SHARP Results are out!

Originally Posted by mister c

Well they only give my Takachi 2 stars, but after hitting a fence & 3 trees in mine at about 50 mph, the only damage was to the vents on the top. I still wear & will continue to wear them they are good value for money.

Your Takachi is a Nitro in drag.

Nitro make Takachis, G-Macs, Jag and a few others as well. Same helmets with different graphics - trust me on this, I'm an ex-Nitro sales rep.

Nowadays I wear Arais, a Condor and a Chaser, but I still like the Nitros because I know the amount of work that goes into making them pass the tests, and I know the margins by which they exceed the test standards. I just prefer the feel of the Arais and can ride for longer with them perched on my bonce, they also last longer being made with higher quality interior lining materials.

Originally Posted by Fizzy Fish

yes, that's a point. maybe i'm just overly cynical about govt ratings systems!!

I'm definitely cynical about this one, given they haven't provided any details of exactly what happened to each test helmet to give it the rating I'm just playing devil's advocate

My agv got the 5 stars.

Lie the rest i wonder what these tests involve.

Go into any showroom and try on the helmets from cheap to expensive and you can feel the difference in quality.

The cheap ones are uncomfortable, bendy and stink of chemicals. For me the level of minimum safety is a given, but if you can feel the difference in quality so easily, then I can only assume that relates to the difference in safety.

I'll wear my helmet for hundreds of hours, so I want the most comfortable thing I can find.

PS, I wear an Arai Astro R that I bought heavily reduced.

Originally Posted by Miles

Go into any showroom and try on the helmets from cheap to expensive and you can feel the difference in quality.

The cheap ones are uncomfortable, bendy and stink of chemicals. For me the level of minimum safety is a given, but if you can feel the difference in quality so easily, then I can only assume that relates to the difference in safety.

I'll wear my helmet for hundreds of hours, so I want the most comfortable thing I can find.

+ 1, plus when was the last time our government ever tested/inspected anything properly!!!

[northwind]

Interesting stuff... But it's quite worrying that so many of their results contradict existing studies using similiar methodology. The 2 big quirks- the standard sized "head" and varying the test to avoid vents etc- seem to mess things up quite a lot. Using an ill-fitting "head" has a big impact on dwell times and energy transmission, and might give an advantage to helmets which use a limited number of shells.

Personally, I'm not concerned. All of the helmets tested pass CE, so your 1 star helmet isn't suddenly unsafe. My Astro-R got 3 stars, which is being interpreted as a bad score but is intended to be a solid result.

Protection's just a small part of the game... Other people already said most of this, but I can't help myself, I'm an opnionated t**t My Arai Condor was ?200 and got 2 stars. My HJC ZF-8 was more or less the equivalent of the CS-12 and got 2 stars, for ?80. Is it exactly as good? Is my Arai a ripoff?

Well, no. The HJC is less well made, and was never as comfortable. After 10000 miles or so it was worn out and unsafe to wear, the lining crushed and made it loose. If you crash in it, you can't have it tested so you either have to gamble, or bin it. If you break a part, it's very hard to get a spare. If you want a dark visor, there's less choice.

The Arai on the other hand has done about 25000 miles and is still in good shape, and fits fine. It's more comfortable now than the HJC was at its best (though it smells). I crashed in it and damaged it enough that I'd have binned it, but Arai tested it (for free) and confirmed it was safe, which has given it another 5000 miles to date, and potential for lots more. They also repaired the lining where it had come loose, for free, and replaced the worn strap, for free. And when I broke a sidepod in a minor crash, I walked into an Arai dealer 3 hours later and bought another one. When I went riding in it and broke my sunglasses, I rode to another Arai dealer and bought one of their selection of dark visors.

SO, it's lasted 2 and a half times as long, making it ? for mile exactly as expensive as the HJC. It's been nicer to use, and it's had massively superior backup/support and parts availability.

Sure, it doesn't protect as well as a lot of the Arai fanboys would think, I'm not in the least bit surprised- the Condor never tested all that well. But it gives adequate protection and superior comfort and usability. Bargain IMO. You spend a lot of time with your head in a helmet, and not a lot of time crashing

I agree with the above (although I am an arai fan), I threw myself into a combine harvester and the towbar went through the visor, if my arai wasn't as strong as it was it would have went through me too. I was told that I was very lucky that my helmet took most of the impact leaving me with just a black eye. I know my hjc wouldn't have survived the same.

I don't know what these results are based on, but I still wouldn't go with any other make.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by on yer bike

I was told that I was very lucky that my helmet took most of the impact

I got told that after my big cycle crash by about 3 different doctors. Course, I wasn't wearing a helmet

Originally Posted by Sideshow#36

the Arai Viper-GT, which I race in, only got 3 stars too. Something doesnt add up?

I am confused; Why does that make it so hard to believe??

[Balky001]

I bought my lid as I liked it. Job done. I could have got an £80 lid but I didn't want to because they felt like an £80 lid and I didn't like it. Mine's much nicer (IMO of course)

Actually, I got mine because it fitted the best, lightest on the market (X-Spirit) great vents, pinlock and loved the paint job. Visor changing is a 10 second job and it's very well made. The lining keeps the head cool and stop the lid smelling unlike some cheaper lids can and it makes me go about 9% faster, fact. Blue SV's lid makes him go 120% faster still but I don't like his as much as mine - sorry Blue