Quiet helmets

Verdigris wrote

This I can vouch for wiv me own two battered ears.

How you manage to stay asleep through that racket amazed me completely.

 

Yes, we're foreign, we do things backwards here.

 

Define "quiet". With references and across-the-board measured,
repeatable results.

You can't? Well, there goes your case, then.

Try a German helmet. Probably the only country in the world (to my
knowledge) that does perform (TUV?) scientifically valid tests on
measured noise inside helmets - and provides a figure to the customer.
That's all we need (awaiting P. Varnsverry Esq.) - a baseline to which
all helmets can be compared. A standard test as part of the E mark,
applied to all lids.

As Eiron suggests, a standard dummy head fitted with a pair of mics in
the ear area, in a wind tunnel. Fit a lid to the head, measure volume
at 100 kph (or whatever) and attach a tag to the lid with a figure in
dB(A).

However - as everyone else has observed - this fails to take account
of the particular bike/rider/position/luggage/screen and a thousand
other variables - but it is at least a baseline.

Well know that there are various methods to quiet a lid - make sure
the visor is adjusted as well as poss; fit a chin curtain; wear a neck
roll/tube; wear earplugs (of which there is an infinite variety, some
better at high frequencies, other at low: some better when new, others
after a few uses); block or adjust vents; change attitude of rider's
head on the bike; wear a rucksack instead of using a tankbag; fit a
double bubble screen ... etc etc.

Yes, there are noisy lids - and there are quiet lids. The most
expensive are not necessarily quieter either - Arai RX7, is it? Champ
has one, anyway, and it is infamous for its banshee shrieks. Lids in
general are much quieter now than they were. Most manufacturers have
gone over to flush-mounted visors and subtle vents, which helps a lot.

Your best bet is still to get a pair of custom plugs, if it worries
you that much - and wear the fuckers.

 

Oh, I quite agree. They have let me off more times than I can count.

 

Yes.Dunno.August 6th.

There will be plenty of good beer around.

 

There are a couple shops there that will do it too.

 

They make you take your helmet off. If they saw the sponge roll up kind
you got a summons. They mainly did this if you had an attitude problem.

 

****

Air mattress.

 

Bear says...

You'd have top prove the fuckwit salesman said it was quiet in the
first place, which no shop manager worth his salt would believe he did.

My attitude to anyone who asks for a quiet lid would be firstly to
advise they wear earplugs. If they won't do that then I'd suggest they
buy a car if excessive noise while riding a bike is a factor.

 

I'm seriously considering standing - well, leaning slightly - for
election next time, on the "Bandit 1200s for all" ticket.

 

<throws ?20 into deposit pot>

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, petrolcan amazed us all with this pearl of
wisdom:

Yeah, I'd do that for a laugh.

 

A man after my own heart.

 

He's got my vote.

I'll throw in another £20 and will deliver leaflets for you, dear.

 

I've just done a search for my old HJC Sy-Max and I've read several
reviews stating it's the quietest helmet that they've ever used,
however, IME, it's the most noisy helmet I've ever used compared to
OGK The Gayest Looking Helmet Ever that I now use.

 

Steve, I was referring to testing each individual helmet after each
and every test ride.

Yes. One can see if the tyres are shit, and the brakes can be tested
to see if they work at low speeds - while they're not definitive
tests, at least they can be detected quite quickly, whereas a damaged
helmet may not be so obvious.

Cost of ultrasound scanner in every helmet shop in the country to test
each and every helmet after every test ride?

 

Prolly not, I mean I've just gone past the object in question. Ok, if
I'd past a junction I would, but in general, nope.

 

Woot.

I can see a bandwagon building here ...

 

Bear says...

With regard to motorcycle gear, the only items that can be considered
"safety gear" are those that are CE marked or helmets. Your Diadora
boots weren't CE marked and I would have accepted those back because
they truly were shite. Tbh, I wouldn't have sold them to you in the
firt place, in much the same way as I refused to point customers
towards AGV[1] helmets when I was at HG.

There's the rub, those who ask about quiet helmets are usually those
that want to wear them without earplugs. If they won't help themselves,
then I'm not prepared to help them. I can only advise them to wear
plugs whatever helmet they buy. If they can't be bothered then they
deserve deafness.

[1] I sent a whole batch of 24 AGV Ti-Techs back to the importers
because they were so badly made and refused to sell them to anyone.
When I ran the Harrow shop I sold only one Ti-Tech, and that was to a
bloke who picked it from the shelf and then dropped it square on the
floor causing visible damage. HG Harrow had a sign saying that
assistance must be sought before touching helmets otherwise damage must
be paid for. He was fine about it and paid up.

 

But you also don't know how many times a helmet has been tried on in
the shop, banged down onto the shelft, thrown around the stock room,
etc.