Crash Damagaed helmet - where to xray

[hongman]

Hi Guys

Tried googling this but got feck all.

I want to look into how much/where you can go to get your lid professionally assessed after a drop or minor spill.

Thanks

[Bluefish]

NHS x-ray dept, hth

[fizzwheel]

What lid ?

If its an Arai, you can send them back to Arai for checking via an offical Arai dealer. I think...

[thulfi]

Such a service exists:smt107?!

[hongman]

Mine happens to be an AGV.

I have heard of this service here and there....just looking for more info really.

Makes sense to me. Some dude buys a £600 lid and drops it by mistake, there HAS to be something for this surely?

Or have I uncovered a niche in the market ;)

[G]

An xray will tell you next to nothing really. I doubt it could identify stress fractures in the outer shell and I wouldn't have thought it could tell you anything about the internal shock absorbing material.

It's hard to tell how hard your head hits the ground in an off as so much else is going on. My helmet has a small scuff but I could not move my neck for a week afterwards.

It's not really worth the risk when it's your head surely?

[hongman]

An xray will tell you next to nothing really.

I was under the impression it was the complete opposite.


It's hard to tell how hard your head hits the ground in an off as so much else is going on. My helmet has a small scuff but I could not move my neck for a week afterwards.

It's not really worth the risk when it's your head surely?

Aye, I agree.

But taking the above into consideration, if I had an approved/reputable "place" tell me the lid was fine after their professional assessment, I'd wear my lid again - becuase then its not a risk.

Now, wearing the lid without ANY sort of assessment is a risk, and not one I would take.

I am certain I have heard of people doing this before. I just cant seem to find any trace of such a service anywhere.

[Razor]

is it visibly damaged? any cracks or fibre exposed?

[rictus01]

Arai are the only ones to proved this service as far as I'm aware, you get a detailed report on shell integrity, internal padding thickness and any compression and the strap fixing, and just to be nice they also clean and freshen it to.

Cheers Mark.

[Holdup]

No such thing as an x ray machine according to the Arai rep i spoke to, but Arai do offer the service as mentioned above

[keith_d]

If I was interested in foam compression I wouldn't use an X-ray. I'd be looking at a jig to clamp the helmet and a digitiser arm. Measure the inside of a new helmet at several points then repeat for a 'damaged' one. The difference is how much the foam has compressed.

For shell cracking a visual inspection would be the preferred option, and the same for the chinstrap attachments.

Just my thoughts,

Keith.

[hongman]

If its only Arai then poop.

Oh well.

[Holdup]

Best bet take it to your local AGV dealer, they should be able to advise at least a little bit, try your local hein gericke, im sure near enough all HG's sell AGV

[cuffy]

I know wheel manufacturers use x-ray facilities to check the integrity of their composites, we use the same sort of thing to check for porosity, laminating and internal cracking in our aluminum castings and it's not cheap.
You'd be better off just getting a new helmet than wasting your money.

[hongman]

Yeah, it was a stab in the dark really.

The lid "only" cost £200, thoguht if there was such a service at the right price then maybe it'd be worth a shot.

My son now has an authentic looking lid for his electric bike!

[yorkie_chris]

Ask AGV dealer.

If you start getting it done any other way you have bill for testing and lid is still f***ed.

[hongman]

Will do, although I have a feeling they'll just say buy a new one lol.

[Jayneflakes]

Buy a new one is always a safer bet if there was contact with the road. They only compress once and do not spring back, so once compressed, they do not offer the same impact protection, don't know about you, but that would bother me.

I aim to replace my Lid in a couple of years anyway because it will have reached it's life time of use. Bought it in 2007 and I seem to recall that they are recommended to be replaced after three to five years depending on shell material.

[hongman]

I know the dos and donts about lids... I just thought if there was a chance, I'd explore
it, get some opinions etc.

Already bought a new lid - seems being small has it's advantages, got a real good deal on clearence stock, all of the sale stuff was xs or s :d

[monkey]

Did you drop it or was it a small spill? A drop would theoretically not compress the foam inside but a small spill would.

[hongman]

Spill :(

I distictly remember my face bouncing off the road as well, almighty smack right on the visor. Thought i had cracked it, but looking at it now it doesn't look half as bad as it felt.

Still, new lid otw.

[monkey]

OOh yeah deffo (imo of course).

[Messie]

My instructor told me that sometimes vets would x ray helmets for a small fee. No joke

[hongman]

:o

[Lozzo]

It's pointless using a digitiser arm to measure the thickness of the internal foam structure. In an accident situation the outer shell compresses the foam closest to the helmet shell, which is hidden from view. If you'd ever cut in half a helmet that had taken a hard impact you'd see the shallow dip in the foam directly behind the shell where the impct occured. The distance between shell and the viewable side of the foam remains pretty much the same.

Arai don't X-ray helmets, they do a visual inspection and if any fibres are showing through the paint on the external shell they will recommend you scrap it. Arais have a black coating on the inner foam, if that is cracked and crazed it shows the skull has pushed the foam too hard, and again they recommend scrapping. They also inspect straps, strap fixings etc and report accordingly.

You've got an AGV - to be honest you're lucky you still have a head left to think with. Throw it out and buy an Arai or Shoei. I've been selling helmets for donkey's years and AGV are one of the brands I would never advise anyone to buy - the quality is absolute cr4p. I'd rather put someone I liked into a £50 Nitro than a £300 AGV.

A few years ago I worked for Gericke when AGV brought out a top of the range lid called the Ti-Tech. I had 24 delivered to my shop, I sent all 24 back to Italy with defects, some of them seriously dangerous. 8 of them suffered cracks in the shells between the visor aperture and the bottom of the chinbar, and this was before they left the shop - caused by people pulling the helmet apart slightly to ease it onto their head. If a helmet shell can crack that easily I didn't want to sell it. My bosses said I had to stock them in the shop, so I did... they stayed on the shelves with helmet bags over them so no-one could see what they were and no price labels in view. In the months following that incident my sales of Arais shot up.

[yorkie_chris]

My instructor told me that sometimes vets would x ray helmets for a small fee. No joke

They may, but I've a mate who's a radiologist trainee, and the skill involved in that is rather in depth.
Not sure I'd trust a vet to know what he's looking at TBH.