crosstrainingenduro.com tractionerag.com Many riders believe you must replace your motorbike helmet every five years. Is this true? Who came up with that figure? Is it dangerous to use a helmet for longer? Lets investigate. It all started with Snell's recommendation. And lets be clear about this, it's only a recommendation. It always pays to have some healthy scepticism too with dual sport and adventure helmets. Snell has come under criticism before when many believed their standard was making motorbike helmet liners too tough and could be causing injuries. Also, Snell made this recommendation with the help of motorbike helmet manufacturers who naturally want us to buy more dual sport and adventure helmets. The five-year replacement recommendation is based on a consensus by both helmet manufacturers and the Snell Foundation. Thus, the recommendation for five-year helmet replacement is a judgment call stemming from a prudent safety philosophy. The most critical part of a motorbike helmet is the foam liner made of EPS - expanded polystyrene, which absorbs impacts to reduce injuries and potential death. Glues, resins and other materials used in helmet production can affect liner materials. I spoke with Australia's leading motorbike helmet experts about this five year rule for motorbike helmets. They agreed it should not be a rule at all, and that in many cases you can safely use adventure and dual sport helmets for much longer than five years. However, they did add conditions to this. This assumes you have not had a significant impact that might crush the EPS liner. They believe merely dropping your helmet on the ground is not a problem. Hair oils, body fluids and cosmetics, as well as normal "wear and tear" all contribute to helmet degradation. Petroleum based products present in cleaners, paints, fuels and other commonly encountered materials may also degrade materials used in many helmets possibly degrading performance. Additionally, experience indicates there will be a noticeable improvement in the protective characteristic of helmets over a five-year period due to advances in materials, designs, production methods and the standards. EPS is incredibly stable and long lived. One study tested hundreds of helmets, and even after 26 years the EPS liner was still doing its job properly. Sweat does not affect EPS. Two. Your EPS liner has not been exposed to sunlight or chemicals. Three. This won't apply to very old motorbike helmets. Helmets dating back to the 1970s sometimes didn't use the modern EPS liner for adventure and dual sport helmets. Check your helmet regularly. Replace cheek pads and inner liners to retain a good fit. If you see the outer shell, adhesives or resins failing, then bin the motorbike helmet. The five year recommendation by Snell is not a hard and fast rule. And if you forked out big dollars on one of the top motorbike helmets like a Shoei or Arai then personally I don't see any problem with using it for well beyond five years, subject to the conditions mentioned. The only danger to the foam liner is significant impacts, chemicals, and sunlight. What about the rest of the dual sport or adventure helmet? The cheekpads and inner liner can wear of course. And once the fit of your helmet is loose, this is a safety issue. However, most brands will sell these parts. You can see why we are sceptical about the five year rule for motorbike helmets. They stressed that the overall safety of motorbike helmets has been improving, and that wearing an old helmet means you might be missing out on some of the newer safety features like variable density liners or designs aimed at reducing rotational forces. They believe that even the most basic helmets will meet 80% of your protection needs, but if you can bump that up to 90% with a more modern helmet, then why not? What about the outer shell? If it is intact, no problems. But if it has cracked and is letting sunlight through to that EPS liner, it's time to bin that helmet. What about rust? All metal fixtures are meant to last the lifetime of the helmet. But regular viewers will know rust is a growing problem as some brands are using cheap brackets with a thin rustproof coating that can wear off within months. Ask me how I know. This tends to happen with the brands being made in China nowadays. But if you have crashed hard enough to daze yourself, or get concussion, then replace your helmet. Do you follow the five year rule? Keen to hear your thoughts and opinions. Let us know in the comments.
Where Australian helmet experts are referred to, these are specialists at Human Impact Engineering involved with analysis, testing and design. They were instrumental in having Australia's antiquated helmet standard dismissed several years ago.
www.humanimpactengineering.com/
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