Modern Vespa

I just bought a new 2020 GTS 300 ie Super!!! Hooray! I just bought a ECE 22.05 approved helmet and am wondering if anyone else is sneaking around California wearing one. And if you are, have you been stopped?

Thanks!

A couple of years back, I tried to order one of those from Germany and they informed me that it would not be legal (here in Canada). I told them I wanted it any way, and they refused to sell me one. There must have been some sort of liability issue on their part.

If you bought the helmet in the US it's probably DOT as well as ECE approved. Look for a DOT sticker.

Congrats on the scooter!

I have an EU helmet - I stuck my own DOT sticker on it.

I've purchased several helmets form Europe. A couple were Vespa branded also Nolan and Momo. All were tagged inside "Not for use on roads in North America".
One I ordered from the UK was in route via FedEx when they called to tell me I could not import a Motorcycle into the US. The FedEx employee had presence of mind to ask what I was using it for; I said off road ATV, They said, Oh! That's different. If you are not using on the highways as a helmet then we'll send it right along.

It's all a bit silly really as the DOT sticker is much like a CE sticker in the EU - it just means the manufacturer swears hand on heart it meets the regs. Some can be randomly tested of course, but the odds are they won't be. However a Snell rating or a ECE 22.05 rating means it *has* been tested and is fit for purpose.

It's certain that the DOT 'certified' peanut shell helmets seen in the US wouldn't even get a CE sticker in the EU - and if seen on the road the rider would get a ticket.

I ordered an AGV 3000X Super (or some such name) from Motocard in Spain, as they seemed to be the only place on the planet that had my size and the color scheme I wanted. It has EC sticker, no DOT markings and they never said a word.

Thanks for your replies everyone....I ordered the helmet from the UK. We'll see if they deliver it...thanks for the info about saying that it is for an ATV. I have a DOT helmet, but of course want the helmet with the mod target on it, so to the UK I had to go to find one. I am taking the new baby on the road for the first time tomorrow....so excited!

I'm in California and riding a 70 anniversary helmet ECE. Still haven't been pulled over.

Old thread but essentially the one I thought of starting...

I got a new scooter and decided I needed a new helmet just for scootering. I've got a Shoei GT Air for long rides on my motorcycle but it's a bit much for trips to the the store, and it's also white just like the shiny new scooter and I just didn't want to be that guy, so I started looking for a cool new helmet. The one I kept wanting the most was the appallingly named Glamster, a "retro" full-face helmet from Shoei. I put retro in "quotes" because to me it just looks a like a "motorcycle helmet" while so many of the latest ones look like military surplus items from the planet Zylak. Only you can't buy the Glamster in the U.S.A.

So apparently Shoei doesn't feel the Glamster qualifies for a DOT sticker which is needed to sell a helmet here. It does, however, qualify for an ECE 22.05 rating which is by most accounts a tougher standard than DOT and involves actual testing which somehow the DOT standard doesn't really require. It also gets 4 out 5 stars from the SHARP test people, a UK-based helmet safety rating scheme. And it's made by Shoei, one of the very best helmet manufacturers, whose helmets, by the way, have always fit my head perfectly. So I ordered one from the UK.

It's exactly what I wanted and it does fit perfectly. If it wasn't made by Shoei, I'd be a little worried about how lightweight it is, but I'm going to trust them on this one because of the joy it brings. I guess I could put a DOT sticker on it, but I can't imagine a scenario where it would actually come up, although that's the real point of this thread, so I guess I'm still thinking about it and wondering if it's ever actually come up for anyone here.

Here's what it said on the customs label on the box. Kind of a funny way around the problem. Here's the helmet too; I scratched off the SHOEI sign on the forehead because I am that guy.

I prefer ECE lids for their light weight and realistic testing.

For your entertainment pleasure.

I've considered doing this, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Never occurred to me that a shipper might refuse it (although I did once get an Urban Rider order cancelled by DHL because it included a tin of moustache wax 🤷‍♂️).

I tried to get my hands on the Schuberth C5, which was announced while I was in London, but the shipping was delayed.

I would like an ECE 22.06 helmet (because they have testing for brain injuries also - similar to MIPS). Seems 22.06 puts them at odds with DOT, so it's unlikely we'll get those helmets in the States. (For instance, the NXR-2 and the RF-1400 are the respective ECE and DOT versions of Shoei's latest lid. The advertised weights are different, so it's not just a sticker thing.)

That was great! Informative and about 43 times more entertaining than I expected. The self-certification concept is a hoot!

I guess the only way to really figure out which standard is best would be to analyze the head injury statistics in the various jurisdictions that have different standards and come up with a per capita (look Ma, a pun!) rate of serious injury and death. Just the facts, ma'am.

Canada approved the use of ECE helmets back in Feb 2011. We have been importing ECE helmets since then and the labels on the inside still say "this helmet is not allowed in North America" even though it should say not approved for the USA.
Not sure why the USA has not adopted ECE since it has stricter testing requirements above DOT.
I wore mine when riding in the USA with no issues.

I get ECE Nolan helmets and never had a problem. If you are concerned but some DOT stickers and put one center of the back. Heck you can even get reflective ones for a but more visibility. After all DOT is self cerified.

I have been riding motorcycles and scooters in the US for a l_o_n_g time. Never been stopped by an LEO so he could look at my helmet. Been stopped a few times for other reasons, no one was interested in my helmet. I think it is safe to say that it would never come up.

IMO, largely for the same reason we haven't approved adaptive headlights for cars (until this year), or the combination running lights/turn-signals enjoyed by Vespa owners almost everywhere else on the damned planet. "Logic" isn't the answer.

One factor could be that the manufacturers are all geared up to make DOT stuff in the DOT way and there's lots of DOT inventory and they would claim it's a hardship to switch over and their existing stock would lose it's value. Or something like that. I guess you could call it inertia.

It's also about the liability insurance.
Friend was an importer of DOT helmets here in Canada. He stopped as the insurance premiums were just prohibitive.

Helmet importers theoretically have to cover insurance for injuries. Plus they have to cover the litigation costs for any injuries resulting while wearing their helmets. From what I understand US insurance companies will not cover any non DOT certified helmets.

Not once has any insurer asked me or my husband about whether our helmets were DOT certified even after an accident. Remember there are many states that do not even request repairing a helmet in the US.

I have two different Bell vortex helmets, one is a snowmobile model [snell], the street version [DOT]
The difference is the snell has the foam liner hot glued to the shell, so the foam will stay in place for the second impact better

Chromeburner has sold me two EC certified Shoei GT Air II helmets, I'm hoping not to be asked about DOT and so far, have not been. I read somewhere that some states do accept EC cert. Washington state was reported to be one of those.

My reading of the cert process makes me more confident of EC than DOT.

I'm not sure what it means to have a state accept your helmet certification, or how you would go about it. As I commented above, I'm not even clear how it would ever come up (and I ride in Washington state quite frequently).

If your not wearing a beanie 1/2 helmet the question of helmet certification never comes up