If you have decided to take a motorcycle safety course you will require to buy safety equipment before you start your course.
Picking out a good helmet is one of your most important choices you will have to make. One bad choice and you could suffer pain, headaches, and find yourself thinking about the helmet you are wearing and how much you hate it, when you should be concentrating on the road and the things that are happening around you. Believe me, I have made a couple poor decisions and ended up buying more helmets and now I have quite the collection of ones I no longer will wear.
My first choice of helmet when going out for a longer ride or touring is a modular flip-up style helmet, They offer great protection from bad weather and have some really nice features. I have owned four now and I keep upgrading every couple of years. My latest that I bought is a Scorpion EXO-900X and so far is working out great, but there are a few things I don't like but you don't realize these features will annoy you until you own it.
A full face helmet is one of the safest helmets due to the full coverage of your head and face. Modular helmets are pretty safe also, but due to the flip-up feature they don't rate as high for safety. But they are so much safer than a 3/4 or 1/2 helmet style. My son was riding one day in the Nakusp B.C. area and was in a motorcycle accident. When the bike went down and he hit the pavement his body skidded across the road, his helmet made contact with the road, as did his gloved hands, knees, and then he flew into the ditch. When he arrived at the hospital the first thing the Doctor looked at was his riding gear as it shows where all the impact happened. His jeans were tore up, his gloves were scraped at the knuckle zones, and the lower part of his sleeve on his leather jacket was scraped and partially wore away from the pavement. His modular helmet had the paint scraped right off and the faceshield was covered in scratches all on one side, so this tells medical staff he suffered a head impact and on which side of his head. Even his shoes were wrecked, this is the damage that pavement can do. When my son had his accident he was in a corner and only moving at about 65 km/h so this is why your equipment is so important. I am not telling you this story to scare you, but to inform you that picking your motorcycle riding gear is so important. My son was told by the medical staff that they were impressed with how his helmet and riding gear had protected him, and had saved his skin and face from more damage. But it wasn't perfect, his sleeve on his jacket was not a tight fit, so when he skidded across the pavement it was pushed up his arm, so there was alot of skin damage. His jeans were no match against the pavement and he suffered road rash on both knees. He has now upgraded his gear, and rides with Draggin Jeans (Kevlar lining), and an Alpinestar jacket with sleeve/cuff adjusters for tightening. A new helmet was purchased and he bought another modular flip-up, since the previous one held up perfectly and saved his face. Hopefully you will make great choices from the start and this will save you money, time, and if you ever have a mishap on your bike, it can save you from being in a hospital room and not riding for a season.
Spend time picking out your new helmet, don't rush this purchase. You should always ask for assistance from a salesperson who works in the helmet department. They will assist you in picking out a helmet with proper fit. Wear the helmet you are considering purchasing for 15 to 20 minutes. If you have areas that are too tight you will start to feel the pain or discomfort. This can cause you headaches on longer rides and you will hate your helmet. Also make sure your helmet has a snug fit and if you turn your head from side to side quickly, it shouldn't flop around. Again, take your time, don't rush it, check all the features out when you're wearing it, make sure you can easily use the straps to secure the helmet, test the flip-up features, look around and make sure you can easily see blind spots in the far side areas of the shield. Sit on a bike in the showroom with the helmet on, does the helmet give you a good view of everything? Make sure it does, as your safety depends on it. Enjoy the process and don't stress out. Start shopping for a helmet and read reviews on the ones you like. Most online shopping sites will have consumer reviews, read them and they can help you with your decision. I purchased my helmet online after going to a power sports dealer to try one on. They had the helmet I was interested in but not in the size or colour I required. I purchased my helmet online from Canada's Motorcycle because they offer free shipping on orders over $49.00 and my helmet cost around $220.00 Canadian. So go out and enjoy yourself, don't make any quick decisions and I am sure you will make the right choice. Happy shopping everyone :)
Picking out a good helmet is one of your most important choices you will have to make. One bad choice and you could suffer pain, headaches, and find yourself thinking about the helmet you are wearing and how much you hate it, when you should be concentrating on the road and the things that are happening around you. Believe me, I have made a couple poor decisions and ended up buying more helmets and now I have quite the collection of ones I no longer will wear.
My first choice of helmet when going out for a longer ride or touring is a modular flip-up style helmet, They offer great protection from bad weather and have some really nice features. I have owned four now and I keep upgrading every couple of years. My latest that I bought is a Scorpion EXO-900X and so far is working out great, but there are a few things I don't like but you don't realize these features will annoy you until you own it.
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| The newer and more aerodynamic Scorpion EXO-900X |
A full face helmet is one of the safest helmets due to the full coverage of your head and face. Modular helmets are pretty safe also, but due to the flip-up feature they don't rate as high for safety. But they are so much safer than a 3/4 or 1/2 helmet style. My son was riding one day in the Nakusp B.C. area and was in a motorcycle accident. When the bike went down and he hit the pavement his body skidded across the road, his helmet made contact with the road, as did his gloved hands, knees, and then he flew into the ditch. When he arrived at the hospital the first thing the Doctor looked at was his riding gear as it shows where all the impact happened. His jeans were tore up, his gloves were scraped at the knuckle zones, and the lower part of his sleeve on his leather jacket was scraped and partially wore away from the pavement. His modular helmet had the paint scraped right off and the faceshield was covered in scratches all on one side, so this tells medical staff he suffered a head impact and on which side of his head. Even his shoes were wrecked, this is the damage that pavement can do. When my son had his accident he was in a corner and only moving at about 65 km/h so this is why your equipment is so important. I am not telling you this story to scare you, but to inform you that picking your motorcycle riding gear is so important. My son was told by the medical staff that they were impressed with how his helmet and riding gear had protected him, and had saved his skin and face from more damage. But it wasn't perfect, his sleeve on his jacket was not a tight fit, so when he skidded across the pavement it was pushed up his arm, so there was alot of skin damage. His jeans were no match against the pavement and he suffered road rash on both knees. He has now upgraded his gear, and rides with Draggin Jeans (Kevlar lining), and an Alpinestar jacket with sleeve/cuff adjusters for tightening. A new helmet was purchased and he bought another modular flip-up, since the previous one held up perfectly and saved his face. Hopefully you will make great choices from the start and this will save you money, time, and if you ever have a mishap on your bike, it can save you from being in a hospital room and not riding for a season.
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| Modular helmets are great for riders who wear prescription glasses, easy to put on without removing glasses |
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| When you squeeze the above red button it allows you to flip the front of the helmet up |
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| Back vents for air circulation on those hot days. This helmet is DOT approved, you can choose between a SNELL or DOT approved. This sticker shows you that the helmet has passed safety testing standards. You should always make sure your helmet has these stickers on it before purchasing. SNELL is impartially and independently safety tested, where is DOT is tested by the manufacturer. Every country, province or state has different rules on helmets, make sure your helmet is the right one, or you could get a ticket or fine from a police officer. |
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| The faceshield can be pushed up for quick conversations with riding buddies at stop lights, parking lots, and gas stations. Also great when going through construction zones if you need to listen to instructions from flag/sign workers. I have found that if I don't put the faceshield down before I leave from a stop I can experience a whistling sound from the wind once I get up to higher speeds, this at times is very annoying but when I read reviews from other consumers, some of them had also experienced it from this Scorpion helmet. |
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| Try to pick a modular helmet that is more aerodynamic, this helps with wind buffeting (wind turbulence pressure). You can experience this when traveling at highway speeds behind semi trucks and trucks pulling travel trailers. Sometimes riders can even experience buffeting from their bike's windscreen at certain speeds. The one thing that I don't like about this helmet is the "S" that the manufacturer put on the helmet located at the forehead area. This simple "S" has turned into a pain when trying to clean the dead bugs off my helmet. It takes longer than I want to spend cleaning, and sometimes I can't even remove all the bug parts. Look for these kind of features when purchasing your helmet, they look nice but are not useful. |
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| Most modular helmets come with an internal sunvisor that is like having sunglasses whenever you choose. My helmet has the retraction lever on the side. It works quickly and with a push up or down I can have the sunglasses or not. This is a great feature you will use while traveling and facing the Sunshine |
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| Side view of the retractable sunvisor |
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| This Scorpion helmet has a airfit feature for a customized fit. Push the red pump and it puts air in the cheek pads and neck roll. I don't use this feature as the helmet fits good without it. |
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| I like that this helmet has a shield lift up tab on both sides. So I can lift the shield up with either hand. This helmet also has great vents for airflow. You can open or close these vents, when experiencing weather and temperature changes. |
Spend time picking out your new helmet, don't rush this purchase. You should always ask for assistance from a salesperson who works in the helmet department. They will assist you in picking out a helmet with proper fit. Wear the helmet you are considering purchasing for 15 to 20 minutes. If you have areas that are too tight you will start to feel the pain or discomfort. This can cause you headaches on longer rides and you will hate your helmet. Also make sure your helmet has a snug fit and if you turn your head from side to side quickly, it shouldn't flop around. Again, take your time, don't rush it, check all the features out when you're wearing it, make sure you can easily use the straps to secure the helmet, test the flip-up features, look around and make sure you can easily see blind spots in the far side areas of the shield. Sit on a bike in the showroom with the helmet on, does the helmet give you a good view of everything? Make sure it does, as your safety depends on it. Enjoy the process and don't stress out. Start shopping for a helmet and read reviews on the ones you like. Most online shopping sites will have consumer reviews, read them and they can help you with your decision. I purchased my helmet online after going to a power sports dealer to try one on. They had the helmet I was interested in but not in the size or colour I required. I purchased my helmet online from Canada's Motorcycle because they offer free shipping on orders over $49.00 and my helmet cost around $220.00 Canadian. So go out and enjoy yourself, don't make any quick decisions and I am sure you will make the right choice. Happy shopping everyone :)
