Thai Motorbike Helmet! How much abuse can it take?

[Rider]

This subject is often brought up, there are those who reckon they are no better than having an over-sized eggshell on your head, then there are those who reckon that, for the price, you are getting a pretty good deal and something that's worth wearing.

Wonder no more, as one is tested to destruction on YT!



What do you folks think? Had any experiences or near escapes with your head in one of these?

[PeteC]

Good stuff. If you try it again, put a cantaloupe or small watermelon in it to keep it stable on the table when whacking. The added mass inside may make it even harder to break? Or, with melon inserted, drop it off onto concrete from about 3 meters. Pete

[Khundon1975]

Rider I think that skid lid would be next to useless in a real accident.
The best you could hope for, would be if you fell off at low speed, then it may save the head from injury. But this is Thailand and it is more likely that the accident would happen at speed and involve a car, pickup, or maybe a bus coming the other/wrong way.

I had an accident on a bike when I was 17 and went right over the mini that hit me head on. I landed right on the helmet and despite fracturing both legs as they slammed into the tarmac and being knocked out cold, the helmet saved my life. The helmet was only deeply scratched.

I recollect that I had bought the most expensive helmet I could get hold of at the time and I'm damn glad I did. If I had been wearing that lid, I doubt would be alive today.

My humble advice would be, buy the best.

[E-Dork]

Great stuff. Thanks a lot for that.

I have a great admiration for 'loners'. They do things that I simply don't have the time for as I have better things to be doing in my free time than going to the garage and smashing a couple of helmets to death.

What would have been more interesting would have been some sort of scientific experimentation behind it all. Maybe prepare helmets at different values and with a measured force struck down upon each, see which one buckles first. But just smashing things in the garage is fun aswell I suppose.

(Whoops, the time it's taken to write this I could have knocked off a good few lids in the back)

Each to their own.

[Rider]

Great stuff. Thanks a lot for that.

I have a great admiration for 'loners'. They do things that I simply don't have the time for as I have better things to be doing in my free time than going to the garage and smashing a couple of helmets to death.

What would have been more interesting would have been some sort of scientific experimentation behind it all. Maybe prepare helmets at different values and with a measured force struck down upon each, see which one buckles first. But just smashing things in the garage is fun aswell I suppose.

(Whoops, the time it's taken to write this I could have knocked off a good few lids in the back)

Each to their own.

Each to their own?

It's always each to their own, why pretend it's otherwise Dorky?

Define 'better things to do with your time?' whinging about an OPs thread is something I would certainly consider a waste of time, but dorky still does it nonetheless

Try not to miss your head with the shotgun next time Dorkster

[Rider]

Rider I think that skid lid would be next to useless in a real accident.
The best you could hope for, would be if you fell off at low speed, then it may save the head from injury. But this is Thailand and it is more likely that the accident would happen at speed and involve a car, pickup, or maybe a bus coming the other/wrong way.

I had an accident on a bike when I was 17 and went right over the mini that hit me head on. I landed right on the helmet and despite fracturing both legs as they slammed into the tarmac and being knocked out cold, the helmet saved my life. The helmet was only deeply scratched.

I recollect that I had bought the most expensive helmet I could get hold of at the time and I'm damn glad I did. If I had been wearing that lid, I doubt would be alive today.

My humble advice would be, buy the best.

I don't doubt that there's better helmets for high-speed smashes HOWEVER you are missing the point.
The cheap helmets are much better and affordable than the expensive Japanese imports, they are also a lot more comfortable in the sweltering heat. In addition they weigh a lot less than the Arai and Shoei ones which, by the nature of their construction are heavier than a local Thai helmet.

The increased strength of the expensive helmet may even increase the risk of an accident by a Thai rider unused to the above conditions.

My humble advice is, get what's best for you and don't fear the roads

[Khundon1975]

I don't doubt that there's better helmets for high-speed smashes HOWEVER you are missing the point.

With respect Rider I think it is you who are missing the point.

A cheap, thin helmet, is of little or no use in any accident, irrespective of the speed.

Of course, people can go and spend a few hundred Baht for a "light weight" helmet and drive about with a false sense of security, secure in the knowledge that their bonce is 1 degree cooler than it would be in a "proper" helmet and they have a couple of thousand more Baht to spend on poontang.

I very much doubt that these cheap lids have passed International safety standard tests. Those standards are put in place to protect the consumer and this is after all Thailand and we all know what they think about safety, personnel or otherwise! If it costs money, then F+++ it.

Ask yourself this, would they pass test standards that apply in the UK, Europe or the US? I doubt it.

"The increased strength of the expensive helmet may even increase the risk of an accident by a Thai rider unused to the above conditions".

Just what does "increased strength" have to do with causing an accident? If a persons head and neck is not strong enough to stay upright in a helmet, then they should be walking, IMHO.

Of course, no helmet, cheap or expensive, can give 100% protection in an accident, as there can be so many variables, but a full face helmet, with thicker external skin and thicker internal padding, which conforms to International standards, is bound to give much more protection.
Anyone spending in some cases, many thousands of pounds on a shiny motorcycle and sticking one of those on their head, doesn't IMHO have a brain worth protecting.

I saw your video showing you beating the helmet with an extendable baton. I'm assuming it was a cheap, night market product, by the way it bent after a couple of blows.
Had it been the real thing, that helmet would have cracked and opened up a damn site quicker.

However, I bow to your expertise and if you decide to wear one and have a serious accident, I look forward to your next report from the intensive care unit, if your lucky.

Ps. I don't fear the road, until I hit it.

[Big Boy]

Of course, people can go and spend a few hundred Baht for a "light weight" helmet and drive about with a false sense of security, secure in the knowledge that their bonce is 1 degree cooler than it would be in a "proper" helmet and they have a couple of thousand more Baht to spend on poontang.

I think you have to get back to basics and ask, "Why are people buying a helmet in the first place?" It is to wear when the BIB are around to prevent being stung for a 200Baht fine.

If people wore helmets to protect themselves, they would wear them all of the time - not just when the BIB are making their monthly tea money collection.

[Khundon1975]

Of course, people can go and spend a few hundred Baht for a "light weight" helmet and drive about with a false sense of security, secure in the knowledge that their bonce is 1 degree cooler than it would be in a "proper" helmet and they have a couple of thousand more Baht to spend on poontang.

I think you have to get back to basics and ask, "Why are people buying a helmet in the first place?" It is to wear when the BIB are around to prevent being stung for a 200Baht fine.

If people wore helmets to protect themselves, they would wear them all of the time - not just when the BIB are making their monthly tea money collection.

If sensible people wore helmets to protect themselves, they would wear them all of the time - not just when the BIB are making their monthly tea money collection.

BB sorry for altering your post, but anyone, Thai or Farang, who rides a motorbike and doesn't wear good skid lid are just plain dumb. I know TIT, but carrying one on the handle bars and only sticking it on when the BIB are collecting for their favorite charity, is plain stupid.

[Big Boy]

I don't disagree with you whatsoever Don. IMHO everybody including the passengers should be wearing a first class helmet that will help protect them in the event of an accident. However, we are talking about Thailand, and the majority of Thais and Farang alike do not wear a helmet for safety reasons - my own family included.

[Khundon1975]

I will let you into a secret BB I hated wearing one as well

But, like health insurance, you don't need it, till you need it.

[STEVE G]

From what I've seen, about the only people who wear full face helmets in Thailand are armed robbers!

[sandman67]

interesting stuff mate but hardly reflective of what constitutes a proper crash test as done back in the west. Using a baton is cheating = its a narrow impact rather than a broad flat one which reflects hitting a car or the road. The tests in the UK involve firing BBs at it and dropping it with weights inside it to simulate speed/mass of a collision.

Of course the helmets here are toss in comparison, especially the dumbass badass biker beanie type ones.

But....any lid is better than none. As long as the chinstap is fastened as well. Im guessing most thais think that hairgel is a good enough adhesion.

Every fatal accident Ive seen here the victim is helmetless and his head is like a split melon. The ones Ive seen where the victim is sitting nursing wounds are ones where theres a lid sitting next to em.

[Homer]

interesting stuff mate but hardly reflective of what constitutes a proper crash test as done back in the west.

Absolutely.

What everyone so far has seemed to miss is that the entire purpose of a helmet is to be destroyed. The helmet converts the energy of collision into it's own destruction, so the energy is not passed on to the wearer's head. That said, helmets differ greatly in their ability to not pass on the collision's energy. If you have a $10 head, buy a $10 helmet.

I used to race off-road motorcycles in the 1980s. My only bad crash knocked me out. I was wearing a Snell certified Bell helmet, the best available at the time. Helmets are designed to handle one collision so I destroyed it instead of just tossing it in the trash because I didn't want some trash picker thinking it was a perfectly good helmet. My dirt bike buddies came over to witness the destruction. We were all surprised by how little effort it took to crack open a first rate empty helmet.

[Rider]

Guys, the 'test' was 'indicative' of the strength of the helmet. Not some super fancy, over-engineered test. At the end of the day a cheap helmet is better than NO helmet!

I've come off bikes in the past with a so-called 'cheap' helmet (when is a helmet a 'cheap' one?) and it's certainly not cracked open like an eggshell that some are ranting on about