good day and a bad day

[jasonbc]

Having thought summer had come today (16 degree at 0900) we went down to Gwithian to take some photo's in the sand dune's and to see what the see is like now. Well the sand dune's were far from how i remember them as a kid because they are nearly all covered over now with some sort of grass to stop the sand blowing away with the wind so there wasn't much sand in the dunes for my boy to play with. it did maker a nice change though





The sea was like a mill pond, hardly a ripple in and not a breeze up like a proper summer day



Got home about 1300ish and had a phonecall saying a friend was back in hospital due to complication of an op/ surgery over Christmas so i jumped on the bike and went to visit.
I got to the hospital in Truro parked the bike up took my gloves off, undid my helmet and removed it and it just slipped out my hand and bounced across the tarmac. I got quite p*ssy with myself for doing it, how many times have i removed my lid in 20 years and not dropped it??? It chipped a section of paint or lacuer off it but it hasn't done any structural damage but black shows up every mark.
On the bright side my friend isn't as bad as i thought he was just seems to be a bit of infection flaring up again

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[Rubberchicken]

Happens to the best of us... I dropped my tourx, rolled off the seat and dropped straight onto the pointy bit. Oh, snap. Literally.

Anyway. Nothing that 5 seconds with a sharpie can't make less obvious.


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[-XP-]

A touch of black paint is your friend.

 

[Whealie]

What's the latest advice on helmets? I think I am well out of date but I remember that you couldn't put stickers on helmets cos it weakened the shell and if they fell from seat height you were supposed to bin them and buy a new one.

Presumably knew ones are a bit more resilient these days?

 

[Ian Porter]

What's the latest advice on helmets? I think I am well out of date but I remember that you couldn't put stickers on helmets cos it weakened the shell and if they fell from seat height you were supposed to bin them and buy a new one.

Presumably knew ones are a bit more resilient these days?

Have to say if it were mine I'd bin it and buy a new one.

 

[nigelphoto]

What's the latest advice on helmets? I think I am well out of date but I remember that you couldn't put stickers on helmets cos it weakened the shell and if they fell from seat height you were supposed to bin them and buy a new one.

Presumably knew ones are a bit more resilient these days?

I use a Givi polycarbonate open face and it came out of the box plastered with the manufacturer's own stickers so I can't see why I can't put a couple more on. However, I think you are supposed to bin them if the surface is breached, even falling from bike height.

 

[Traveller]

On the stickers thing, I think the problem was with the solvents in the adhesive making the shell brittle. With the change from solvents that contain VOCs I dont think there is such a problem as in the past.
Re dropping the helmet, an empty lid falling from seat height should still be ok? Otherwise how good would it perform when bouncing down the road, hitting the ground whilst wearing it? Would it fail after the first hit?

 

[nigelphoto]

Re dropping the helmet, an empty lid falling from seat height should still be ok? Otherwise how good would it perform when bouncing down the road, hitting the ground whilst wearing it? Would it fail after the first hit?

From what I understand the shell is there to contain the inner (polystyrene) and lining which does the shock absorbing but if the shell has been compromised in any way it could cause a weak point which would then split open across the shell on a sudden hard impact - e.g. with tarmac.

 

[Traveller]

Re dropping the helmet, an empty lid falling from seat height should still be ok? Otherwise how good would it perform when bouncing down the road, hitting the ground whilst wearing it? Would it fail after the first hit?

From what I understand the shell is there to contain the inner (polystyrene) and lining which does the shock absorbing but if the shell has been compromised in any way it could cause a weak point which would then split open across the shell on a sudden hard impact - e.g. with tarmac.

Yes, I agree totally with what you are saying. A damaged area is a focus for stress fractures. My observations were motre about the helmet making a number of sudden impacts during an off, and comparing the impact force of a fully loaded helmet hitting the tarmac compared to an empty drop from waist height.
In the safety conscious world of Moto GP, you regularly see riders re start after an off. There is no challenge that requires the helmet to be changed before re starting.
I have to say that if my helmet was asked to do its job for real it would be retired with honours, I am just commenting on the line between wear and tear and significant degredation in expeted performance. Its arguable that manufacturers have a vested interest in playing safe and preaching replace at the first scratch. It would be interesting to see some real world tests that show how and why helmets deteriorate over time, use and wear and tear.

 

[jasonbc]

The way i look at is that when i dropped the lid it was from 2 1/2 ft roughly if the lid can't stand that it would be no use in an accident and hence would not get certification or aprroval for road use so i beleive the damage is really cosmetic more than anything else. It just niggles me that i did it