Quiet helmets

Lozzo scribbled on the back of a napkin:

.... in the UK.

Strangely enough, if the German biking NG is anything to go by, this is
standard practice over there.

 

Will those variables affect the *relative* noise of different helmets?

 

Eiron wrote

Yes. The noise is a direct result of all that chaos going on in the air
going round it. The chaos is affected by all the above and more.

If your implication is that there are a general set of tests that can be
applied then yes there are but in themselves they are unlikely to be
useful except as a general guide to real world situations. Computer
modelling could help. The race teams would have a lot of data they
could spin off for civilian uses and maybe profit.

 

steve auvache says...

Do you get to test tyres to see if they are any good in the wet?

Same difference

 

That's why I said it was "irrelevant", not undetectable. I also said
"I'm not saying you won't be able to tell the difference between a noisy
lid & a quiet one, just that even the noisiest will still be so quiet
it won't be an issue."

If *any* wind noise is an issue for you, then yes, helmet design may be
relevant. But asking other people for opinions won't help unless
they're the same height & ride the same bike. A helmet that's deathly
silent for a 5'8" rider on a big trailie may be the noisiest around for
a 5'8" rider on a sportsbike due to the different angle of attack.
Likewise different height riders on the same bike put the helmet in a
different type of airflow.

 

dwb scribbled on the back of a napkin:

Actually the S1 also seems to be somewhat bigger than other helmets of
the same size. I've also got an Nolan/X-lite flip up and the two are
roughly the same size.

 

Lozzo wrote

No I don't but now you have brought it to my attention...

Not in quite the same way. I can take a bike out and test ride it. I
can also take another similar bike out with different tyres and be able
to do the test that way but there is no test riding allowed at all for
helmets.

 

steve auvache says...

And rightly so imo. Some people like 020s in the wet, others say
they're shite. It's all down to personal preference and to have a
collection of helmets in all models and all sizes just for you to test
is prohibitively expensive.

 

Which brings us back to the answer that you don't need to if you use
the right ear plugs. I see a pattern developing here...

 

The chaos seems to be in your head.
If helmet A tests quieter than helmet B in a wind tunnel
then A will be quieter than B on your bike with your riding style.

The fact that A on a Harley with drag pipes is noisier than
B on a fully faired 'wing is not relevant.

 

Lozzo wrote

Personal preference is getting very close to hitting the nail on the
head. Different helmets will perform differently under different
conditions and so will the same helmet. Something as simple as my
putting a tank bag on the bike changes the sound of the wind from that
area. In a similar way changing my helmet has changed the noise I get
now. Had I have known beforehand how the extra noise from my newly
acquired helmet would affect my riding pleasure I wouldn't necessarily
have bought it.

Isn't it just? Even more expensive is a blanket "test rides over my
dead body" though.

 

Eiron wrote

It would be a start.

 

Bollox. A may be quieter than B when sitting upright on a tourer, but
louder when sitting prone on a sportsbike. A may be quieter than B for
a 5'8" rider sitting below the airflow over the screen, but louder for
a 6'2" rider sitting in the airflow.

 

steve auvache says...

Wear ear plugs.

 

Lozzo wrote

Ear plugs? Don't get me fucking started on earplugs.


I'm with Verdi on this one.

 

steve auvache says...

Well as you bought a flip-front purely because you're too lazy to take
your specs off before putting your lid on, I wouldn't expect you to
spend time putting ear plugs in as well.

Have you ever considered getting someone else to ride your bike for you
when you can't be arsed?

 

Lozzo wrote

I wear ear plugs, on longer journeys, I don't have issues with it.

No, my complaint about earplugs is about how, along with the wind noise,
they stop all the sweetness from the can but somehow amplify top end
rattles by a factor of ten. Surely a problem not beyond the abilities
of technology to solve?

No but if ever I can afford staff I probably will.

 

*chortle*

 

Talk to Elly about Cornwall.

 

We have a black man [1][2] who is a reporter here for one of the local
TV stations. He was doing a live feed about some new chocolate place
that opened. He said he was eminently qualified to do this bit as he was
a chocolate man. The people in the studio did not know what to do. I
thought they were going to have some kind of apoplectic fit. I almost
fell out of my chair I was laughing so much.

[1] They refer to themselves as black but all the PCs call them african
american.
[2] Way cool guy.