a flyer over the rail and off a cliff ... free fell 200 ft., (66 meters) landed on my head in a rocky creek bed. Mild concussion. My $700 Arai saved my life, no question. (but LOTS of other body damage) ... but my head was ... more or less ... OK ... although I did forget how to speak Spanish for a year!) 2 year recovery.
My conclusion? Good helmets matter.

The USA has the DOT (dept. of transportation) and ALL helmets must have DOT approval. Fairly low standard. Shoei and Arai (and many other high end helmets)also have SNELL approval sticker ... which is USA only standard that is similar to the British Standards specs and MUCH better than DOT or EU CE approval which is "pay and get rubber stamp: CE APPROVED".

But much has changed lately on what is "best" in a helmet. Recent crash test have turned upside down all previous Data and SNELL for one, have totally changed their standards and testing procedures. Turns out Arai and Shoei were too stiff, not compliant enough and some cheap Chinese helmets actually performed better in certain types of tests. But don't give up your Shoei or Arai just yet. There is LOTS MORE to all this.

If you are riding a lot of gravel, a peaked helmet. One with a visor helps if you ride tar as well. Don't get a dark tint or you will see nothing at night.

Whatever brand fits your head. I have a square head so asian helmets don't fit my coconut. They pinch my cheeks or my head, depending on size. That rules out shoei and arai. The uvex enduro fits me well. It is relatively cheap for a quality helmet. The peak is a bit flimsy. I also have a nolan x551. Great helmet but can mist up. For road riding I have a schuberth full face. Quietest helmet but unlike the peaked ones, the visor will drop down at over 80 kmh. So it is terrible for gravel.

Peaks are great for sunshine.. However, they are noisy. You deffo need earplugs if you haven't got a big screen.

Everyone should wear earplugs anyway...

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

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