No bother at all! I spent several years in the NZ Army TA. Quite a few of my friends back in NZ are in blue. I'm keen to head down that path myself, though now that i find myself in NL. I have the not so small task of having to learn Dutch to a complete fluency level to do that here!

If you're ever coming through NL and want a brew or a place to crash give me a yell!

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'99 R1100GS - In a suitable shade of black

It's not that life is so short, It's just that we're dead for so long....
"The world is a book, those who do not travel read only one page." ~ Saint Augustin

please keep your political views out especially when you dont have any proof of them...

Make a seperate thread if you want to discuss it and I will happily give you my opinions.

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Peter Kongsbak
South East Asia, USA, Central and South America and Scandinavia.

Peter,
I don't see any politics in those last few posts - just straight forward statements based on very wide reporting across the whole world.

However, it has gone way off the thread and this happens a lot in the HUBB - not the first time at all!

but "acceptable".

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Dave

Fair call Walkabout. Perhaps PM would have been more appropiate

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'99 R1100GS - In a suitable shade of black

It's not that life is so short, It's just that we're dead for so long....
"The world is a book, those who do not travel read only one page." ~ Saint Augustin

Peterdenmark,

I don't understand what you have a problem with? I did mention the soldiers from Denmark who are doing their bit! Everything I said it was all completely factual and has been widely reported around the world. Oh well I'm thankful of Dannish support there even if you aren't... which incidently I find surprising given the fact you live there! To date 9 brave Dannish soldiers have given their lives so that YOU and I can live in peace and post on ere... I'm NOT a bleeding heart liberal"...
Iraq Coalition Casualties
Iraq Afganistan Memorial

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Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

meanwhile, back at the topic.
I bought a nitro helmet, because it was the best fitting helmet in my local bikeshop for my wee head. I dithered about it for a few days cos it was only £50, then read a Ride magazine review of it.
Since then, I've bought 5 or 6 of them, and I replace them every 6 months or so. Always had it drummed into my head that dropping a helmet or banging it could affect the structure, and I am always knocking it into something or other when walking about.
If it was a £300 helmet, I'd probably hang on to it longer, possibly then using a less safe helmet overall.

I ride about 15000 miles a year on my FJ1200 and my xt600 ratbike, I do a lot of motorway riding, and ride whatever the weather, and the nitro helmets do me fine, other than visor misting, and thats easy fixed with some bob heath spray stuff

I concur with you regarding NITRO helmets. They appear very well made and are priced reasonably too (between £40-£150). The Rider Mag last month (December 2007) placed the Nitro N 800V in the top 10 above some costing 5 times more. It will be interesting to see how they fare in the forthcoming UK tests, I suspect they will beat many other expensive makes... Had a look at some KBC's today and they look good for the price too - £50 for a mid-range lid.

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Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

Got any pics Stew?

so probably best on the Yam tech forum!!

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Dave

not sure if this is much use to you but my riding instructor when on the discussion of helmets said when he was racing most the guys used nitro, as they binned them so often from impacts and that only the guys which huge sponsers could wear the very expensive ones. And pretty much when it came down to it they provided the same protection.
He pretty much said what was posted here buy one that is the best fit and is comfy as long as it has eu marks then it should be of a good enough standard.

A question though.... what goes into the EU standard? How good is that standard? Is the testing procedure available for public reading? How does it compare to US or NZ/AUS standards e.g. when i was working on mine sites in Aussie; work boots must have the NZ/AUS safety marks because other international marks fall short of the standards put forward in the local system (this is what the saftey training officer lead us to believe......) And seat belts from Japanese manufactured cars must be replaced to get a warrant of fitness in NZ. So there must be variances in the "height of the bar"??????????

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'99 R1100GS - In a suitable shade of black

It's not that life is so short, It's just that we're dead for so long....
"The world is a book, those who do not travel read only one page." ~ Saint Augustin

I've been down hard and fast twice. Both times the helmet was trashed but my head didn't suffer even a bump. The first time in 1964 wearing a Bell helmet. The second time was in 2002 wearing an HJC. Broken arm, knee, ribs she ran over my foot, I bounced and rolled about 70 feet before she caught up to me and nailed the left foot. Leathers were not in good shape, helmet was sorely used. Other than the slight injuries to me, no problem. Scoot was in pieces all over the highway. She was talking on a cell phone and didn't see the red light. Today, after trying out a bunch of helmets, we have Nolan flip-fronts. white. $200 each. reasonably quiet, darned comfortable, slot for the Starcom earpiece and easy to change screens. The flip fronts don't have the protection of the fullface but are sure a lot easier for us since we both wear glasses and it's easy to put the helmets on, drink a cup of coffee, etc with the flipfront.

I've just been reading this blog:

There and Back Again

which covers a short trip by Tim C into Africa.
(Great pics BTW).

In there, he remakes an important point about open face/flip front helmets.
When dealing with local people, including the local police, he can interact with them far better when they can see his mouth moving and his big smile. This helps him to get through the police checkpoints with minimal recourse to bribery.

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Dave

I have saved that blog in my favourites, thanks for pointing it out....

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Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

Nitro are cheap because they are Chinese imports. I had a f'glass Nitro and found the foam lining deteriorated quite quickly, meaning it was too slack on my head. This in itself shouldn't be a problem if you're buying with the intention of replacing your lid 2x or 3x more often and not just buying because you're too tight to buy anything else. Come on, be honest.

I found that it's biggest problem was that it fogged up far too easily, even with the vents open and was the main reason I stopped using it. The visor release mechanism is awkward and looks fragile and the vent fittings became slack quite quickly.

It's best feature was that it had a large aperture giving very good visibility but needed a strip of tape at the top of the visor when the sun was low. It was fairly quiet at speed and quite comfortable until the foam started to degrade.

I have a Nolan at the minute but I think the best helmets on a budget at present, only in my opinion of course, are HJC. I like the Nolan's but won't be buying a flip-front as most reviews state they leak badly. I'll probably replace mine with a Shoei flip-front as I also wear glasses. KBC look good value but I think the iridium visor should be last on the list of priorities in this price range.

As for the £37 lids, are these the ones that Aldi had in last year. B-Square is Aldi's own brand and while the gloves and underwear are OK, the helmets have been massively criticised by German bike mags. Motorrad said they couldn't believe they passed the minimum standards of the safety tests. Buy one by all means if you think your head is only worth £37!

I believe Arai have had a hand in developing the new safety standards that are coming which can't be a bad thing.

NO! The new UK Testing Authority is a Government Agency set up using taxpayers money. I am assured that there is no commercial involvement whatsoever. In order to remain 100% impartial this is necessary.

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Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).