[NBR] [TL;DR] The Tale of A Five Year-Old Helmet

[az_slynch]

First, a disclaimer: These are the observations of an individual. They constitute no more than one data point and on their own merit cannot define a trend. I am also sharing personal history. Please do not judge my words or actions of days gone by; we cannot change the past, only learn from it. That said, on with the narrative.

It’s a motorcycling chestnut that I suspect that many seasoned riders have heard: you need to replace your helmet every five years. After five years, your helmet will no longer protect you properly, with varying reasons as to “why” it won’t protect you. To me, the most plausible reason is that the expanded polystyrene (EPS) shell inside the helmet will begin to break down and lose some of its impact absorption ability. I don’t have the engineering data to support that claim, but it struck me as the least nebulous sounding reason.

Recently, I realized that my HJC SyMax II modular helmet was approaching the dreaded five-year mark. I’d purchased it in the middle of August of 2009. Those of you who are handy with the Gregorian calendar know my helmet’s five year period is up! In the months prior to my trusty helmet’s reckoning, I couldn’t help noticing that the SyMax was showing its age. The ear pads and lining had lost a lot of cushiness and it just didn’t seem to fit quite right anymore. The chin bar lock was getting a bit fiddly. The wind noise in the helmet seemed louder than I remembered it. The biggest annoyance of all was that the visor wouldn’t stay propped in certain positions. I’d replaced the original visor after three years, and now the second visor had befallen the same malaise.

Mindful of the five-year deadline, I started helmet shopping. I had a few criteria in mind in selecting a new helmet:

- It had to be a modular helmet.
- It had to be quieter than my HJC had been.
- It had to be capable of adding a communications system at some point.

Based on these criteria, I settled on a helmet that tripped these triggers: a Schuberth C3 Pro would be my new helmet. It was a modular, it tested as being very quiet and it was Bluetooth-ready, with its own custom-fit module and integrated antenna array. Well, that was easy! There was just one unintended consequence of this process, a consequence that led to a decision that will bring us to the reason for this story. But first, a bit of history…

I picked up my first PTW in 1987, a vintage Vespa 150. Since that first scooter, I’ve ridden dozens of other machines. I grew up in New Hampshire, a state without helmet laws. Initially, it never occurred to me that I should wear a helmet when riding. Over the years, I was comfortable with the wind in my hair and tolerated the occasional bugs in the face. My first introduction to helmet laws came about in 1994, when I was stopped in Massachusetts for not wearing a helmet. After New Hampshire, I lived in Alabama, another “no helmet law” state. A decade later, I moved to Arizona, where adults are not legally compelled to wear a helmet when riding. So, twenty-two years on since that first Vespa, I was still riding without a helmet. Sure, I’d put a bike or two down, but I’d never had a head trauma or serious injury during that period, so I never felt the urgency to strap on a helmet. I don’t even remember having awareness of the Hurt Report or advertisements from that period extolling the use of a helmet. Point being, I can hardly be mistaken for being a helmet safety advocate or even a connoisseur.

I bought a helmet in the fall of 2009 at the urging of my family. My first helmet was a chrome-finish Bell Bandito, purchased at the local Tuesday Morning store. I’d taken my mother shopping and she had decided to lay down some good old-fashioned Irish Catholic guilt on her son (ever see Only The Lonely with John Candy and Maureen O'Hara?) about helmet usage again. Vexed, I happened to spot the helmet on a shelf. It was new, it fit and was marked down to $17.99. I bought it to get her off my back. After the purchase, she switched tactics and began spot-checking to see if I was wearing my helmet. I wore it a few times, but felt like a dork wearing it and decided that if I was going to have to wear a helmet, I would get a proper one. After a bit of research, I decided that a modular helmet offered the best compromise between head protection and the ability to have a beverage without having to take the darn thing off. Thanks to a recommendation for the site NewEnough (now MotorcycleGear) and a coupon code, I purchased what I felt would be my first proper helmet: the HJC SyMax II.

Jumping back into the present, that SyMax II had covered over 30K miles with me and had provided reasonable noggin protection and peace of mind to my family. I was pretty satisfied with its performance and I used as a yardstick for sizing up its successor. While researching the specifications and safety data of the SyMax II, I learned that there were service parts available for it. I was committed to getting a new helmet, yet on a whim, I decided to research what parts were available for my trusty old helmet. It seemed like a reasonable plan to freshen it and keep it as a spare since it had never been dropped or crashed. Compared to what the Schuberth C3 Pro was going to cost, spending ten-percent extra to breathe new life into my SyMax II seemed like cheap insurance. So, I pulled the trigger and bought a new visor, sunshade, liner, earpads and a visor clutch kit.

While looking for a dealer to try on a Schuberth (their sizing is offset 1cm from most other vendors) before buying the wrong size and waiting for the HJC parts to show up, I figured I’d start disassembling the old helmet to I could give it a good cleaning prior to fitting new parts. Off came the visor and visor clutches. Out came the ear pads, the liner and the sunshade. It was at that point in the disassembly process that I found my reasons to be mindful of a five year old helmet.

The first thing I found was that my helmet was more than five-years old. A manufacturing decal on one of the EPS inserts that are concealed behind the ear pads placed my helmet’s birth in July of 2008. My helmet had already been around a year before it found its way to my door. While I considered the ramifications of this finding, I made another finding: one of the EPS inserts had a crack in it. The insert came out in two pieces and my plan for refurbishing the SyMax ground to a halt. I looked online to see if the inserts were offered as service parts; they came right out like all the other components. My searches came back empty. Disheartened, I returned to my autopsy. I figured that I had already learned three things from my old helmet; perhaps it had more to teach me. The only other significant finding from the helmet teardown was that one of the pivot mounts for the chin bar had several hairline fractures radiating from the screw mounts; indicating that the part might not hold up in an impact and cause the chin bar to tear off.

Here are the conclusions I have gathered from the autopsy of my helmet. I wanted to share them in order to help others make informed decisions when considering their older helmets.

1) Some manufacturers offer service parts for their helmets; sometimes it is possible to replace more than just a visor. If your liner or ear pads smell like a gym locker, you might be able to pop fresh ones in!

2) Before buying parts for an older helmet, it is probably a good idea to take a look for hidden damage or fatigue. Pop out the ear pads and liner and give it a good look-over. To my knowledge, my SyMax II had never been dropped or crashed, yet it had a fractured EPS insert and hairline cracks in one of the chin bar pivots. I would have never noticed these if I hadn’t decided to refurbish the helmet and I’m glad I didn’t learn of these faults the hard way.

3) When purchasing a helmet, check with the manufacturer to determine if their helmet’s useful life is measured from date of production or date of first use. Depending on their recommendations and the time it took your helmet to come into your possession, your helmet might not be as sound as you think.

#1185

[Tocsik]

Hey AZ, I read through this earlier this morning and wanted to let you know I appreciate it. Thanks for putting the work into the post; it has some valuable info in there.

[bluebessie]

Seriously awesome post! Lots of good info in there and honestly I had no idea that helmets only lasted 5 years. Though as a mom, they say the same of car seats so I shouldn't be too shocked.

[charlie55]

Thanks! This thread prompted me to check out my Shoei which I've worn for 5 years now. Everything looks good with no apparent degradation in the EPS. Did order a new set of cheek pads and chin strap covers. The pads had compressed to the point where the helmet was getting a tad loose, and the chin strap covers showed the signs of long-term exposure to Italian facial hair.

FYI: I checked the Shoei website and they measure wear time from the date of retail sale (essentially first use) and not the date of manufacture.