cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/26471848
this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2024
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An older helmet is WAY better than no helmet. I would take a 20 year old full face helmet over a brand new half helmet in a crash. I like my face.
Yeah I am not saying don't wear a helmet if yours is expired, a 10 year old helmet is definitely better than no helmet. But if your helmet is expired and you are in a crash, it could affect your legal proceedings/compensation and increases your chances of getting a head injury. Afaik the part that actually expires is the foam that actually protects your head from head/brain injury.
I rode for about 15 years with expired helmets I would get from thrift stores and garage sales before I found it they wouldn't help much in a crash. I was, however, in a minor crash where the expired helmet (Shoei) held up and probably saved me from a concussion. So better something than nothing.
The foam really doesn't degrade with age, that's a myth. It's basically the same material as Styrofoam.
Definitely replace if it's been crashed in and took a hit. If you're unsure, some of the fancier Japanese brands will inspect a helmet to tell you whether it's still good to use.
Wait, are you saying that helmets don't expire, and that's just something manufacturers tell you to sell more helmets? Other than the obvious parts that eventually break/wear. My instructor for my last motorcycle license test told us that they expire during training.
EDIT: I did some quick research and I can't find any definitive answer, but I found a few law firms stating that helmets expire and that could affect compensation in a crash, so I am making the assumption that infers legal precedence which means at one point there was scientific evidence brought forth to prove that helmets deteriorate to show that the rider was negligent. NAL.
I don't know if they tell us that just to sell more helmets, but I'm fully convinced there is no such thing as a shelf life for a helmet. That's not to say there aren't good reasons for replacing a helmet in general, like wear and weathering to the shell / visor / pivot points, advances in features and tech. Personally I wouldn't buy a used helmet because it's tough to tell if it took a drop that could have compressed that foam. And yes there are people and curricula that will tell you a helmet lasts only 2-4 years, even the MSF: https://smarter-usa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/26321_MSF.pdf I was a RiderCoach myself, and I think that is so dumb. Could you imagine paying $300+ every two years to replace a good helmet with no damage? That's more than than the depreciation my bike has taken while I've owned it. I'm interested to see the legal reasoning presented for compensation based on helmet age. To me that doesn't make a ton of sense, but a lot of questionable logic has factored into judgments in the past.