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.

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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.

I just bought a Neotech. While it fits very well, it is noisy from the front vent while onmy KTM 990. My Multitech was much more quiet.

My vote is still pending on the Neotech, but I love love love the inner sun shade.

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.

Or listen to music on your ipod

Never ever tried this....

Doesn't it make you go deaf ??

All that wind noise and loud music...

Serious question..

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

You're correct Ted, listening to music while riding can be hazardous for your hearing. But depends on listening level and type of ear bud or headphones used.

Ear buds can cut wind rumble and protect from that ... but if you crank up the Tunes to be able to hear the music over road noise ... well that's where damage can occur.

Ear buds sit IN the ear canal and pretty much seal off the canal. The speaker driver ends up in close proximity to your ear drum. If you crank the volume to overcome road noise you may ... OVER TIME ... do damage to your hearing.

Some use in helmet speakers. These are less damaging as are further from ear drum. But riders with this system tend to really crank UP volume to hear the music properly ... so also result in damage.

The smart rider will insert ear plugs ... then use over the ear phones on top of that. Does it work well? No. You're hearing is safe but the sound sucks.

Not sure of the answer here ... and I'm a sound man by trade, so I should know. But I don't.

I see many riders using ear buds and tell me "oh, no problem, my hearing is fine!" Uh huh. Come back in a year and lets do a hearing test. It takes years and hours and hours and hours of loud listening to do real, irreversible damage. Once those little Scilia fibers surrounding your ear drum are disturbed, you first will lose very high frequencies. Next you'll have trouble understanding conversation in a loud bar. Next, the mid range begins to fade away and you miss a lot of what is said.

All this happens naturally over time as we age. It affects some more than others. But there is NO QUESTION that loud listening does damage if you're overexposed to loud music ... or low frequency wind rumble from riding without ear plugs. Both will make you deaf ... eventually.

The Japanese did extensive and rigorous testing on this back in the 80's during the "WalkMan" Craze. Thousands of Japanese students were losing their hearing. And guess what? In those day most used "over the ear" phones, not in ear Ear Buds like today. The Ear Buds are far more dangerous as they SEAL the ear canal (no venting) and they place speaker driver close to ear drum.

I splashed out and bought some custom moulded earplugs, with the tiny little speaker gadget thingys that send sound up a curly tube into the moulds.

Best thing I've ever done.
Knocks out most of the wind noise and [HD] engine noise, and I run the MP3 player at about third of the volume I used to.

I feel much better at the end of a long day on the road.

If your visor is down (i use full face helmet) then very little wind noise, on my last trip i mostly listen to music on my MP3 on long stretches.

I have only been riding just over a year however for work i have to have full medicals including ear tests, my hearing has always been the same level since my fist medical 10 years ago apart from slight loss in my right ear but this was because of my previous work occupation where i was exposed to high noise levels

I will carry on listening to music on long boring stretches but if my hearing was to be effected this would present itself at my next yearly medical and then i would know why

A good helmet does make a difference. Also, if no shield on the bike ... that's usually quieter with less buffeting too.

If you listen at LOW levels ... you'll not do too much damage ... but I find that hard to do. Also, road speed makes a BIG difference. If you can keep it under 60 mph on a calm day ... you shouldn't get too much wind noise ... so listening level can be fairly low.

Hearing loss is very devious: Sneaky, slow and subtle ... until it's not and then one year you're tests show you're not hearing high freq's anymore!!! or lost 50% of them.

Once that happens ... lose the music because next up will be mid range freq's ... which most affect understanding of speech.

Lose the mid range and you're an instant Deaf Fookin Geezer everybody just assumes is retarded or has had a stroke. Not a nice place to be boys. Save your Ears!

(semi deaf sound guy talking here ... way too many gun battles on set) :confused1: :confused1: Huh? Was 'dat?

I ride a KTM with arrow pipes. What more music than that do I need?

Granted a few hours at 140 kmh plus without earplugs and my ears are ringing, but more from the wind noise.