Dropped lid :(

[Mattastic]

I've just dropped my lid for the first time. Like a tosser I put the lid on my seat whilst I chained the bike up only to be greated with a sickening sound of plastic to concrete and gravel. Visor has a couple fo scratches on it and there is some paintwork damage and a chip or two in the top right front. I'm not happy, it's only two weeks old

Does anybody know where I can send it to be tested to see if it is still ok to use? It's made by FM if that helps.
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Too skint to buy a bike

[Laura]

Really you should buy a new one, I really need a new one after various drops etc.
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Good girls ride motorcycles bad girls thrash them.

[Zero-G]

I'm probably completely wrong with this but;

I dont think its much of a problem if you drop a helmet as theres no head in it to compress the stuff inside. When you crash and bump your head you compress the inside of the helmet, so it absorbs the impact.

As there's no head inside nothing has been compressed.

I think i read something like that on here ages and ages ago.

However it could also be something i made up in a dream or something similar!!

[Adam_P]

Go and buy a new one. And when doing anything to the bike, like chaining it up or moving it, put it on the floor. It can't fall any furter than that!

I'm terrified of dropping my lid so I just put it down next to me if I have to do anything. I keep thinking that the seat is just 'not quite' wide enough on the Fazer for it to stay there!
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Colin McRae MBE 1968 - 2007 RIP
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God is imaginary

[Laura]

I did see something like that but it is how much you want to risk I suppose.
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Good girls ride motorcycles bad girls thrash them.

[hush]

The general rule, as I recall seems to be replace your helmet if it gets scratched... Now this worried me, as I'm clumsy to say the least, and the number of times I put my lid down next to a wall or step and moved it when picking it up, only to have a small scratch appear, means I should have had a new helmet each month since I brought it last year...

Mind you, I would say that if it landed on concrete, there may be cause to replace it, but the manufacturer/knowledgable people here will be able to tell you...

[priller]

A mag did a test, dropping lids from different hights then testing them, the lid dropped from the highest hight had the same test result as a new lid.

I personally wouldn't bother replacing it just from falling off the seat if its just chipped, lots of people would though.

[Bod]

I headbutted a wall with mine.....I was chaining my bike near a wall and hit it lightly..lol.....then as I was taking it off at my sisters house I hit it on the artex ceiling.........doh.......few scratches but I'm not bothered.
Bod

[Steve H]

There's no-one that'll test your lid for you who'll be able to give you the opinion that it's safe as should something dreadful happen after the test any liability would lie with the test house in all probability.

Added to that the fact that tests to determine the safety of helmets invariably render them useless once completed and I'm afraid you could be looking at purchasing a new one if you want to be totally safe.

Numerous people drop their helmets and continue to wear them but its impossible to tell whether there is any damage to them from a cursory glance.

I would suggest you bite the bullet, get a new one and put this down as a costly lesson learnt - Bet you don't do it again

SteveH
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Mellow Yellow
The BCF Top TEN - 2010, 2009, 2008, The Original.

[priller]

Arai will xray you lid ( if its an arai ) and tell you if its damaged or not.

[T.C]

In theory if you drop your hat regardless of what height it was dropped from it really should be changed as the styrofoam liner becomes compressed and reduces the shock absorbency, but in reality, dropping it from seat height will only have caused minimal damage.

There are firms who offer an X Ray service, but all an x-ray does is show a black mass not whether the internal lining has been compromised, the only way this can be done is to strip the helmet down to its bear components and examine then close up, however, if someone strips it down unless it has been included as part of EC22/05, it means that as it is reassembled it falls outside the EC22/05 approval.

For future reference, it may be worth getting your kit included on your house contents insurance. It costs me an additional £1 per year but it means that my helmets, leathers, boots and gloves are all covered in the event of accidental damage, and the last time I made a claim (about 10 years ago) it didn't increase the premium at all.
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It is better to arrive 30 seconds late in this world, than 30 years early in the next

[Milo]

MCN did a test a while back to see if dropping your lid from bike seat height makes a difference to the performance. Each lid was dropped 3 times and there was no difference between the dropped ones or brand new.

Adam
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Shaft drives rule.

[M1ke]

My helmet is only about 9 months old and its had such a hard time I managed to get the helmet jammed between the garage door and the wall (and you have to really slam the door to close it...) It made my helmet go all egg shaped.

Shorty after that my 4 year old nephew visited and wondered how far he could throw it.

So a new helmet is on the cards for me

[Luke_Retrofly]

Hi
Ive dropped my lid many times, infact i did it at college today . I would'nt buy a new one if i dropped it, otherwise id have about 6 lids. If i vrashed and hit my head I would but (fingers crossed) that hasnt happened yet. Though my lid it a bit knackered to should really get a new one .

Luke

[Doddmaster]

My lid is well and truly battered, but I would only replace it if I crashed with it on.
I need a new a new one anyway though, it just doesnt look cool any more with all the scratches on

[Keen]

I read that test as well. If you just drop it lightly don't bother getting a new one. Its all a conspiracy by the helmet manufacturers
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"he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"- Dr. Johnson

[True Blue]

The reason that you are advised to replace your helmet is that
a) The helmet manufacturer/ retailer wants you to buy a new helmet and
b) doesn't want any liability if anything is wrong with it.

Personally I wouldn't worry about it
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Past >>>> Honda NSR 125 >>>> Suzuki GSXR 600 K1 >>>> Suzuki GSXR 600 K4 >>>>Kawasaki Z1000 DAF >>>>Suzuki RMZ 250 >>>> Current >>>> KTM Superduke R 1290 >>>>

[Stevie Northants]

You are right about the MCN test,also covered in mags.
It wasn't one helmet dropped 3 times,it was 3 identical helmets dropped,first at 1 metre,second at 2 and third at 3.Each impact spot was marked for testing.
When tested even the 3 metre drop helmet was well within safety guidelines.
I think the drop and replace idea harks back to earlier models of helmets were quality wasn't so high.

Personally,I am quite clumsy and helmet looks like it has been used as a football(slight exageration! )and I have no intention of replacing it.
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Stevie
'98 Gixer 600,red and black(the fastest colour )
Why put off until tomorrow what you can get someone else to do for you today?

[Ant]

[big al]

if it was me i'd get a new one!
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nobody saw me coming

[BLacKPooLLaD]

I have dropped my lid once on a title floor that really hacked me off bit thinking about getting a new 1, as what £100-150 if u come off and end up like a cabbage??.

Luke
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UKRSCLUB.com

AF1Racing.com

[Kickstart]

Hi

Only you can answer that question. My first helmet did get dropped, and then a month or 2 later I used it in anger (a "what's this black stuff" - smack - "oh tarmac" moment). It worked fine. Neither the drop of the crash left a mark on it and it was an old polycarbonate lid.

My feeling is that the shell is VERY tough (I have repeatedly hit an old helmet with a large hammer and had no effect on it). The odd scratch is not going to do it any real harm, although a gouge might well. The important bit is the polystyrene lining, and I don't think this would be damaged unless there is a weight inside the helmet to compress the lining on impact.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Roo]

worrying amount of people 'about' to go buy a new lid????
having said that mine gets regularly tested by tyre walls, curbs and such like and the voices remain intact
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Poking death in the eye with a pointy stick then running away

[T.C]

I will try and dig out my BSI reports that show what the press tests didn't mention or show. At the end of the day it is your head, so it is up to you what you wish to believe, but having been to Arai and Shoei in Japan, AGV in Italy, Lazer in Belgium and Bell when they were based in the USA, and studied helmet performance in conjunction with many of the testing bodies, I for one would not trust their (press) reports, and I certainly would not continue to wear a helmet that has been severely bashed.

If I can learn how to get a photo up on here, I will post a photo of a helmet I have in my possession from a fatal where the liner is so compressed from having dropped it from shoulder height just once (as far as we can ascertain) had it not been for a broken neck which killed him he would have ended up severely brain damaged just from the impact between helmet and road surface.

If you also look at the case of Finnis (2003) which I was involved in, there are cases where the head will reduce by a couple of times its normal size for a fraction of a second which is sufficient to cause the helmet to separate from the head, and this can be exagerated by having a compressed liner, and that is documented by the guy who works alongside Dr Costa the FIM chief medical officer who also happens to be head of the neurosurgery dept at the John Radcliffe at Oxford.
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It is better to arrive 30 seconds late in this world, than 30 years early in the next

[MarJay]

Finally a sensible post to this thread!

T.C You can add a photo by clicking "Add an Attachment" below the box in which you type to post. I believe you then click browse and you locate where the picture is on your local drive.

You can do this as many times as you like until your quota of BCF-space is full afaik.

Personally, I would wear a dropped lid as a temporary measure until I could get myself a new one. I usually get a new one every year anyway just to be on the safe side (plus for tarty reasons too ).

In fact that reminds me, I'm in th emarket for a new one. Anyone know where I can get a UVex Species lid from?
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