Vintage helmets - need a bit of info.

Hey there, another topic from me so i apologise.


Over here in the UK is considered insanely stupid to buy and use a vintage helmet, especially on the road.


Its said that they have a 5 year life span and we're told (i certainly was when i did my cbt) that if you so much as drop a helmet you're supposed to replace it.


So thus, your never supposed to use a vintage helmet, i came across a NOS one but i was told not to even think about buying it. Reason being that the foam protective liner will have deteriorated or gone solid, thus not protecting you in a crash, and supposedly the resin in the fibreglass (or the fibreglass in general) will have deteriorated.


So it begs the question, how come so many people use them on here?


I know its for looks, but is it that your not so worried about the supreme safety of your lid? or is it that being that the because majority of this forum is american helmets are not compulsory in your state? and thus you wear them for looks and a small amount of added projection? (and they'd keep you warm as well, i suppose)


Or do you buy new old stock ones and refurbish them with new liners and stuff thus making them safe again? if thats even doable.


Just asking really because the helmets on offer over here are insanely revolting (mainly the full face ones).


I ride with a low budget open face one, because everything else on the market is hideous, and when i found a nice looking NOS full face i was told not to, so im stuck with the full face until i find a new full face that can be made to look decent.


Or can you actually make old ones safe again?


I really do like older helmets, and if they can be made 'safe' again i'd probably ship one in from america (theyre supremely abundant on ebay US) and do such things, so is it actually doable?


Cheers!


D&O

There's no way in hell you can make a vintage helmet "safe" again. Sure, these old helmets look cool, I have some myself, but I don't wear them. If I was going to get a new open face helmet, it would be a Bell. Most states here in the U.S. have helmet laws and a lot of people in these states don't necessarily wear approved helmets but as long as they have something that resembles a lid on their head, they're fine. Anyway, even if you do find a vintage nos helmet that has never been worn, it doesn't mean it's nearly as safe as the helmets of today. Most importantly, it's YOUR head, do what you want to do!!

Live your life at whatever level of risk you are comfortable with. I wear vintage helmets because I like to, plain and simple. I don't need anyone else's finger-wagging about how much safer a modern full face helmet is. Duh, obvious. If you want to wear a vintage helmet, more power to you. If you don't feel it's worth the risk, wear a modern helmet, simple as that.

My state doesn't require you to wear a helmet. on a nice sunny afternoon you might see 1 out of 10 people wearing one. So I wear my vintage helmet because it is a lot better then scalp to asphalt.

Like TonyD and DrJ said, it's up to you to make the decision, so do whatever you're comfortable with, and whatever you enjoy. Like your bike, it's yours, not anybody else's.

I personally love the look of the vintage helmets, but though my face isn't pretty, it's the only one I've got and I'm kind of attached to it, so I wear an ugly modern full face spaceman lid (though the modern bell with MX faceguard in another thread on here might make me change that eventually).

Ah ok i get you.


Do you know of anything vintage looking that i can buy new?

Sorry should have specified, i've already got an open face, im after a retro/vintage looking full face one!

Not sure if they're any kind of safety certified or what the company is like, but these guys have some that look pretty cool: http://www.tachibana-helmet.com/

J.C. Whitney also has some racing helmets that could look good with some paint work, and might be easier to get: http://www.jcwhitney.com/pro-eliminator-full-face-race-helmet/p2025308.jcwx

http://www.tachibana-helmet.com/products_lineup/custom/custom_gt750.html


That one is the business!


I like that second one as well, i wouldnt know how on earth to get hold of one of the tachibana ones though!

Yeah, that's the problem-there's an email address on the "inquiries" page...but that's the only thing not in Japanese!

I bought this NOS Shoei helmet a few months back and was trying to figure out how to get it relined. A couple people suggested justified defiance but they seem a little shady to me. I first called them in February and the voicemail in there shop said " were involved in a big move and we are trying to return our calls but you can try emailing us for a faster response". I emailed them and nothing. I just called a few weeks ago, rain twice went to voicemail;cell phone by the way. Then I called a week ago and the voice mailbox was full. So I figured I would try relining it on my own. The foam padding came out actually really clean but relining it seemed like a nightmare. So I looked at some older helmets I had around and pulled out the foam padding and lining to see how they were put together and I found that one fit perfectly into the Shoei helmet.

The foam padding and liner came out of a large m2000 helmet and fit very snug just like the helmet it originated in and can be removed just as easily as the old helmet.

So overall I was a little worried about relining a 30yr old helmet but with the updated padding and liner, even though it wasnt made for the shoei helmet it makes me feel a little bit safer.

Old foam padding, it was already in two sections I didnt cut it.







helmet with new padding









So I guess if I were to do this again I would get some helmet off craigslist and remove the padding instead of trying to reline everything with old padding.

whiskey.pete (aka peter.walker) said:

J.C. Whitney also has some racing helmets that could look good with some paint work, and might be easier to get: http://www.jcwhitney.com/pro-eliminator-full-face-race-helmet/p2025308.jcwx

Click to expand...

Those are rebadged Bell Racing helmets.

picked up an awsome condition Auther Fulmer at a garage sale for $2......

GREAT FIND!!!

I wear a N.O.T. approved Davida puddin bowl. I don't expect much out of it, saftey wise.

I suspect that having to replace a helmet if its ever dropped is a clever ploy to sell more helmets. Bastards!

Heres a how-to on helmet relining. Granted, this is purely for looks, not safty.
http://www.chopcult.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1954