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I've been looking around, and these helmets can get pretty steep. What do you think is a good price for a helmet? Keep in mind, my dad's not a doctor and my mom's not a lawyer; money doesn't grow on the trees in our yard, if you know what I mean. I've seen some of the prices for those Arai helmets and I'm not willing to spend anywhere near that much for a helmet. But I'm not going to go out there and buy the cheapest one I can find because I don't want to spend much, my safety comes first. If spending an extra $100 on a helmet is going to keep my face arranged the way it is, then I'm willing to front that rather than hundreds more on medical bills. All help is appreciated.

I always say buy the best helmet you can afford. Pretty much all full face helmets have the same amount of protection as they have to meet a minimum safety standard, but the extra $$ pays for comfort, silence and style.
Just make sure it is a nice fit. A $1000 helmet will still be as uncomfortable as a $100 helmet on the wrong shaped head.

By the way, I forgot to mention this earlier: I am going to buy a full-face helmet.

HJC BABY! HJC! They have some helmets at newenough.com starting from $69, thats the one I bought. Ain't bad at all. Think of helmets as over the counter drugs. You have your name brands such as Tylenol, Advil (shoei, arai), then you have your generic pain killers. What's the difference? Well, the name brands have nicer designs. Do they have the same affect? Well, yea.

Independent safety tests have shown no correlation between helmet price and safety. Motorcyclist mag. recently did a test and a $100 plain-jane Fulmer got the highest marks. I'm not saying the pricey helmets aren't good helmets - just that in my opinion you are paying for graphics, paint and comfort features like venting and maybe a higher quality face shield - not sure about that last part. If that stuff is more important to you than price - go for it. Anyway, you need not break the bank to get a good helmet. Personally, I'd feel like an idiot paying $1000 for a helmet because I only paid $1200 for TWO bikes The main thing is to make sure it fits you well and has the DOT approval (if you're in the US that is....)

Cycle World magazine (or maybe it was motorcyclist, don't remember) did a helmet test based on safety and found that a $79 Z1R Strike helmet to have the best overall protection. That's in comparison to AGV's, Shoei's, and Arai's.

More money doesn't mean better protection, but as mentioned above, it will get you bells and whistles. More comfort, better airflow, etc.

Look for 4 things when buying your helmet....

1. D.O.T. approved - Minimum safety standard to be worn on the nations highways.

2. Snell approved - Snell helmets go through a more rigourous testing process than DOT. If it is Snell, it is DOT as well.

3. Fit - Be sure it fits you correctly. It should be snug enough so that you can't slide it around your head but, not too tight that it causes discomfort or pain. Remember, the padding will 'flatten out' with use so, it will get a little bit looser the more you wear it.

4. Buy something visually pleasing to you. Remember, you're going to have it for a while!

After that, it's up to you to decide on options like visors, vents, etc, etc.

Good Luck!

Scoutmedic wrote:Look for 4 things when buying your helmet....

1. D.O.T. approved - Minimum safety standard to be worn on the nations highways.

2. Snell approved - Snell helmets go through a more rigourous testing process than DOT. If it is Snell, it is DOT as well.

3. Fit - Be sure it fits you correctly. It should be snug enough so that you can't slide it around your head but, not too tight that it causes discomfort or pain. Remember, the padding will 'flatten out' with use so, it will get a little bit looser the more you wear it.

4. Buy something visually pleasing to you. Remember, you're going to have it for a while!

After that, it's up to you to decide on options like visors, vents, etc, etc.

Good Luck!

The basis of the article I mentioned above is that the Snell standards were...too rigerous. Helmet makers want to make helmets that pass the Snell standards and therefore must make their helmets stronger and stronger until it's to the point where the helmet is far too stiff.

If a helmet's innards are too stiff and you crash, the helmet decelerates your head very quickly which created alot of G's (which damage your brain). The reason they Z1R helmet was so good is because it didn't conform to Snell and therefore used a softer compound in the helmet which decelerated your head slower, creating less G's.

Here's the article online:

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/gearb ... index.html

I agree with Kabob. If I had a Snell helmet I loved, I wouldn't toss it... but I sure wouldn't pay extra for their sticker.

Someone agrees with me? Now that's a first...