Modern Vespa

I'm after some advice on the best helmets out there.
I know people say buy the best you can afford, and get a full face lid but what's everyone wearing and why?
There's some names I've never heard of getting good reviews.
I understand that convertible helmets the face section isn't tested.

Any advice warmly welcomed.

Personally, I would physically go to a shop and try some on.

Just like shoes, I've noticed some are designed for different shaped heads.

I had my mind set on one particular helmet, but it was tight in some areas and loose in others. Fit is probably one of the most important factors.

Also consider brighter colours or reflective stickers for a helmet.

Worth looking at this Fortnine video as it covers percentages of injuries. A lot of people skip gloves and decent shoes, when they're also very important.

Other thing to consider is that helmets degrade over time, so if cost is a consideration - consider a slightly cheaper helmet replaced more often could have some pros over a more expensive helmet that you wear for too long.

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Cheers JakeM
What are you currently wearing?

My main daily helmet at the moment is a Vespa heritage open face.

It's got a larger external size than the normal Vespa open face helmets, to give it a vintage appearance - but this also gives more protection. The U.K. / EU ECE rating is also higher than the American DOT rating.

I then always wear plastic lensed glasses, and have had some made up that darken in sunlight - meaning I don't have to swap glasses when riding around dawn / dusk.

90% of my riding is slow speed city riding, and I prefer an open face for this as I have a much better field of view, and there's no misting up of the visor at slow speeds and with little airflow.

For motorway / dual carriageway riding, I would 100% be in a full face helmet.

My daily commute is on 20-30mph roads, and I'm often going similar speeds to cyclists without helmets - so everything's relative!

I've also got different gloves and jackets, and change my protection level based on the journey I'm making.

What Vespa have you got and what sort of roads do you use?

Is your Vespa for dry weather cruising / enjoyment? Or is it a daily year round commuter vehicle?

I've got an 83 px with a malossi kit.
I'm mainly use side roads but there's a couple of big roads A1/M1 & A19 to open her up a bit.
Don't do a lot of miles.

I've bought a viper open face lid, it's OK, good fit ( to be honest bought because I liked the look of it) when it's cold my face is falling off, and my eyes get hammered of the wind when there's no goggles on ( goggles mist up when I'm hot and it's cold out 😟)
Full face I'm looking for but all reviews say they're all great 🤷‍♂️

Probably an unpopular opinion, but when you pull out the lining of a helmet, it's just a form of polystyrene in there. As long as a helmet has been tested to ECE standards, I doubt there's a crazy amount of safety difference in different brands. Most of it probably boils down to marketing, and individuals won't have a chance to test two different helmets to destruction.

A lot of it comes down to comfort features; vents, can you easily remove the lining to chuck in the washing machine etc. Probably most important would be fit.

Have you got any local big motorcycle shops near you when you could test a range of helmets?

I would want a full face helmet for an M1 blast!

Check out impact protection sunglasses instead of goggles for when you use the open face helmet though, as they shouldn't mist up.

I use this Beon B120 Helmet cost about $150 from Amazon. Fits speakers inside, comes with sun visor and 2 face shields 1/2 and 3/4 face shield. I added the break free safety light to the back that flashes when you brake or slow down. It cost about $150 as well. Helmet and light comes in both black and white colors.

I'm a bit of safety weenie when it comes to helmets and for personal reasons tend towards the Japanese big two and just have one helmet. My personal calculus (and everybody has their own) is that I'm going to be spending a looot of my leisure time in there so I want to make it as pleasant as possible and the penny per mile makes sense over the long haul.

Until recently, I had a Shoei RF-1200 that I loved, but I started the process again as I passed five years with it. I assumed that I would have an easy transition to the RF-1400, but found that it is shaped subtly differently and gave me a headache with pressure points after a few minutes. In a funk, I tried pretty much every helmet on, and ended up buying the sweat-inducingly expensive Arai Signet-X.

Initially, I dismissed it as too "tight", especially around the chin, but kept it in consideration as it felt utterly invisible around my crown. Now that I've had it a while, I'm understanding the design intention better. While some people are very interested in weight, I think the equation is more complicated, as how far that weight is from your head matters a lot. This Arai is built "closer", meaning that moving my head around feels effortless. I actually, literally, panicked while riding the first week with it as I thought I had forgotten my helmet.


I do wish the colors were a little better for it. The all-white looked a little too much like a pale toe, so I got a rather excessive painted one, which I feel a little mixed about. Arai charmingly calls it "Oriental 2", but since I'm a dragon I figured "why not".

The polystyrene is there to dampen the impact. The shell is there to spread the impact over wider area of your skull . It is important that the shell doesn't break or fracture. Which is why more expensive helmets have more expensive materials.
On top of fit and ventilation many helmet manufacturers put lot of effort into making the helmets (relatively) quiet.
My suggestion would also be to visit a dealer and test multiple helmets, wear them at least five to ten minutes to make sure they don't hurt after a while.
I currently use Nolan 100-5. Pretty good quality at moderate price.

Most helmets are plastic based resins with or without reinforcement (carbon, Kevlar, fibreglass). The cheaper helmets will have just a plastic outer, but this has to be thicker to give the same strength as the reinforced helmets. They all hit the same safety standards.

An expensive carbon helmet can have a thinner shell, but still have the same strength. This gives a slight weight and size advantage, but we're talking about being millimetres thinner - so not really that noticeable in practice.

In the city, I have a Nolan modular so I can open the front up on hot days or when I need the ability to to look down at a stop easily. On the Highway, I use a Shoei full face. I am also looking at an Arai. I tend to buy plain white helmet and add my own graphics or stickers as the factory designed ones demand premium prices. That and them seem a little cooler during the summer.

Its a PITA to find the right "shape" helmet for your head. Calling the manufacturers-some will give you some insight that a particular shape ( <>) that their helmets are geared towards. Trying to find the right one on line (the shape for you ) is like nailing jello to a tree. Going to MC shops is your best bet and try some on. My take on this is once you find the perfect size/shape/features, buy two and put one away. And if anyone want to give me grief for a helmet sitting on a shelf a few yrs being less safe I doubt it. But if so oh well. Just my 2 cents.

I've just bought a ARAI x4 and as the x5 has just come on the market you should find some good deals on the x4.

I also have the Arai X4. I really like the wide vision it provides and the peak does keep the sun at bay.

This dirty, bug splattered thing is my main helmet. It's a flippy-face Scorpion. I wear this helmet at least 75% of the time that I ride. It's getting old, and the drop-down dark shield quit dropping down several years ago, so sunglasses during the day are a must, as are foam earplugs (though I wear ear plugs with any helmet or motorbike anyway).

The balance of my other helmets are not often worn, and several are never worn, even though the steel red army infantry helmet is tempting sometimes.

I have three classic open face helmets two of which are occasionally worn, one almost never.

And a small group of full-face and and the aforementioned Scorpion modular.

I prefer modular style helmets and a few models from Shark, LS2, and HJC allow the chinbar to rotate 180 degrees. This gives you the option of a 3/4 helmet when desired. Keep in mind, nearly 35% of motorcycle accidents involve impact in the chin area.

Proper measurement and fitment will ensure optimal comfort. Use a cloth measuring tape & take 3 measurements. 1st - Circumference of your head across the forehead just above your eyebrows, just above your ears and hitting the occipital bone in the back. 2nd - measure side to side across the top, above the ears on both sides. 3rd - measure front to back from middle of forehead at eyebrow level across the top to the occipital bone. Take these in mm if possible.

The 2nd and 3rd measurements will help determine you head shape as round, oval, or round-oval. Different manufacturers will have differently shaped shells. Revzilla does a good job including this detail in their helmet listings.

As a general rule, more expensive helmets are not necessarily safer. But I would avoid no name internet specials, particularly with no DOT or ECE rating. You're better off buying an established brand from a reputable source. But pricier helmets tend to use better internal materials for improved comfort, have more features like drop down visors, pinlock capability, and improved ventilation, and use more exotic materials (carbon fiber or other composites) for the outer shell to decrease overall weight.

Personally, I'm on my 3rd Nolan modular (N-90 to N-104 and now N100-5). I've had others in between (Vespa branded 3/4 and LS2 modular), but came back to Nolan. The internal materials are very nice and removeable for cleaning. They use a micro ratchet on the chin strap instead of double d-rings, which makes it easier to take on/off. Their visors are pinlock ready.

They also typically have better ventilation and use a composite outer shell for lighter weight. With Nolan, I feel I'm getting a premium helmet, without a hugely steep price tag. Also, Nolan is the only modular manufacturer to never have a chinbar failure during the UK Sharps safety testing.

Check out Revzilla and WebBikeWorld to research your choices and read/watch reviews. They will have a lot of info to help you make a decision. Once you've narrowed your choices down, I encourage you to find a dealer to go try a few of them on 1st hand.

If you're within 3 hours of Columbus, OH, I encourage you to check out Iron Pony. It's well worth the trip. It's 90 minutes each way for me, and I go probably every other year at a minimum. They have an overwhelming choice of helmets and any other gear you could possibly need. They also have a great selection of new and used bikes to window shop as well.

Good luck and keep us posted on what you pick.

Great helmet, but might be time to replace and retire that workhorse.

Same. I had an HJC i70 for several years. Before that it was a GMAX modular. I liked them both. With a Pinlock in the HJC it was fine, but then I started reading about safety ratings. I decided to keep my eyes out for an ECE 22.06 and found it in my current LS2.

I liked it. At first. Then I realized how hot and under-vented it was. Even WITH the Pinlock, it will fog up. And a year later it still smells of glue or something.

Sadly, I gave the HJC away to a friend.

After riding for 40+ years, I pretty much only buy Bell helmets. They are very good quality and they fit my head shape better than any others I've tried. There are many manufacturers of excellent helmets. Find one that fits well. If you put in a 700 mile day (or are inclined to do an Iron Butt) you'll want something that fits the best.

The best helmet is one that is the proper head shape and proper size for you. A $600 Arai that doesn't fit your head, and you're reluctant to wear isn't as good for you as a $200 LS2 that you can wear for hours on end with no discomfort. Check out the videos on Revzilla about this.

Went from open face half helmets to a HJC I90 modular after seeing several smiling riders w/o all their front teeth. Now I see helmets offered with built in blue tooth devices. Would be good to hear Garmin directions. Anyone have experience with them?

OFG

Best fitment advice I ever received is: "spend 15 to 20 mins wearing it around the dealership. In short...wear it before before buying it. Even different models from same maker will fit differently.
If you can't try it on, make sure the seller allows returns.
O.S.

Quite a few years ago I bought a Bell 'Revolver' helmet. It looked quite nice, but my opinion of it was that it was a piece of uncomfortable, noisy, junk, and was the only helmet that I ever had that ended up in the garbage bin way before it has any chance to wear out.

In the 70's, all I would wear was a Bell Star fullface helmets, but that Revolver was an awful helmet.

I have modern production classic Bell 500 open face, but I almost never wear it.

Maybe I should take another look at what Bell has to offer these days.

That Bell Bullit looks great with a lot of visibility. Unfortunately, Bells do not fit my semi long oval head.

I've had a few Shoei modulars. Great helmets but man, they are so heavy.

I've got a Torc retro full face helmet that I like. Under 3 hundo. In the 3 years I've had it it's not been tested by impact, and I'd love to keep it that way. If you wear glasses this thing can be a struggle, but I assume that's true with most full face helmets.

The best helmet is the helmet you wear all the time.
And/or The best helmet is the one that fits your head.

If you buy a helmet for a round head, but your head is oval, it will be uncomfortable. Ask JBacklund.

Unfortunately, my head is triangular.

My options are limited.

Loved you in The Point!

Here is some info that might help a new helmet owner. We have all experienced the new helmet = tight on your face/cheeks. Some fit everywhere great/snug but just too tight and break in is hell. Here is my fix. Buy a new $8 soccer ball. Deflate and insert in the front of the helmet right where your cheeks would be. Inflate ( the scooter ball I bought had inflate to 8-10 lbs max) and put in your closet for a couple weeks or longer. Need more yet ? Deflate ball, put a hold down strap around the ball then inflate. This will make the ball oblong ( wider yet). This worked -and saved me pain the break in period would otherwise have caused. Just my 2 cents.

You'd be welcomed in Wisconsin.

I would like opinions on Best Modular Helmets. I was hoping for some comments here on the subject. I decided maybe I should try to kick the thread in this direction for a while. I am most interested in the ones most comfortable and reasonable prices. Prefer the ones that fold toward the back.

Fit is the most important factor in helmet selection. As stated before best to go try on several. I am very happy with my HJC I90 and recommend a lighter color for better visability.

OFG

Well, I AM a native Minnesotan, after all.

I hear the Sena Outrush Bluetooth Modular Motorcycle Helmet is pretty good for the money. Anyone have experience with this one?

Buy any helmet you want as long as the color is WHITE! All the motorcycle cops in the U.S. and most other parts of the world wear white helmets. It makes you very visible out there and that's why they do it.

You need to try before you buy. What fits me won't necessarily fit you.
I like Caberg helmets. Good fit and finish. Last well and new visors etc easy to come by. Flip front lids work well for me too.

I have a Caberg Horus

https://www.louis-moto.co.uk/en/caberg-horus-scout-flip-up-helmet-505787?partner=googlesea-uk&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA0PuuBhBsEiwAS7fsNY8obO153-KVHFFRbPQo-qBGFYmo-TuZFA7Fmv_aytgz1W2rJzMZaxoCsU4QAvD_BwE&filter_article_number=50578701

About 150 miles. I did a comparison to my old Neotec here Sena Outrush R modular helmet vs Neotec

But the tldr is for the price it is a decent helmet. Does not feel cheap even though it is half the cost of a Shoei. Fits a little snugger and the built in comms are adequate. I am referring specifically to the Sena Outrush R helmet.

Not much help in a crash, but damn impressive otherwise, eh?

"Pip, Pip, Cheerio, Guv'nor"